By the Numbers: California

By Jarrod Breeze, NASCAR.COM
August 30, 2007
02:45 PM EDT

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Matt Kenseth has won two of the past three California races. His average starting position in those two victories is 28.0.

When Kyle Busch became the youngest driver to win a Cup-level race in September 2005 at California, his starting position that day was 25th.

In the 14 races held at California Speedway, eight have been won from outside a top-10 starting position ... make that, top-15 starting position. And all eight have come in the past 11 races.

And how about the pole winners at California? Only five have managed a top-10 finish, with no race winners. Kurt Busch swept both poles in 2006 at California; he finished 16th and 27th in those two races. When he won there in 2003, he started 16th. Busch started 18th in the February 2007, and finished seventh.

Kasey Kahne was the last driver to win at California from a top-10 starting position when he rolled off ninth just last September. But qualifying at California isn't as crucial as it is at other tracks, unless ...

Interesting Fact

9Drivers who have competed in every race at California: Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, Dale Jarrett, Bobby Labonte, Sterling Marlin, Mark Martin, Joe Nemechek, Kyle Petty and Ken Schrader. That number will decrease as Marlin, Martin and Schrader are not entered while Jarrett and Nemechek have to qualify on time.

Fun Fact

75Price, in U.S. dollars, for a calendar featuring the California Speedway girls, who debut this weekend. There are 43 girls (one per driver), out of some 4,000 who auditioned for the right to hold an umbrella to shade the drivers during pre-race introductions.

All the Facts (Top 20 at California, Feb. '07)

1Matt Kenseth has won two of the past three races at California, and has finished seventh in the past two September races there. In 11 starts he has two wins, four top-fives and seven top-10s.

2Jeff Gordon posted his seventh top-10 at California, all of which happen to be top-fives. Gordon has gone a season-high three races since his last top-five (fourth at Pocono).

3Jimmie Johnson, like his teammate Jeff Gordon, has never had a top-10 at California that wasn't a top-five His five finishes of third or better help give him an all-time best track average finish of 7.4

4Jeff Burton had his second top-five finish in the past three races at California and his 18 laps led were his first at the track since 2000, which before last year was the last time he posted a top-five finish there.

5Mark Martin's seven top-10s are tied for most in track history, but Aric Almirola will make his second consecutive start in place of Martin in the 01 Chevrolet.

6Clint Bowyer has a 7.7 average finish in his three starts at California and was third in September 2006, his best career finish in 60 Cup races before matching it last week at Bristol.

7Kurt Busch recorded his first top-10 at California since finishing third in February 2005 and his fourth in 10 starts there. His average finish is 11.5.

8Tony Stewart has three top-10s in his past four California races, including the two September events during that span. Stewart has never won at California -- one of only four tracks at which he has failed to do so -- in 12 starts, but has six top-10s.

9Kyle Busch won his first Nextel Cup race in September 2005 at California and his four consecutive current top-10s are matched only by Kenseth. In six starts, Busch has completed all but one of a possible 1,505 laps.

10Brian Vickers gave Toyota a top-10 in just its second Cup race, and in Vickers' first race for the manufacturer. Vickers has three top-10s in the 14 races in which he has qualified this season.

11Denny Hamlin has never finished worse than 12th in his three California starts, with a best of sixth-place in his lone September race there last year.

12Ryan Newman posted his best finish at California since his three-race string of top-10s there ended after the February 2005 event. His average finish in nine starts is 17.3.

13J.J. Yeley recorded his second-best finish in five California starts and the 13th-place showing matches his third-best finish of the season.

14Joe Nemechek had his third-best finish at California and second-best of the season. Nemechek will look to continue his streak of having competed in every California race when he qualifies the No. 78 Chevrolet.

15Greg Biffle had his best finish at California since 2005, when he finished first and second in the two races there that season. Still, Biffle has an average finish of 20.4.

16David Ragan improved 23 positions in his first race at California for the second-biggest gain. Race winner Matt Kenseth started 25th.

17Kevin Harvick has only two top-10s in 10 California starts with an average finish of 20.7. His average finish in the past four races of this season is 21.0.

18Johnny Sauter made his first start at California since 2004, when he finished 21st.

19David Stremme finished 33rd and 36th in his first two California starts last year as a rookie.

20Paul Menard's first California start is one of six top-20s in the 18 races in which he has qualified this season.

All the Facts (Notables at California, Feb. '07)

26Juan Montoya has finished 26th or worse in 11 of 24 races this season.

29Carl Edwards had never finished worse than sixth in five previous California starts. His average finish there dropped to 8.5.

38Kasey Kahne lost 36 positions after starting second, most of any driver in the race, and it began a string of three consecutive 2007 finishes of 30th or worse and five of nine. Kahne led 130 laps to win at California in September 2006, and he has three top-fives and four top-10s in seven races there.

40Dale Earnhardt Jr. suffered his fourth DNF in the past nine starts at California and five times he has finished 32nd or worse there. His best finish in 11 California starts was in September 2006 when he finished second.

42Martin Truex Jr.'s first of two blown engines this season resulted in his worse finish in three starts at California and in all of 2007.

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Winners / Poles

Year	Winner	St.	Pole	Fin.

1997	J. Gordon	3	J. Nemechek	18
1998	M. Martin	3	J. Gordon	4
1999	J. Gordon	5	J. Burton	2
2000	J. Mayfield	24	M. Skinner	7
2001	R. Wallace	19	B. Labonte	22
2002	J. Johnson	4	R. Newman	14
2003	Ku. Busch	16	S. Park	40
2004	J. Gordon	16	K. Kahne	13
	E. Sadler	17	B. Vickers	13
2005	G. Biffle	5	Ky. Busch	23
	Ky. Busch	28	C. Edwards	4
2006	M. Kenseth	31	Ku. Busch	16
	K. Kahne	9	Ku. Busch	27
2007	M. Kenseth	25	J. Gordon	2