Long, soggy weekend ends in Monday sunshine at Cali

By NASCAR.COM
February 26, 2008
01:44 PM EST

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A recap of the wet and wild weekend at California:

Figuratively speaking

15 hours, 49 minutes, 54 seconds -- Length of the overnight red flag during the Auto Club 500 that began at 6:32 p.m. ET Sunday and ended just after 3 p.m. ET Monday.

Cup Series

Pit Crew of the Week

No. 16 Ford: The 16 team was the cream of the crop on pit road with lightning-fast stops, coming out first on more than one occasion and it paid off with a second-place finish.

Tip of the Week

Contaminants like soot, deposits and acids can form power robbing sludge in your engine. Choose the oil with patented anti-sludge technology, Castrol GTX.

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Race
Lineup | Results | Standings | Central

• Under blue skies Monday, some 21 hours after the race had started, Carl Edwards put the finishing touches on the rain-delayed Auto Club 500 Sprint Cup Series race at beleaguered Auto Club Speedway. The sunshine that bathed Edwards' run to victory was a sharp contrast to the conditions that stopped the race shortly after 2 a.m. ET earlier Monday morning.
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Qualifying
• After a day-long effort to dry the track, a mid-afternoon downpour finally forced NASCAR officials to cancel the entire day's activities. That meant no Sprint Cup Series qualifying, as five cars were sent packing without making a lap. The lineup was set per the NASCAR rulebook, placing last year's champion Jimmie Johnson on the pole and his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Jeff Gordon, on the outside front row.
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Also check out ...
• Swan: Delays, postponement can't ruin weekend
• Rodman: Plethora of thoughts after California
• Menzer: If NASCAR doesn't learn, it'll happen again
• Aumann: Edwards' win part of Roush's big picture

Nationwide Series

Race
Lineup | Results | Standings | Central

• For the second consecutive Nationwide Series race, Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch drove their Toyotas to a 1-2 finish, only this was a landslide in Stewart's favor.
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Qualifying
• Rain forced officials to cancel qualifying activities at Auto Club Speedway, including that for the Stater Bros. 300. The grid was set per the NASCAR rulebook, placing Jeff Burton on the pole and Tony Stewart second.
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Craftsman Truck Series

Race
Lineup | Results | Standings | Central

• Kyle Busch survived a late-race green-flag pit stop, regained his lead and pulled away to win the San Bernardino County 200 at California.
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Qualifying
• Last year's heated points battle was rekindled when rain washed away qualifying, placing Ron Hornaday on the pole and Mike Skinner beside him.
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Survey says ...

Following the weekend events at Auto Club Speedway, NASCAR.COM asked:
Who had the most impressive weekend at California?

Driver	Votes	Pct.

Mother Nature	19,086	51%
Kyle Busch	10,401	28%
Carl Edwards	4,896	13%
Tony Stewart	3,244	9%
Total	37,627

Off the Marx

Bill Marx of Sporting News Wire Service weighs in with his top 10:

Pos.	Driver	Need to know ...

1.	Kyle Busch	Hot, hot, hot.
2.	Ryan Newman	Follows up busy week with a 10th in California. Nicely done.
3.	Carl Edwards	No one could touch him Monday.
4.	Tony Stewart	Still hasn't won a Cup race in February.
5.	Kasey Kahne	Two races, two top-10s. Off to a great start.
6.	Jimmie Johnson/Jeff Gordon	They're baaack. And they weren't even gone that long.
7.	Kurt Busch	Running out of gas didn't help matters Monday.
8.	Kevin Harvick	Still waiting for that next victory.
9.	Matt Kenseth	Shows what he can do when he stays away from teammate David Ragan.
10.	Robby Gordon	Caps a rough week with an 18th-place finish Monday. More important, moves up eight spots to 32nd in standings.