Fontana's Auto Club Speedway of Southern California is a combination of layouts, an unlikely blend of Michigan International Speedway with some aspects of Pocono Raceway thrown in.

There's not a lot of similarities between Michigan and Pocono, but that's what it works out to be. Fontana is flatter than Michigan, but the layout is much the same. Pocono is pretty flat, but the layout resembles a triangle, not the D-shape of Fontana and Michigan.

While Michigan and Fontana are similar, they're not carbon copies, said Jimmy Elledge, crew chief for A.J. Allmendinger at Red Bull Racing Team.

"[Fontana] has a lot of bumps, and that sort of upsets things with the bump-stops," he said. "It's like everywhere ... you have to get the car to turn well without being loose."

One thing all three tracks have in common, at least with the new car for this year, is lack of grip.

"At Fontana you have a tendency of being loose in and tight in the middle and you're always searching to have enough grip off of the corners," said David Hyder, crew chief for Marcos Ambrose and the No. 21 Ford. "As long as we make the car consistent getting into the middle of the corner and free it up so it won't be loose off, we'll be fine."

One cure for handling -- or at least another option -- is horsepower, Hyder said, and that's something he feels like his car will have.

"It's a horsepower track so definitely our motor program will show up there," Hyder said. "I like going there just for the fact of that, but there's a lot of room and you can race there. When it comes race time there's not going to be a lot of grip so there will be racecars sliding all around. It's going to make for a good race.

"We learned a lot in Michigan and going into [Fontana], there is definitely a little bit of a difference in racetracks, but for the most part the setup is close to the same. I think we made a lot of headway the second day at Michigan for what we needed at an oval track with Marcos."

Tony Stewart, who does well at Michigan but not as well at Fontana despite the similarities in the track, said the heat makes the track slick, but opens up the racing grooves.

"It has a lot more grip in the spring because it's cooler," Stewart said. "Still, even when you're in California at that time of year, there's still a good shot that the track's going to be a little slick on race day, which is good. That's why the groove will widen out and that's why guys can move around on the racetrack the way they can."

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It's like everywhere ... you have to get the car to turn well without being loose.

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JIMMY ELLEDGE

Bobby Labonte, one of the best at Michigan but winless at Fontana, said the key to tackling the 2-mile oval is keeping the car from tail-wagging off the corners.

"[Fontana] is a downforce and motor track," he said. "This new car has less downforce than the other car, so handling is even more important. Every team is trying something and this is one of our latest pieces to try to get the car to turn a little better without being so loose off the corners."

One thing that will most likely not be as big a problem as it was last year is the heat. Pat Tryson, who wrenches Kurt Busch's No. 2 Dodge, is hopeful, at least.

"I remember the Labor Day race last year as being possibly the hottest race day on record and we were so fortunate that we raced on into the night and not in the heat of the afternoon," Tryson said after last year's triple-digit temperatures.

"We were struggling in the early stages of the race and made some major adjustments. We removed a spring rubber, opened up the right-rear shock and worked on it with the wedge. The changes really brought the car to life and Kurt was definitely top-five material, but we just ran out of laps there at the end."

Rain, too, is likely not going to be a factor, either. It was the rain -- and a call on fuel mileage -- that put Busch a lap down during a difficult stretch of competition. Fuel mileage, like at Michigan and Pocono, is another similarity among the three tracks.

"It was a hard-fought 13th-place finish that we earned in February's race at Fontana," Tryson recalled. "It was the first race for the new cars there and we had to come back the next day after rain hit the track only [87] laps into the race. We stretched the fuel trying to lead a lap and it bit us. We got a lap down, but stayed tough enough to get the 'lucky dog' with about 100 laps to go. We came from about 20th all the way back up to 13th there in the final laps of that one."