Fontana favorites feature classic crew/driver combos

This week we travel to the 2-mile oval of Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., for Race 2 of the 2009 season. Fontana is a large speedway like Daytona, but radically different in makeup. The long sweeping corners are slightly banked compared to the huge banks of Daytona. The groove is wide and allows three- and four-wide racing all around the facility.

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The set-up for stock cars at Fontana is very aero-sensitive and constant adjustments have to be made to have a race-winning day. Often times the races here will come down to fuel-mileage and pit strategy, so those classic crew chief / driver combinations pay big dividends here.

Top Fantasy Racing Drivers for Fontana

1. Jimmie Johnson
In the 17-race history of this Sprint Cup track no one has dominated like Johnson. His three career wins here tie him with teammate Jeff Gordon for the series' lead at the 2-mile oval. Johnson has won or finished in the Top 3 of the last four events at Fontana, so the record is near perfection.

2. Kyle Busch
Busch has led laps in all but three of his nine career races at Auto Club Speedway. The No. 18 JGR team has yet to visit Victory Lane at Fontana, yet Busch still collected a victory here in 2005 for Hendrick Motorsports. Busch has a string of seven consecutive top-10 finishes at the facility entering this weekend's event.

3. Jeff Gordon
If the revived No. 24 team and Gordon hope to make a bid for this season's championship, Fontana would be a good place to start that march. While the last of his three wins at the track came in 2004, he has been a regular finisher in the top five in recent seasons. Gordon led 68 laps and finished third in this event one year ago.

4. Carl Edwards
Edwards' success at Auto Club Speedway has been nearly flawless. In nine career starts for Roush Fenway Racing the back-flipping driver has collected one victory, six top-five finishes and eight top-10s. Now that's a set of statistics to get excited about. Edwards likely will challenge for the win on Sunday.

Point Standings

Sprint Cup Series

Rank	Driver	Pts.	Behind
1	Matt Kenseth	190	--
2	Kevin Harvick	170	-20
3	A.J. Allmendinger	165	-25
4	Clint Bowyer	160	-30
5	Elliott Sadler	160	-30

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5. Matt Kenseth
While Kenseth's No. 17 team suffered a disappointing 2008 campaign, there's reason for hope this weekend at Fontana. He has been nearly perfect at the Southern California speedway. Fontana crowned Kenseth race champion in this event in both 2006 and '07. When he's not winning races at Auto Club Speedway, Kenseth is adding to his seven-race top 10 streak at the facility.

6. Kasey Kahne
Among all the Ford and Chevrolet wins at Fontana the past several years, there's one Dodge team that stands out with a lone win for that manufacturer at the track. Kahne dominated in the fall of 2006 and led 130 of the 250 laps run and captured the win that day. While we don't expect the No. 9 Dodge team to win this weekend, there's a good chance Kahne will crack the top 10 like he did twice at the track in 2008.

7. Jeff Burton
Unlike the other drivers ahead of him in this ranking, Burton has never won at Auto Club Speedway. The Richard Childress Racing driver has come up short of Victory Lane in 17 career starts at the track. That's not a problem for Burton; he's been much better at the track in recent seasons. Burton has led laps in each of the past four Fontana races and has a pair of top-five finishes during that span.

8. Kevin Harvick
Harvick is another RCR driver that has made gains in recent seasons at Auto Club Speedway. He guided the No. 29 Chevrolet to a pair of top-10 finishes at the track last season. Harvick has as many laps in the top 15 and quality passes at the 2-mile oval as a lot of other drivers who've been to Victory Lane at Fontana.

9. Mark Martin
Despite skipping two the last four events at Fontana, Martin has maintained excellent career numbers at the expansive oval. He won in just his second career start at the track in 1998 and he's amassed seven top-10 finishes for his career at the facility. Martin is in his best driver/team/crew chief situation in a number of years and the sky's the limit this weekend in the Auto Club 500.

10. Clint Bowyer
Consistency and performance beckon a start for Bowyer this weekend at Fontana. While his three career top-10 finishes in six starts aren't likely to catch a lot of attention, it's what he hasn't done at the track that is something to take stock in. Bowyer has never collected a DNF nor has he finished outside the top 20 at the Southern California oval. Bowyer will be among some of the more "safe" drivers to select this weekend.

• Video: Fantasy Report: Auto Club 500

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