Post-race report -- Fontana
Event: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Auto Club 500 (Race No. 2 of 36)
Venue: Auto Club Speedway; Fontana, Calif.
Top-five finishers: Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, Mark Martin and Joey Logano
Race recap: Four-time defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson bounced back from a disappointing season-opening race at Daytona to win at Auto Club Speedway in Southern California on Sunday. Johnson led a race high 101 out of 250 laps on the day.
Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray started from the pole, but did not lead a lap, getting passed by Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing teammate Juan Pablo Montoya on lap one. Montoya went on to lead the first 29 laps around the two-mile oval, before giving way to Johnson for the first time on lap 30. Johnson went on to lead eight different times during the day, including the final 24 circuits.
Johnson beat Kevin Harvick to the checkered flag by a comfortable 1.523 seconds. The race featured a total of 26 lead changes among 13 drivers, and was slowed by six caution flags for 30 laps, including a seven-lap delay late in the race due to rain showers on the track.
Harvick's consolation prize for finishing second was that he took over the series points lead after two events. He currently leads Richard Childress Racing teammate Clint Bowyer by 19 points.
The series gets right back to action at Las Vegas Motor Speedway next Sunday.
Companion event: With the race set to end under a green-white-checkerd flag finish, NASCAR Nationwide Series racers made two passes for the lead in those last two laps to give the fans an exciting finish. Joey Logano had dominated the race up until the lap 150 restart, leading 130 of those laps. Greg Biffle got past him on the green flag lap, and Kyle Busch ultimately grabbed the top spot on the white flag lap to win the race.
Goodyear quote -- Steve Rigot: "The testing our engineering team did at Fontana in December paid off in a big way. The changes made to the tires helped contribute to better competition, more side by side racing, many lead changes, even the comments in the media about the tires improved. Excellent return on investment."
