History Lesson
California Speedway held its first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race in 1997 when Jeff Gordon won a fuel mileage race. Since then, Jeff has picked up two additional wins, plus teammate Jimmie Johnson has a win for a total of four Hendrick Motorsports wins out of the 9 NEXTEL Cup races held in California.
Roush Racing has had the next best success rate as both Mark Martin and Kurt Busch have won at the speedway. Other winners include Jeremy Mayfield, Rusty Wallace and Elliott Sadler.
Current State
Fresh off their strong Daytona performance the Hendrick Motorsports drivers need to be considered strong contenders. As the leading driver at this track and with his team riding the Daytona high, Jeff Gordon, obviously, is the favorite for this week. He would be followed closely by Jimmie Johnson.
Next I'd look to the other NASCAR superteam in Roush Racing. They've proven in the past that they can get the job done and also had strong Daytona SpeedWeeks. Mark Martin has a fire in his eyes this year and has won their before. Homestead winner Greg Biffle and 2004 Champion Kurt Busch could also figure prominently in the finish.
Other Candidates
Smoking fast Ryan Newman needs to be on the list of guys who could win this. Also, the entire Joe Gibbs team. Bobby Labonte blew up too early in Daytona to know what he has for '05 and Tony Stewart is always a threat. As for the third member of JGR, Jason Leffler, would anyone really be surprised if he brought it home?
Regardless of how it comes out, thankfully 1/4 of the restrictor plate races are behind us and nobody got hurt. Now the real week in and week out push towards the NEXTEL Cup title begins. Welcome to NASCAR 2005!
