2005 Sony HD 500: California Speedway plays host this week to the Sony HD 500. The fast, wide two-mile oval resembles Michigan International where we raced just two weeks ago. Will California Speedway see a strategic fuel mileage battle like its sister track? Or will the race come down to a high speed door-to-door shootout? California can deliver both, sometimes during the same race.
The Track: California is a fast and wide two mile "D" oval with 14 degrees of banking in the turns and 11 degrees in the front D. Due to the wide racing surface most races in California have very few cautions. As a result many NEXTEL Cup races have come down to fuel mileage battles
Race Distance: 250 laps = 500 miles
The Big Picture: This is race number 25 of 36. Only two to go until Richmond and Chase for the Cup cutoff. Jeff Gordon holds down that critical tenth place spot but Matt Kenseth is only 11 points back with Jamie McMurray one one single point behind him.
The current points top ten are: 1. Tony Stewart 3,410. 2. Jimmie Johnson 3,197. 3. Greg Biffle 3,186. 4. Rusty Wallace 3,139. 5. Mark Martin 3,014. 6. Jeremy Mayfield 2,983. 7. Kurt Busch 2,982. 8. Carl Edwards, 2,849. 9. Ryan Newman 2,819. 10. Jeff Gordon 2,799.
Storylines: The Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup will once again be front and center as that excellent battle for tenth heats up. This is the single biggest story of the next two weeks.
We also need to talk about the fallout from Bristol. Dale Jarrett's inability to control his emotions and his acting out with the blatant punt of Ryan Newman. That incident not only hurt Jarrett and Newman but also ended Kevin Harvick's chances to make the Chase.
Media Coverage: TV: NBC Sunday September 4th 7:00PM Eastern.
Radio: MRN and XM Satellite
Actual Race: 7:15PM Eastern
Last Year: An unusually high eleven cautions ensured that this would not be a fuel mileage race. Mark Martin lead the most laps in 2004 but needed a long green flag run in order to catch late leader Elliott Sadler and that long run never came. Sadler won the race over Kasey Kahne with Martin in third.
Predictions: Greg Biffle won in California in February and then won again at Michigan in June. This is just the type of track that he excels on and he needs to be considered a favorite. Now that he has clinched his spot in The Chase he can race for wins. I'll pick him this weekend.
My backup this week I'm going with one of his Roush Racing teammates. I think that Matt Kenseth will be a factor this Sunday as he tries to race his way from eleventh in points into The Chase.
