Fontana Pre-race Race Thread

dpkimmel2001

dpkimmel2001

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From the excitement of short track racing @ Bristol to one of the most anticipated tracks of the season. Oh, I'm sorry, I thought we were going to Martinsville. Fontana you say? That just screams excitement. o_O

  • Practices:
    Friday, March 22, 2:30 - 3:30 pm/et, TV-SPEED
    Saturday, March 23, 12:30 - 1:25 pm/et, TV-SPEED
  • Happy Hour 'Final' practice: Saturday, March 23, 3:30 - 4:20pm/et, TV-SPEED
  • Qualifying: 2 laps for positions 1-2, Friday, March 22 at 7:10 pm/et, TV-SPEED, re-air scheduled at 11:00pm/et.
  • Scheduled Race Re-Air Dates/Times:
    Wednesday, March 27 at 12:00pm/et on SPEED
Track Specifications:
  • Track/Race Length: 2.0 mile D-shaped oval, 200 laps, 400 miles
  • Superspeedway: 2.0-mile oval 75 feet wide with a 15 foot apron
  • Banking: turns: 14°; frontstretch 11°; backstretch 3°
  • Front Stretch: 3,100feet
  • Back Stretch: 2,500feet
  • Pit Road: 2,200 feet long with 44 individual pit stalls
  • Pit Road Speed: 55mph
  • Pace Car Speed: 60mph
  • Approx: 1,800 Infield RV spaces
  • Grandstand seating capacity: 92,000
 
  • Tire: Goodyear Eagle Speedway Radials:
    Set limits:
    Sprint Cup: 6 sets for practice/qualifying, and 11 sets for the race;
    Nationwide: 7 sets for the event
    Number of Tires:
    Sprint Cup: Left-side -- 1,175, Right-side -- 1,175;
    Nationwide: Left-side  475, Right-side -- 475
    Tire Codes: Left-side -- D-4522; Right-side -- D-4408
    Tire Circumference: Left-side -- 87.5 in. (2,224 mm); Right-side -- 88.4 in. (2,245 mm)
    Technical Inspection Inflation:
    Left Front -- 30 psi; Left Rear -- 30 psi
    Right Front -- 48 psi; Right Rear -- 45 psi
    Minimum Recommended Inflation:
    Left Front -- 22 psi; Left Rear -- 20 psi;
    Right Front -- 45 psi; Right Rear -- 42 psi
    Notes: Teams in both the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series will run the same tire codes at Fontana this weekend . . . this is the same combination of left- and right-side tires that these teams ran at this track last season . . . this right-side tire code (D-4408) has been run at Fontana since 2011, while this left-side tire code (D-4522) was introduced at this track in 2012 . . . as on all NASCAR ovals greater than one mile in length, teams are required to run inner liners in all four tire positions at Fontana . . . air pressure in those inner liners should be 12-25 psi greater than that of the outer tire.
 
TchainT said:
Thats a lot of information right there.
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Yeah. Those tire pressures have me pumped up for this race. ;)

Sadly, no change in the tire compounds yet. I think nascar messed up by focusing on making these cars faster rather than getting a better tire compound on the cars.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
  • Tire: Goodyear Eagle Speedway Radials:
    Set limits:
    Sprint Cup: 6 sets for practice/qualifying, and 11 sets for the race;
    Nationwide: 7 sets for the event
    Number of Tires:
    Sprint Cup: Left-side -- 1,175, Right-side -- 1,175;
    Nationwide: Left-side  475, Right-side -- 475
    Tire Codes: Left-side -- D-4522; Right-side -- D-4408
    Tire Circumference: Left-side -- 87.5 in. (2,224 mm); Right-side -- 88.4 in. (2,245 mm)
    Technical Inspection Inflation:
    Left Front -- 30 psi; Left Rear -- 30 psi
    Right Front -- 48 psi; Right Rear -- 45 psi
    Minimum Recommended Inflation:
    Left Front -- 22 psi; Left Rear -- 20 psi;
    Right Front -- 45 psi; Right Rear -- 42 psi
    Notes: Teams in both the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series will run the same tire codes at Fontana this weekend . . . this is the same combination of left- and right-side tires that these teams ran at this track last season . . . this right-side tire code (D-4408) has been run at Fontana since 2011, while this left-side tire code (D-4522) was introduced at this track in 2012 . . . as on all NASCAR ovals greater than one mile in length, teams are required to run inner liners in all four tire positions at Fontana . . . air pressure in those inner liners should be 12-25 psi greater than that of the outer tire.
Click to expand...

You know you're a race fan when you read about tire pressure. ;)
 
A little more detail on TV times for this weekend.


Friday, March 22nd

(All times Eastern)
Sprint Cup practice, 2:30 p.m. (TV: Speed)
Nationwide practice, 4:40 p.m. (TV: Speed)
Sprint Cup qualifying, 7:10 p.m. (TV: Speed)

Saturday, March 23

Sprint Cup practice, 12:30 p.m. (TV: Speed)
Nationwide qualifying, 1:30 p.m. (TV: Speed)
Final Sprint Cup practice, 3:30 p.m. (TV: Speed)
Nationwide Series race, 5 p.m. (TV: ESPN)

Sunday, March 24

Driver introductions, 2:20 p.m.
Auto Club 400, 3 p.m. (TV: Fox)
 
looking forward big time - been watching NASCAR in SoCal since the Western 500 at Riverside and the Miller 500 at Ontario.
 
StandOnIt said:
Last year Fontana had one caution, so I'm not expecting too much passing in the pits.
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One caution only wouldnt bother me, make every lap count, no lucky dogs, or wave arounds. If somebody wins by half a lap, I will stll watch it, and respect the display of talent , and there would still be some good battles in the top 5.
 
Be nice to get back to the old complaining again. Seems like we hardly hear from Andy anymore. Looking forward to it.;)
 
Greg said:
One caution only wouldnt bother me, make every lap count, no lucky dogs, or wave arounds. If somebody wins by half a lap, I will stll watch it, and respect the display of talent , and there would still be some good battles in the top 5.
Click to expand...

Yeah, if they don't have many cautions, and the race is 400 miles, not only should it go quick, but I wouldn't think they will have much time to work on their stuff, so it might be a drivers race. You never know with the new car, they might put on a show. I hopefully picked drivers who can hustle a loose car.
 
I have to agree on the lack of excitement with California. Im not really a fan of all these tri-oval tracks that are so dominate on the schedule. Chicagoland, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, California. I wish more unique or interesting tracks would come back or be introduced. Iowa for example is a moderate banked mile oval which we dont have on the circuit. In fact if im not mistaken the only mile tracks they race are New Hampshire and Dover. The IRP (ORP now?) is a track that I love to watch the trucks race on and would be fun to see the cup guys run at. Having Rockingham come back would be a good one to have again too.
 
More on the nationwide topic, I think they should race on more tracks that cup doesnt. I understand why thats not the case, but it would still be nice. Cup needs to really diverisfy tracks again though.
 
They are running the trucks at Rockingham, you don't want to miss that one. Pretty cool, I watched Andy Hillenburg At Tulsa Speedway running a sprint car when he was 15. He was fast from the start. It was great when Nascar threw him a bone and started having the trucks run at Rockingham.
 
Yeah I saw that race last year and it had nothing but approval from fans and drivers alike
 
The racing at Fontana has been good since they cut the race to 400 laps.
I can't wait. Two weeks ago I was at LVMS with my cousin, this week he comes here for ACS.
 
FenderBumper said:
lol Good racing is Andy's Kryptonite, so he hasn't had the strength to reach the keyboard since Daytona.
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I bet this will draw him out?
superhotdog.gif
 
BobbyFord said:
The racing at Fontana has been good since they cut the race to 400 laps.
I can't wait. Two weeks ago I was at LVMS with my cousin, this week he comes here for ACS.
Click to expand...

allll right, hope the race is as good as Las Vegas, I'm thinking it will be.
 
Greg said:
One caution only wouldnt bother me, make every lap count, no lucky dogs, or wave arounds. If somebody wins by half a lap, I will stll watch it, and respect the display of talent , and there would still be some good battles in the top 5.
Click to expand...
I don't mind long green-flag runs either. Sometimes it's nice to see things play out uninterrupted over time, like at the spring Texas race last year.
 
I think also, after the teams get a book on these cars, there is so little they can fool with, the competition is going to get closer, big money teams will have less of an advantage
 
2 years ago they shortened the race and it was the best race at ACS in 10 years. I'm sure everyone remembers Harvick's last lap pass on the 48 car. Last year saw some good racing and a lot of passing until the rain came along and screwed it all up.
It should be near 80 degrees on Sunday :)
 
Auto Club Speedway is supposed to be modeled after Michigan, so Penske would probably be mad if his guys don't do well there. But, it should be Toyota's turn this week, if things continue per model success distribution plan for 2013.

For me, the most memorable thing about the Auto Club 500 happened in 2009 when Angie Harmon waved the green flag as honorary starter. She enjoyed it so much, she stayed up in the starter's stand for 20 or 30 laps. Every lap they'd show the long shot down the front straight from turn 1, she was still up there. I'm thinking the official flag waver didn't have a problem with it. We've been fans ever since.
 
StandOnIt said:
the less pits, the less mistakes can be made in the pits. If you have a slower crew, or you tend to get a lot of speeding tickets on pit row, long greens are good.
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I see your point, but losing a few seconds from being slow or getting caught speeding under green can make you lose more. Losing spots under caution isnt as bad because you may lose a few positions dont lose as much time on track. You can make it up on the restart easier when everyones bunched together again easier than driving back under green.
 
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