The 2011 Auto Club 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was held on March 27, 2011 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Contested over 200 laps, it was the fifth race of the 2011 season. The race was won by Kevin Harvick for the Richard Childress Racing team. Jimmie Johnson finished second, and Tony Stewart clinched third.

2011 Auto Club 400
Race details[1][2]
Race 5 of 36 in the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Track map of the speedway at Auto Club Speedway AKA California Speedway
Track map of the speedway at Auto Club Speedway AKA California Speedway
Date March 27, 2011 (2011-03-27)
Location Auto Club Speedway, Fontana, California
Course Permanent racing facility
2 mi (3.2 km)
Distance 200 laps, 400 mi (643.7 km)
Weather Sunny with a daytime high around 63; wind out of the WSW at 9 mph
Average speed 150.848 miles per hour (242.766 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Earnhardt Ganassi Racing
Time 38.992
Most laps led
Driver Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps 151
Winner
No. 29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing
Television in the United States
Network Fox
Announcers Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds

There were four cautions and 18 lead changes among ten different drivers throughout the course of the race. It was Harvick's first win in the 2011 season, and the 15th of his Sprint Cup Series career. The result moved Harvick up to the ninth position in the Drivers' Championship, 30 points behind Carl Edwards in first. Toyota became the leader in the Manufacturers' Championship, tied with Chevrolet, and Ford, with 31 races remaining in the season. A total of 88,000 people attended the race.

Report

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Background

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Auto Club Speedway, the track where the race was held

Auto Club Speedway (previously California Speedway) was a superspeedway located in Fontana, California which hosted NASCAR racing annually from 1997 to 2023.[3] The standard track at Auto Club Speedway featured four turns and was 2 miles (3.2 km) long.[4] The track's turns were banked at fourteen degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, was banked at eleven degrees. The back stretch had 3 degrees of banking.[4] The racetrack had seats for 92,100 spectators.[4]

Before the race, Kurt Busch was leading the Drivers' Championship with 150 points, one point ahead of Carl Edwards in second. Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman followed in third and fourth with 138 points, two ahead of Paul Menard and five ahead of Kyle Busch in fifth and sixth. Jimmie Johnson, with 130, was in the seventh position ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the first ten positions with 123 points.[5] In the Manufacturers' Championship, Ford was first with 27 points, two ahead of Toyota and five ahead of Chevrolet. Dodge was in the fourth positions with 14 points.[6] Jimmie Johnson was the race's defending winner from 2010.[7]

Practice and qualifying

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Juan Pablo Montoya scored the pole position.

Three practice sessions were held before the race; the first on Friday, which lasted only 45 minutes after a rain delay.[8] The second and third were both on Saturday afternoon, and lasted 45 and 60 minutes long.[9] David Reutimann was quickest with a time of 38.680 seconds in the first session, 0.263 seconds faster than Denny Hamlin.[10] Greg Biffle was just off Hamlin's pace, followed by Brad Keselowski, Jamie McMurray, and Kasey Kahne. Montoya was seventh, still within a second of Reutimann's time.[10]

Forty-three cars were entered for qualifying.[11] Montoya clinched the sixth pole position of his career, with a time of 38.992 seconds.[12] He was joined on the front row of the grid by Hamlin.[12] Joey Logano qualified third, Regan Smith took fourth, and Stewart started fifth.[12] David Ragan, Jeff Burton, Kyle Busch, Newman and Mark Martin rounded out the top ten.[12] Once the qualifying session concluded, Montoya stated, "It seems like we have a lot of potential this year and it’s pretty exciting. Pit crew is doing an amazing job week in and week out. They are getting so much faster than they were doing before. Just everybody on the team is really excited and pumped up — it’s nice to see."[13]

In the second practice session, Kevin Harvick was fastest with a time of 39.747 seconds, more than six hundredths of a second quicker than second-placed Hamlin. Edwards took third place, ahead of Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon and Stewart.[14] In the third and final practice, Ragan was quickest with a time of 39.785 seconds. Stewart followed in second, ahead of Edwards and Martin. Gordon remained fifth quickest from the second session, with a time of 39.929 seconds. Kyle Busch, Bowyer, Menard, Trevor Bayne, and Burton rounded out the first ten positions.[15]

Race

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Kevin Harvick won the race.

The race, the fifth in the season, began a 3:00 p.m. EST and was televised live in the United States on Fox.[1] The conditions on the grid were dry before the race with the air temperature at 56 °F (13 °C).[16] Motor Racing Outreach's Jeff Hamilton began pre-race ceremonies, by giving the invocation. Next, Zanzibar Records recording artist Richard Marx performed the national anthem, and Actor Christian Slater gave the command for drivers to start their engines.[16]

Results

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Qualifying

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No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed Grid
42 Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 38.992 184.653 1
11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 39.073 184.270 2
20 Joey Logano Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 39.102 184.134 3
78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 39.124 184.030 4
14 Tony Stewart Stewart Haas Racing Chevrolet 39.133 183.988 5
6 David Ragan Roush Fenway Racing Ford 39.196 183.692 6
31 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 39.211 183.622 7
18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 39.241 183.482 8
39 Ryan Newman Stewart Haas Racing Chevrolet 39.245 183.463 9
5 Mark Martin Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 39.248 183.449 10
17 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford 39.257 183.407 11
1 Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 39.292 183.243 12
9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 39.317 183.127 13
00 David Reutimann Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 39.320 183.113 14
27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 39.355 182.950 15
48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 39.359 182.932 16
33 Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 39.366 182.899 17
99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 39.388 182.797 18
83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 39.418 182.658 19
43 A. J. Allmendinger Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 39.448 182.519 20
2 Brad Keselowski Penske Racing Dodge 39.450 182.510 21
4 Kasey Kahne Red Bull Racing Team Chevrolet 39.481 182.366 22
22 Kurt Busch Penske Racing Dodge 39.552 182.039 23
29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 39.580 181.910 24
13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Toyota 39.592 181.855 25
56 Martin Truex Jr. Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 39.602 181.809 26
21 Trevor Bayne Wood Brothers Racing Ford 39.603 181.804 27
09 Landon Cassill Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 39.627 181.694 28
24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 39.632 181.671 29
88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 39.662 181.534 30
36 Dave Blaney Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 39.793 180.936 31
16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 39.826 180.786 32
66 Michael McDowell HP Racing Toyota 39.866 180.605 33
47 Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota 39.925 180.338 34
7 Robby Gordon Robby Gordon Motorsports Dodge 39.938 180.279 35
38 Travis Kvapil Front Row Motorsports Ford 39.997 180.014 36
34 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 40.067 179.699 37
71 Andy Lally TRG Motorsports Chevrolet 40.233 178.958 38
32 Ken Schrader FAS Lane Racing Ford 40.463 177.940 39
87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 40.527 177.659 40
60 Todd Bodine Germain Racing Toyota 40.780 176.557 41
37 Tony Raines Front Row Motorsports Ford 40.990 175.653 42
46 J. J. Yeley Whitney Motorsports Chevrolet
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43
Source:

Race results

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Pos Grid Car Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Run Points
1 24 29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 200 47
2 16 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 200 43
3 8 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 200 43
4 11 17 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford 200 40
5 9 39 Ryan Newman Stewart Haas Racing Chevrolet 200 40
6 18 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 200 38
7 17 33 Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 200 38
8 19 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 200 36
9 22 4 Kasey Kahne Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 200 35
10 1 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 200 35
11 32 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 200 33
12 30 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 200 32
13 5 14 Tony Stewart Stewart Haas Racing Chevrolet 200 32
14 20 43 A. J. Allmendinger Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 200 30
15 7 31 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 200 29
16 15 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 200 28
17 23 22 Kurt Busch Penske Racing Dodge 200 27
18 29 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 200 26
19 14 00 David Reutimann Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 200 25
20 10 5 Mark Martin Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 200 24
21 26 56 Martin Truex Jr. Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 200 24
22 6 6 David Ragan Roush Fenway Racing Ford 200 22
23 12 1 Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 200 21
24 28 09 Landon Cassill Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 200 0
25 3 20 Joey Logano Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 200 19
26 21 2 Brad Keselowski Penske Racing Dodge 199 18
27 4 78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 199 17
28 13 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 198 16
29 25 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Toyota 198 15
30 27 21 Trevor Bayne Wood Brothers Racing Ford 198 0
31 37 34 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 198 13
32 38 71 Andy Lally TRG Motorsports Chevrolet 198 12
33 39 32 Ken Schrader FAS Lane Racing Ford 197 11
34 35 7 Robby Gordon Robby Gordon Motorsports Dodge 197 10
35 36 38 Travis Kvapil Front Row Motorsports Ford 196 0
36 42 37 Tony Raines Front Row Motorsports Ford 190 8
37 31 36 Dave Blaney Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 188 7
38 34 47 Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota 182 6
39 2 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 105 6
40 41 60 Todd Bodine Germain Racing Toyota 50 0
41 43 46 J. J. Yeley Whitney Motorsports Chevrolet 47 4
42 40 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 39 0
43 33 66 Michael McDowell HP Racing Toyota 32 1
Source:[17][18]

Standings after the race

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Sprint Cup Series Schedule". ESPN. Archived from the original on 2012-01-20. Retrieved 2011-03-25.
  2. ^ "The Auto Club 400". Rotoworld.com. Archived from the original on 2011-03-24. Retrieved 2011-03-25.
  3. ^ "NASCAR Race Tracks". Nascar.Com. Archived from the original on 2 April 2011. Retrieved 2011-03-25.
  4. ^ a b c "NASCAR Tracks—The Auto Club Speedway". Auto Club Speedway. Archived from the original on 2010-09-24. Retrieved 2011-03-25.
  5. ^ "Pre-race Drivers' Championship Standings". Nascar.Com. Retrieved 2011-03-25.
  6. ^ a b "Jayski's® NASCAR Silly Season Site – 2011 Manufacturers Championship Standings". Jayski.com. Archived from the original on 2011-05-17. Retrieved 2011-03-25.
  7. ^ "2010 Auto Club 500". Racing-Reference.info. 2010-02-28. Retrieved 2011-03-25.
  8. ^ "NASCAR - CUP: Rain Delay at ACS". Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2011-03-25.
  9. ^ "Jayski's NASCAR Silly Season Site – Sprint Cup Race Info / Rundown Page". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved March 25, 2014.
  10. ^ a b "Practice One Speeds". NASCAR. NASCAR Media Group. Archived from the original on March 27, 2011. Retrieved March 25, 2011.
  11. ^ "Qualifying Entry List". Nascar.Com. Retrieved 2011-03-25.
  12. ^ a b c d "Race Official Lineup". Nascar.Com. 2011-03-25. Retrieved 2011-03-25.
  13. ^ "NASCAR - CUP: Montoya on Pole at Auto Club Speedway". Archived from the original on 2011-03-26. Retrieved 2011-03-26.
  14. ^ "Practice Two Timing and Scoring". Nascar.Com. Retrieved 2011-03-27.
  15. ^ "Practice Three Timing and Scoring". Nascar.Com. Retrieved 2011-03-27.
  16. ^ a b "Race Summary". Nascar.Com. Retrieved 2010-03-27.
  17. ^ "2011 Official Race Results : Auto Club 400". Nascar.Com. 2011-03-27. Retrieved 2011-03-31.
  18. ^ "Auto Club 400 Race Results". Motor Racing Network. International Speedway Corporation. 2011-03-27. Archived from the original on 2011-09-18. Retrieved 2011-03-31.


Previous race:
2011 Jeff Byrd 500
Sprint Cup Series
2011 season
Next race:
2011 Goody's Fast Relief 500