Hendrick Motorsports Auto Club Preview

AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY (TWO-MILE OVAL)

LOCATION: FONTANA, CALIFORNIA
EVENT: NASCAR CUP SERIES (RACE FIVE OF 36)
TUNE IN: 3:30 P.M. ET, SUNDAY, MARCH 26 (FOX/MRN/SIRIUSXM)

No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet SS / Kasey Kahne

KASEY AT FONTANA: For the fifth race of the season, the NASCAR Cup Series stops at its first two-mile track on the circuit. Kahne earned the pole position in May 2004 in his first Cup start at the Fontana, California, track. The pole award marked his third of four total during his Cup rookie season. In his sixth start – September 2006 – at Fontana, Kahne captured the win and crossed the finish line with a 3.427-second lead over Dale Earnhardt Jr. Kahne has an average starting position of 11.8 and an average finish of 16.6 at the track.

FONTANA LOOP DATA: According to NASCAR’s loop data since 2005, Kahne has an average driver rating of 88.6, which ranks him eighth among active drivers. The driver rating is a formula that combines wins, top-15 finishes, average running position while on the lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, most laps led and lead-lap finishes. The maximum a driver can earn in each race is 150 points. During the same span, he ranks fifth in green flag passes with 1,436. He’s sixth for laps spent in the top 15 with 2,424, and sixth in quality passes with 787. Quality passes are the number of times a driver passes another car that is running in the top 15 while under green-flag conditions. The Enumclaw, Washington, native is seventh in the fastest laps run category with 113.

THIS SEASON: After a 20th-place result last weekend at Phoenix International Raceway, Kahne still has an average finish of 10.8 this season, which ranks him fifth among full-time 2017 Cup drivers.

SIGNING FOR THE KIDS: Kahne will participate in the kids autograph session at Fontana on Saturday, March 25, at 10:15 a.m. local time. The signing will take place in Lefty’s Fun Zone located in the fan midway. In order to receive a wristband, all children must be members of Lefty’s Kids Club and RSVP ahead of time.

No. 24 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet SS / Chase Elliott

PHOENIX REWIND: Chase Elliott and the No. 24 NAPA AUTO PARTS team collected their first stage win of the season, earned one playoff point, led 106 laps and ultimately finished 12th in last Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix International Raceway.

CALI STATS: Last season, Elliott collected a top-10 finish in his Cup Series debut at Auto Club Speedway. In the 21-year-old driver’s two NASCAR XFINITY Series starts at the two-mile speedway, he earned one top-five finish and two top-10s, an average starting position of ninth and average finishing position of fifth.

LOOP DATA: According to NASCAR’s loop data statistics, Elliott’s 105.1 driver rating ranks him third among active drivers at Fontana. The second-year driver’s 96.2 percent quality passes – the number of times a driver passes another car that is running in the top 15 while under green-flag conditions – and 98 percent of laps run in the top 15 contribute to that ranking.

HOME FOR THE WEEKEND: No. 24 NAPA AUTO PARTS rear-tire changer Chad Avrit will compete this weekend at his home track of Auto Club Speedway in the Cup Series. Avrit grew up in El Centro, California, and was an avid surfer before moving to Mooresville, North Carolina, to pursue a career in motor sports. In addition to being an athlete at Hendrick Motorsports, the California native is also a small business owner in the greater Charlotte area, owning Swell Board Shop, a dream he made a reality after wanting to bring a West Coast-style board shop to his new home. Avrit has been a part of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team since 2012.

No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS / Jimmie Johnson

PHOENIX RECAP: Sunday afternoon at Phoenix International Raceway, Jimmie Johnson notched his first top-10 finish of the 2017 season, his 20th career top-10 at the one-mile oval. Johnson is now 16th in the point standings heading into the fifth race of the season.

FONTANA STATS: According to NASCAR loop data since 2005, Johnson has the series-best driver rating in Fontana, California, with a score of 119.7. The driver rating is a formula that combines wins, top-15 finishes, average running position while on the lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, most laps led and lead-lap finishes. The maximum a driver can earn in each race is 150 points. The driver rating number is used pre-race as a prediction tool and post-race as a performance evaluator. Johnson also has a series-best finishing position of 6.1 in that time span.

ONE YEAR AGO: Johnson, a native of El Cajon, California, piloted the No. 48 Lowe’s/Superman Chevrolet SS to his sixth NASCAR Cup Series race win at Auto Club Speedway – three more than any other driver – when he claimed the checkered flag in the 20th annual race at the track on March 20, 2016.

WALK OF FAME INDUCTION: For the sixth time, Johnson will be inducted into Auto Club Speedway’s Walk of Fame. The ceremony will take place on Friday, March 24, at 9:20 a.m. local time outside the track in the Fan Zone at Gate B. Ticket holders are able to watch the Walk of Fame induction as Johnson will place his feet in cement commemorating his win last season.

CALIFORNIA LOVE: In only his 13th Cup Series start, Johnson won his first career Cup race on April 28, 2002, in his home state of California. The rookie from El Cajon started fourth, led 62 laps and cruised to his first victory NASCAR’s most elite series. Fifteen years and 80 wins later, Johnson is still piloting the Lowe’s Chevrolet with Chad Knaus as his crew chief, and he is now seventh on the all-time NASCAR Cup Series wins list.

HELMET OF HOPE: Voting continues for the 2017 Blue Bunny Helmet of Hope campaign until April 14. The campaign will award $125,000 to five non-profit organizations in May. The program, which began in 2008, allows fans and consumers across the country to nominate their favorite education-focused charities, including parent-teacher associations, to receive a $25,000 grant, a Blue Bunny ice cream party and special recognition on Johnson’s race helmet. Nominations will be accepted at www.helmetofhope.org and 10 semifinalists will be selected from the nominations. The public vote to choose the final five grant recipients will take place from May 5 to 12. Johnson will wear the Helmet of Hope during the NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway on Aug. 13.

No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet SS / Dale Earnhardt Jr.