Rain washes out qualifying in Fontana
After a day-long effort to dry the track, a mid-afternoon downpour finally forced NASCAR officials to cancel the entire day's activities. That meant no Sprint Cup qualifying, as five cars were sent packing without making a lap. Nationwide Series and Craftsman Truck Series qualifying were also wiped out.
The field for Sunday's Auto Club 500 was set by the NASCAR rulebook. That puts Hendrick teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon on the front row, while A.J. Allmendinger, Ken Schrader, Patrick Carpentier, Mike Skinner and Burney Lamar failed to make the field.
Kurt Busch, Dale Jarrett and Bill Elliott were added because of past champion's provisionals, while Brian Vickers, David Reutimann and Michael Waltrip are currently in this season's top 35 in owner's points. John Andretti and Joe Nemechek were the final two cars to make the field, based on their finishes in last week's Daytona 500.
Heavy overnight rains ended by mid-morning and skies brightened considerably, but track officials then battled a situation in Turns 3 and 4 where water was continuously seeping through cracks in the pavement. In addition, one of the jet dryers accidentally melted a portion of the asphalt.
Even with all that, officials were close to having the track ready when the last storm hit. The revised schedule now has Nationwide Series final practice beginning at 12:30 p.m. ET, followed by the Craftsman Truck Series San Bernardino County 200 at 3 p.m. The Stater Bros. 300 is set for 7:30 p.m.
The latest weather forecast shows partly cloudy and a high near 60 for Saturday, but another front is expected to reach Southern California by late Saturday night
Sprint Cup Lineup based on last year's point standings
POS |
CAR | DRIVER | MAKE | SPONSOR |
1 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | Lowe's |
2 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | DuPont Cromax Pro |
3 | 07 | Clint Bowyer | Chevrolet | DIRECTV |
4 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | Carhartt |
5 | 5 | Casey Mears | Chevrolet | CARQUEST / Kellogg's |
6 | 20 | Tony Stewart | Toyota | The Home Depot |
7 | 77 | Sam Hornish Jr.* | Dodge | Mobil 1 |
8 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | AT&T Mobility |
9 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Dish Network |
10 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | Shell / Pennzoil |
11 | 1 | Martin Truex Jr. | Chevrolet | Bass Pro Shops / Tracker |
12 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | FedEx Freight |
13 | 12 | Ryan Newman | Dodge | ALLTEL / Samsung HDTV |
14 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 3M |
15 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | AMP Energy / National Guard |
16 | 8 | Mark Martin | Chevrolet | Principal Financial Group / Mark Martin's 700th start |
17 | 01 | Regan Smith* | Chevrolet | Coors Light |
18 | 26 | Jamie McMurray | Ford | Crown Royal |
19 | 43 | Bobby Labonte | Dodge | Hamburger Helper "My Hometown Helper" |
20 | 9 | Kasey Kahne | Dodge | Budweiser |
21 | 42 | Juan Montoya | Dodge | Wrigley's Juicy Fruit |
22 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | Interstate Batteries |
23 | 41 | Reed Sorenson | Dodge | Energizer e2 Lithium |
24 | 6 | David Ragan | Ford | So. Cal Insurance |
25 | 96 | J.J. Yeley | Toyota | DLP HDTV |
26 | 40 | Dario Franchitti* | Dodge | Target |
27 | 19 | Elliott Sadler | Dodge | U2 3D / Best Buy |
28 | 7 | Robby Gordon | Dodge | Jim Beam |
29 | 15 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | Quaker State / Menards |
30 | 28 | Travis Kvapil | Ford | Yates Racing |
31 | 66 | Scott Riggs | Chevrolet | Haas Automation |
32 | 38 | David Gilliland | Ford | FreeCreditReport.com |
33 | 70 | Jeremy Mayfield | Chevrolet | Haas Automation |
34 | 22 | Dave Blaney | Toyota | CAT Paving Products |
35 | 45 | Kyle Petty | Dodge | Wells Fargo |
36 | 2 | Kurt Busch | Dodge | Miller Lite |
37 | 44 | Dale Jarrett | Toyota | UPS |
38 | 21 | Bill Elliott | Ford | Little Debbie |
39 | 83 | Brian Vickers | Toyota | Red Bull |
40 | 00 | David Reutimann | Toyota | Aaron's Dream Machine |
41 | 55 | Michael Waltrip | Toyota | NAPA AUTO PARTS |
42 | 34 | John Andretti | Chevrolet | Front Row Motorsports |
43 | 78 | Joe Nemechek | Chevrolet | Furniture Row Racing |
DNQ | ||||
44 | 84 | A.J. Allmendinger | Toyota | Red Bull |
45 | 49 | Ken Schrader | Dodge | Qtrax.com |
46 | 10 | Patrick Carpentier* | Dodge | Charter Communications |
47 | 27 | Mike Skinner | Toyota | Bad Boy Mowers |
48 | 08 | Burney Lamar | Dodge | rhino's energy drink |