It was sunny, mild and clear Friday at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana CA for the all-NASCAR weekend. The beautiful snow-clad San Bernardino mountains can easily be seen – not always possible due to the infamous Southern California smog. All three of NASCAR’s top-tier series are oversubscribed for their races, something not thought possible earlier in the month, due to the economy.
The Sprint Cup Series has 48 entries and NNS has 47 for their 43-car grids, while the NCWTS has 37 trucks for a 36-truck field.
The Trucks had two sessions. MATT CRAFTON/No.88 Chevrolet was fastest Thursday afternoon in the first session (42.067/171.156 mph) with 33 trucks on course. Last weekend’s Daytona season’s opener winner, TODD ‘Onion’ BODINE/No.30 Toyota was the top truck in the final practice on Friday at 42.037/171.278 mph, ahead of 31 other trucks.
There are six rookies in the field including rider turned driver, RICKY CARMICHAEL/No.4 Chevrolet, winner of multiple motorcycle championships and races. He was the fastest Rookie in both sessions: tenth in P1 and third in P2. Carmichael is the second oldest Rookie, at 29. The oldest Rookie is JOHNNY SAUTER/No.13 Chevrolet at 30. The rest are teenagers or 20 years old. The youngest, at 18, is JAMES BUESCHER/No.10 Ford, while oldest Truck driver, NORM BENNING/Ford is taking a page out of the PAUL NEWMAN book – his age is his car number – 57.
Running her first race in the Truck Series is GABI DICARLO/No.90 Toyota, the only female in the Trucks or any NASCAR series this weekend.
The Nationwide Series had two practices Friday. Sprint Cup driver and 2008 NNS champion, CARL EDWARDS/No.60 Ford was fastest of the 44 cars on course with a time of 40.557/177.528 mph. SCOTT LAGASSEE Jr/No.11 Toyota was the fastest Rookie, in thirteenth. For the second session, NNS driver MIKE BLISS/No.1 Chevrolet was the quickest one of 46 cars, at 40.617/177.266 mph. The fastest (and oldest-33) Rookie was BRENDAN GAUGHAN/No.62 Chevrolet, although he is hardly a NASCAR Rookie. He ran the Truck series for years.
NNS has six Rookies also, with the youngest – Rookie and overall – being 19-year old JOHN WES TOWNLEY/No.09 Ford. MORGAN SHEPHERD/No.89 Chevrolet is 67, the oldest driver in the field.
Three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion, JIMMIE JOHNSON/No.40 Chevrolet was the fastest Cup driver Friday at 39.584/181.892 mph, with all 48 cars on course. There are two Rookies in the Cup field, with SCOTT SPEED/No.82 Toyota fastest, at nineteenth. The other is teenager JOEY LOGANO/No.20 Toyota, who was forty-third, the only teenager in Cup this weekend. The oldest driver in the field is veteran STERLING MARLIN/No.09 Dodge.
The Cup and Truck drivers saw their times improve with each session, no doubt due in part to more rubber being laid on the track. The NNS were a bit slower in their second session, which ran at dusk. The sessions were not marred by any hiccups, save a caution for debris near the end of the last session.