New NASCAR Areo Package Delivers Close Competition

Thrilling Competition Continues At ACS With Track-Record 51 Passes For The Lead

Story By:REID SPENCER /NASCAR MEDIA             Photos By:GETTY IMAGES / NASCAR

Fontana Ca- March 24,2016- .The high quality of racing produced in the first four races of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season continued at Auto Club Speedway on Sunday, where drivers tallied a total of 51 green flag passes for the lead, a high at ACS since the inception of loop data in 2005.

It marked the second time in the first five races this season a track record for green flag passes for the lead was set (Atlanta, 44 green flag passes for the lead).

“It’s great,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said about the lower-downforce aero package implemented in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. “Every week has been fun, fun, fun. The cars are fun to drive, slipping and sliding. It’s a good challenge and I’m enjoying it.”

Additionally, the seventh-closest margin of victory since the Sprint Cup began tracking the stat in 1993 (.010 seconds) has been recorded twice in the first five races – at Daytona (not with the lower-downforce package) and at Phoenix (with the lower-downforce package).

Through the first five races, the average margin of victory is 0.367 seconds – the closest since the inception of electronic timing and scoring in 1993.

“The new rules package today I thought was tremendous,” Brad Keselowski said after the Las Vegas race. “I think you saw, because of the rules package, where the cars fell off a lot at the end of the run and you really had to drive them sideways. Took a lot of balance as a driver, a lot of precise footwork and accuracy with where you put your car, how you place it, which is exactly what we want.”

The Sprint Cup has also showcased parity through the first five races. Four different drivers, four separate organizations and all three manufacturers have won a race.

Man Of Steel:  Johnson Surpasses Earnhardt With Super Performance at Auto Club

Moving faster than a speeding bullet off the restart beginning NASCAR overtime, Jimmie Johnson cleared Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick from the third position and rocketed his Superman-emblazoned Chevrolet to the finish line to win Sunday’s Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.

With the victory – number 77 of his career – Johnson surpassed Dale Earnhardt for sole possession of seventh on the all-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins list.

The six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver now trails sixth-place Cale Yarbrough (83 wins) by six wins, and fourth-place Bobby Allison (84) and Darrell Waltrip (84) by seven wins.

Golden State Warrior: Harvick Posts Another Top-Two Finish

Bakersfield, California native Kevin Harvick led a race-high 142 laps in the Auto Club 400, but could not pull of his best Steph Curry imitation in NASCAR overtime.

The No. 4 Chevrolet driver failed to hold off Jimmie Johnson on the penultimate lap of the race and finished second.

Harvick did have one thing in common with Curry after the race though. He finished it leading his league in points. Harvick, who qualified for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup with his win at Phoenix, currently holds an 11-point lead over Johnson in the standings. Johnson is followed by Carl Edwards (-24), fellow Chase-lock Denny Hamlin (-25) and Kyle Busch (-25).

Harvick is the only driver who has recorded a top-10 finish in each of the first five races. He has carried his loop data dominance from the last two seasons into the 2016 campaign, pacing the Sprint Cup Series in average running position (5.8), fastest laps (193), laps led (413) and driver rating (124.4). Harvick’s laps led total more than doubles the next-highest mark (Jimmie Johnson, 171).

Stenhouse, Almendinger Produce Season-High Finishes In SoCal

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. placed fifth at Auto Club last Sunday – his best career finish in a non-short track or restrictor-plate race.

The fourth-year full-time driver is showing vast improvements in speed. Through the first five races he owns an average start of 13.6, 10 positions higher than his average from all 36 contests last year. Currently 14th in the series standings, Stenhouse would qualify for his first Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup if the season ended today. He has never posted more than one top-five finish in a season.

Similarly, AJ Allmendinger placed eighth – his first top-10 showing since finishing seventh at Pocono last August.

Allmendinger has produced consecutive top-10 finishes three times in his career, while Stenhouse has completed the task just once. Both drivers will try to achieve the feat again in the STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, April 3 (1 p.m. ET on FS1).

Guess Who’s Back: Wood Brothers returning to Martinsville

Tell your friends………..The Wood Brothers are returning to Martinsville for the first time since 2011 when Trevor Bayne finished 35th in the famed No. 21 Ford.

Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender Ryan Blaney takes the track this time for the Woods, who have a storied history at the Virginia short track.

Glen Wood made the first Martinsville start for the Wood Brothers on May 17, 1953. In 109 starts there, the Wood Brothers claim two wins (Cale Yarborough, 1968; David Pearson, 1973 from the pole), 28 top fives and 1,891 laps led. Wood Brothers drivers have completed 44,978 of 52,746 laps (85.3%) while competing at Martinsville.

Elliott Leapfrogs Blaney For Sunoco Rookie Lead

The seesaw atop the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings continues to teeter.

Following his career-high sixth-place performance at Auto Club, Chase Elliott took back the lead from Ryan Blaney for the second time this year. Elliott leads Blaney by five points in the rookie standings. Not far behind are Brian Scott (-14) and Chris Buescher (-16).

On the season, Elliott boasts three top 10s, while Blaney owns two top 10s. They both have high finishes of sixth.

Both Elliott and Blaney are alumni of the NASCAR Next initiative. Blaney claims eight combined NASCAR XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series wins, while Elliott has six.

Penske Posts Quality Auto Club Showings

Team Penske shopmates Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski finished fourth and ninth, respectively, in last Sunday’s Auto Club 400 – the second time the duo has placed in the top 10 together this season. Keselowski and Logano finished 1-2 at Las Vegas.

Logano, who led the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with six wins last year, is still looking for his first visit to Victory Lane. He has three top-six showings this season.

Keselowski has posted three top-10 finishes this season and clinched a Chase berth with his victory at Las Vegas. He led the series with six wins in 2014.

Spring Break: The Sprint Cup Drivers Who Completed First Five Weeks With Passing Grades

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has this weekend off before heading to Martinsville for the STP 500 on Sunday, April 3.

Through the first five races, four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers have all but captured Chase berths with wins: Denny Hamlin (Daytona), Jimmie Johnson (Atlanta and Auto Club), Brad Keselowski (Las Vegas) and Kevin Harvick (Phoenix).

Each win in the regular season gives a driver three bonus points for the Round of 16 in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Johnson has earned the most bonus points so far (6).

Kyle Busch leads the series with four top fives, while Harvick ranks first in top 10s (5).

The drivers on the Chase Grid, in order, include: Johnson, Harvick, Hamlin, Keselowski, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Kurt Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Austin Dillon, Martin Truex Jr., Jamie McMurray, Aric Almirola, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Matt Kenseth and Chase Elliott.

The next break on the schedule comes 11 races from now (including the Sprint All-Star Race), between the races at Michigan International Speedway (June 12) and Sonoma Raceway (June 26).