By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

It was hard not to feel terrible for Jack Roush on Sunday, as his shot at the Sprint Cup championship with any of his teams literally went up in smoke. I was glad at least that Matt Kenseth got to finish the race, even if in 30th, his crippled No 17 car leaving a wake of oily smoke as the motor started coming apart in the final laps. Even so, he ultimately fared a lot better than both Greg Biffle (finished 41st), whose engine blew up early on, and Carl Edwards (34th), who was mired hopelessly laps-down after having to go to the garage during the race with distributor problems. That’s it: the Roush Fords are completely out of the running for this year’s Sprint Cup. At least in the case of the two expired motors–one of which let go suddenly and punched a hole through the oil pan, while the other languished gradually following a late-race restart–the temperamental new FR9 engine platform, which has dealt out more than its fair share of black eyes, seems an obvious culprit. Still, it’s a bit baffling to see such an advanced and well-funded organization still struggling so greatly with their technology. It’d be great to have the Fords truly competitive again at the Cup level, so I hope they’re able to exorcise their demons in time for the 2011 season.

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

This weekend I went to check out the Pepsi Max 400 at Fontana. Having been marooned in the NASCAR-devoid Pacific Northwest, I’m always keen on the idea of Sprint Cup-level tracks anywhere on the West Coast. And after visiting Auto Club Speedway, about a 45-minute straight shot from LA over to San Bernadino county, I think I’m finally actually jealous of SoCal residents: they get to call this place their hometown track.

The eye-appeal of Fontana is addictive–think of race cars against a desert backdrop of mountains and palm trees–and the two-mile D-oval, banked 14 degrees in the turns, is majestic in its scope. Despite its massiveness, Auto Club isn’t a restrictor-plate track, and with its breadth and its ultra-slick surface it lends itself to the kind of changeable, five-wide, thrills-a-minute racing that we saw on Sunday. The track is run as a pretty tight ship, with ample security and good crowd control–important when you’re dealing with a facility of this magnitude, though it can feel at times like you’re being herded just a little. Next year, in place of its twice-yearly NASCAR events, Auto Club will host only one Sprint Cup race in March. If you’re in the SoCal area, don’t miss it–it’ll be the only chance you’ll get for some local NASCAR action, and this gorgeous track is well worth the price of admission.

Head on over to the Events section to see a ton of photos from Sunday’s race!