Jimmie Johnson has won this week’s Auto Club 500 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana. His #48 Lowe’s Chevrolet started the race from the 7th position, but lead the most laps of the day. Behind him at the line was poll-sitter Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, Mark Martin, and Joey Logano. The highest finishing rookie was Kevin Conway who finished 31st.

This weekend’s major story was the engine troubles that plagued many of the teams including Ryan Newman, Juan Montoya, Martin Truex Jr., Dave Blaney, Michael McDowell, and Aric Almirola. Robby Gordon and Marcos Ambrose were also unable to finish the race after suffering from overheating issues, as were Boris Said and Joe Nemechek who had rear gear troubles.

Results of the 2010 Auto Club 500 at Auto Club Speedway:

Pos  #  Driver               Make      Laps  Status
 1  48  Jimmie Johnson       Chevrolet  250  Running
 2  29  Kevin Harvick        Chevrolet  250  Running
 3  31  Jeff Burton          Chevrolet  250  Running
 4   5  Mark Martin          Chevrolet  250  Running
 5  20  Joey Logano          Toyota     250  Running
 6   2  Kurt Busch           Dodge      250  Running
 7  17  Matt Kenseth         Ford       250  Running
 8  33  Clint Bowyer         Chevrolet  250  Running
 9  14  Tony Stewart         Chevrolet  250  Running
10  16  Greg Biffle          Ford       250  Running
11  82  Scott Speed          Toyota     250  Running
12  83  Brian Vickers        Toyota     250  Running
13  99  Carl Edwards         Ford       250  Running
14  18  Kyle Busch           Toyota     250  Running
15   0  David Reutimann      Toyota     250  Running
16  77  Sam Hornish Jr.      Dodge      250  Running
17   1  Jamie McMurray       Chevrolet  250  Running
18  98  Paul Menard          Ford       250  Running
19  78  Regan Smith          Chevrolet  250  Running
20  24  Jeff Gordon          Chevrolet  250  Running
21  12  Brad Keselowski      Dodge      250  Running
22  36  Mike Bliss           Chevrolet  250  Running
23   6  David Ragan          Ford       250  Running
24  19  Elliott Sadler       Ford       249  Running
25  43  A.J. Allmendinger    Ford       249  Running
26  38  David Gilliland      Ford       249  Running
27  71  Bobby Labonte        Chevrolet  249  Running
28  13  Max Papis            Toyota     249  Running
29  11  Denny Hamlin         Toyota     248  Running
30  34  Travis Kvapil        Ford       248  Running
31  37  Kevin Conway (R)     Ford       247  Running
32  88  Dale Earnhardt Jr.   Chevrolet  238  Running
33   7  Robby Gordon         Toyota     230  Overheating
34   9  Kasey Kahne          Ford       221  Running
35  47  Marcos Ambrose       Toyota     170  Overheating
36  39  Ryan Newman          Chevrolet  148  Engine
37  42  Juan Montoya         Chevrolet  140  Engine
38  26  Boris Said           Ford        67  Rear Gear
39  56  Martin Truex Jr.     Toyota      64  Engine
40  87  Joe Nemechek         Toyota      48  Rear Gear
41  66  Dave Blaney          Toyota      43  Engine
42  55  Michael McDowell     Toyota      40  Engine
43   9  Aric Almirola        Chevrolet   34  Engine

This landed Kevin Harvick in the current lead of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship – four places up from last week. He leads Clint Bowyer by 19 points. Jamie McMurray, the previous leader fell to 4th in the points standings.

The next race for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will be the Shelby American held at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on February 28, 2010.

Related Links:
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Series Information, Schedule, Standings, Past Champions, News, Videos