THEN AND NOW: Jimmie Johnson won this past Sunday's Auto Club 400
at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, about 50 miles east of
Los Angeles. It was Johnson's sixth Sprint Cup win there (tops among
all Cup drivers), along with 13 top-five and 19 top-10 finishes in
22 starts. ... It was also Johnson's 77th career Sprint Cup victory,
moving him past Dale Earnhardt Sr. into sole possession of seventh
place on NASCAR's all-time Sprint Cup wins list. Johnson is now six
wins behind sixth-ranked Cale Yarborough and seven wins behind
fourth-ranked (tie) Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip. ... Johnson,
who grew up in El Cajon, Calif., about two hours south of Fontana,
donned a Superman cape after the win. He had a Superman paint scheme
on his car for the race to promote the new "Batman v Superman: Dawn
of Justice" movie, which is in theaters nationally now. Dale
Earnhardt Jr. drove a Batman-themed car during Sunday's race at
Fontana. ... Winners thus far this season have been Denny Hamlin
(Daytona), Jimmie Johnson (Atlanta and Fontana), Brad Keselowski
(Las Vegas) and Kevin Harvick (Phoenix). ... The Sprint Cup
standings remain tight after the first five races of the 36-race
season. Kevin Harvick is back in sole possession of first place with
195 points. Jimmie Johnson moved up to second and is 11 points
behind Harvick. Carl Edwards is third (-24). Kyle Busch fell from
being tied for first prior to Fontana to a tie for fourth with Denny
Hamlin (-25 each). Sixth through 10th are Joey Logano (-30), Kurt
Busch (-47), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (-50), Brad Keselowski (-53) and
Austin Dillon (-56).
NASCAR XFINITY SERIES: There is no race this weekend. NASCAR is off
for the Easter holiday, and the Xfinity Series then has another
weekend off next week (will not compete at Martinsville). The series
resumes racing April 8, under the lights at Texas Motor Speedway.
THEN AND NOW: Austin Dillon led just one lap in last Saturday's race
at Fontana, Calif., but it was the most important lap -- the final
one -- as he captured the TreatMyClot.com 300 at Auto Club Speedway.
It was one of the most exciting and also oddest race finishes in
recent memory. Erik Jones ran out of fuel with three laps to go.
Then, Daniel Suarez ran out of fuel with one lap to go, missing his
bid to win his first career Xfinity Series race. Then, Kyle Busch
blew a tire on the final lap, yet managed to keep racing. It
appeared Busch might be able to win on three tires, but Dillon got
past him in the final turn and went on to victory. Dillon's win also
snapped Kyle Busch's three-race winning streak. ... Winners of the
first four Xfinity Series races this season have been Chase Elliott
(won Daytona) and Kyle Busch (won Atlanta, Las Vegas and Phoenix)
and Dillon (won Fontana). ... Daniel Suarez remains in the lead in
the Xfinity Series point standings after Fontana, with 182 points.
Elliott Sadler is in second place, 10 points behind Suarez. Justin
Allgaier moved up to third place (-19 points), followed by Brandon
Jones (-21), Ty Dillon (-23), Brendan Gaughan (-28), Erik Jones
(-30), Darrell Wallace Jr. (-48), Ryan Reed (-49) and Brennan Poole
(-52).
NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: There is no race this weekend.
NASCAR is off for the Easter holiday. The next Truck Series race
will be Saturday, April 2, at Martinsville Speedway.
THEN AND NOW: 18-year-old John Hunter Nemechek won the most recent
Truck Series race, nearly a month ago at Atlanta. ... Parker
Kligerman is the surprising leader in the Truck series points
standings. He leads Daniel Hemric by one point, followed by Nemechek
(-3), Timothy Peters (-6), Tyler Young (-8), Ryan Truex (-10),
Brandon Brown (-12), Ben Rhodes (-12), Grant Enfinger (-13) and
Daytona winner Johnny Sauter in 10th place (-14).
VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES: Series is off this weekend. The next race is
April 2, a Saturday night race under the lights at Phoenix
International Raceway.
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THEN AND NOW: For the second consecutive year, Juan Pablo Montoya
won the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg two
weeks ago in St. Petersburg, Florida. ... With the win, Montoya
takes over the points lead in the IndyCar Series. Montoya led the
series standings through the first 15 races of last season, only to
lose the championship to Scott Dixon in the season finale at Sonoma,
Calif. ... Following Montoya (51 points) in the standings is
teammate Simon Pagenaud (43 points), Ryan Hunter-Reay (36), Helio
Castroneves (32), Mikhail Aleshin (30), Takuma Sato (28), defending
series champion Scott Dixon (26), Carlos Munoz (24), Tony Kanaan
(22) and Charlie Kimball (20). ... The next race on the 16-race
schedule, at Phoenix, marks the return of the series to the one-mile
track in suburban Avondale, Ariz., since 2005.
NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION MELLO YELLO DRAG RACING SERIES: The
series is off this weekend. The next race will be April 1-3, the
DENSO Spark Plugs NHRA Nationals, at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor
Speedway.
THEN AND NOW: At last Sunday's Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals
in Gainesville, Fla., Brittany Force captured her first career Top
Fuel win, defeating Terry McMillen, who made his first final round
appearance of his career. It was Force's first win in eight career
final round appearances. ... Brittany Force is the daughter of
16-time NHRA Funny Car champion John Force. ... Other winners Sunday
in Gainesville were Force's teammate, Robert Hight, in Funny Car;
Greg Anderson won his second Pro Stock race of the season, and Eddie
Krawiec won the first Pro Stock Motorcycle race of the season. ...
With her win at Gainesville, Brittany Force took over the lead in
the Top Fuel points standings for the first time in her career.
Force has 251 points, followed by Millican (210 points), followed by
former points leader Doug Kalitta (205), Steve Torrence (199), Terry
McMillan (178), Leah Pritchett (166), J.R. Todd (157), Tony
Schumacher (155), Richie Crampton (153) and defending series
champion Antron Brown (149). ... With his win at Gainesville, Robert
Hight took over the top spot in the Funny Car standings (280
points), followed by former points leader Ron Capps (279), John
Force (221), Jack Beckman (205), Courtney Force (201), defending
series champ Del Worsham (189), Tim Wilkerson (183), Chad Head
(162), Alexis De Joria (119) and Matt Hagan (118). ... Jason Line
remains atop the Pro Stock point standings (337 points), followed
closely by Greg Anderson (331), and then Bo Butner (233), Drew
Skillman (205), Chris McGaha (161), Jeg Coughlin (160), Allen
Johnson (160), Vincent Nobile (138), Alex Laughlin (121) and
defending series champ Erica Enders finally cracked the top 10,
moving into 10th place (97 points). ... Lastly, by winning Sunday,
Krawiec leads the Pro Stock Motorcycle ranks (129 points), followed
by Hector Arana (99), defending series champ Andrew Hines (79), LE
Tonglet IV (74), Chip Ellis (62), Michael Ray Jr. (52), Gerald
Savoie (52), James Underdahl (52), Angelle Sampey (35) and Scott
Pollacheck (33).
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