NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
RACE: Auto Club 400
TRACK: Auto Club Speedway
DATE: March 25, 2012
Race Highlights:
Richard Childress Racing teammates finished fourth (Kevin Harvick), 19th (Paul Menard), 22nd (Jeff Burton) and 43rd (Brendan Gaughan).
According to NASCAR’s Loop Data Statistics, Harvick led the field in Quality Passes (passing a car running in the top 15 while under green-flag conditions) with 35 and was one of eight drivers who did not fall outside of the top 15 during the race.
Harvick was the fourth-fastest driver in NASCAR’s Loop Data Category for Fastest Drivers Late in a Run.
Menard tied for third in NASCAR’s Loop Data category for Closers, gaining four positions in the final 20 laps (10 percent) of the event.
Menard ranked eighth among all drivers in NASCAR’s Loop Data category for Green Flag Passes, with 65 recorded.
Burton made 72 green-flag passes during the 129-lap race, third-most in the 43-car field.
The event at Auto Club Speedway served as Gaughan’s 41st-career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start and his fourth of four races with the Welcome, N.C.-based organization.
Tony Stewart scored the win in Sunday’s rain-shortened race at Auto Club Speedway. Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards completed the top five.
The next Sprint Cup Series race is the Goody’s Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, April 1, televised live on FOX beginning at 12:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time and broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM Satellite Radio beginning at 12 p.m. EST.