Saturday, February 23 Sunday, February 24 Monday, February 25 California Speedway Fontana, California

Tony Stewart celebrates his second straight win on the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series...

Stewart Wins Second Straight Nationwide Series Race
By Reid Spencer, Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

FONTANA, Calif. (February 25, 2008) - Déjà vu.

For the second straight Nationwide Series race, Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch drove their Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas to a 1-2 finish.

Unlike the Feb. 16 Camping World 300 at Daytona, where Stewart edged Busch by .259 seconds, the twice rain-delayed Stater Bros. 300 Monday at Auto Club Speedway was a landslide in Stewart’s favor.

The driver of the No. 20 Camry won the race by 2.408 seconds after Busch wrested the second position from David Reutimann in a battle that lasted 30 laps. In the closing circuits, Kevin Harvick slipped past Reutimann for third place, with Reutimann maintaining fourth and Carl Edwards fifth.

All told, Stewart paced the field for 136 of the 150 laps at the 2.0-mile speedway. In fact, the only laps Stewart didn’t lead came when Morgan Shepherd stayed on the track and led Lap 24 during a round of pit stops and when Stewart pitted from the lead on Lap 98, and the field cycle through a round of green-flag stops.

Stewart took the lead for good after a restart on Lap 111, passing Jamie McMurray moments after the cars crossed the start/finish line. From that point on, the battle was for second place.

“This car was really good in the little practice we got Saturday morning,” Stewart said, referring to the intermittent rains that abbreviated practice schedules in all three of NASCAR’s top series. “To lead 130-some laps of a 150-lap race is pretty impressive.

“We got lucky there at Daytona, but this is just one of those days that you can count on your fingers and toes -- having a car this good all day.”

Busch could take solace in his runner-up finish after a long weekend that saw him win Saturday’s San Bernardino 200 Craftsman Truck Series race and leave the track with the points lead in the truck and Sprint Cup Series (after finishing fourth in the Auto Club 500).

“Tony was pretty much in a league of his own, for some reason,” Busch said. “I got two second places to the guy who won the first two races, so what else can you do? I’m happy with it. We’ll go on to Las Vegas (for Saturday’s Sam’s Town 300), and, hopefully, I can have another good run.”

Complete Race Results click here

Driver Point Standings click here

Stater Bros. 300 Postponed Until Monday

The NASCAR Nationwide Series Stater Bros. 300. will run approximately one hour following the conclusion of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Auto Club 500 Monday. The Sprint Cup race is scheduled to resume at 2 p.m./AT - just over 100 laps remain in it.

ESPN2 will carry the Nationwide Series race; FOX will carry the Sprint Cup race.

Qualifying was rained out for all three NASCAR series at California Speedway; the starting lineup for the Nationwide Series race is based on final 2007 car owner points with Jeff Burton and Tony Stewart on the front row.

Stater Bros. 300 Starting Lineup - click here

Schedule/Broadcast Times*

Practice: Friday, February 22 (SPEED at 1:30 p.m./AT)

Final Practice: Friday, February 22 (SPEED at 9:30 p.m./AT)

Qualifying: Saturday, February 23 (SPEED at 1:30 p.m/AT)

Race: Saturday, February 23 (ESPN2 & TSN-HD at 8:30 p.m./AT)

Race: Sunday, February 24 (ESPN2)

Race: Monday, February 25 (ESPN2, approx. 5 p.m. - one hour after Cup race ends)

*AT is one hour ahead of ET, i.e. if it's 2 p.m./AT - it's 1 p.m./ET...

Event Stats PDF files unless otherwise noted

stay tuned

Green Flag Fast Facts
The Race: Stater Bros. 300
The Place: California Speedway
Track Layout: 2-mile oval
2007 Winner: Matt Kenseth
2007 Pole: Dave Blaney
Schedule (local track time/PT): Friday—Practice 9:45-11:50 a.m.; Final Practice 5:45-6:45 p.m. Saturday—Qualifying, 9:35 a.m. (Impound).
Year-To-Date Standings: click here

Track Map



Pre-Race Pit Stops

• West Series Represents... Two former NASCAR Camping World Series champions are entered in the Stater Bros. 300 at California Speedway. Kevin Harvick won the championship in 1998, which started a climb up the NASCAR ladder that took him to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, the NASCAR Nationwide Series and into his current status as a star in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Eric Norris (No. 14 Music City Illinois Ford) won the 2002 West championship. He’s the son of actor and martial arts legend Chuck Norris. A Redondo Beach native, Norris also coordinates stunts and directs action scenes for TV shows and feature films. He has two NASCAR Nationwide Series career starts, one at California in 2005.
• The Director’s Take: California Speedway “We’re looking forward to our race at California Speedway, our first with the tapered spacer. It gives us an opportunity to start our engine program that, in the long run, will help contain costs for the series. “This is the first race that we believe allows the teams to start utilizing their components for more than one race and make their engine budget dollars go farther. “The tapered spacer – unlike a restrictor plate – funnels the air from the carburetor into the intake manifold, helping the air/fuel mixture circulate better than a restrictor plate would. “It’s designed to reduce some horsepower and that’s how engine components can be used more than once. That, along with the gear rule that reduces RPM, puts less stress on the engine allowing parts to be used again. “California is a 2-mile track and puts it in the middle of a superspeedway like Daytona and a 1.5-mile track like we have next week at Las Vegas. “Teams will try to balance the downforce to help the car turn and still reduce some of the drag on the car to make it go fast. “It’s also an opportunity for our fans to see two of NASCAR’s top series race on the same day.”
• KHI and one of its sponsors, RoadLoans.com, will partner with the “Million Thanks Foundation” this year. The foundation collects letters of support for U.S. troops, past and present. Prior to Saturday’s race, Kevin Harvick will place the first letter in a drop box to kick off the campaign between the team, sponsor and the foundation. KHI will make drop boxes available at all show car appearances throughout the season.
• Stephen Leicht (No. 21 RCR Chevrolet) gets his first chance to race since finishing seventh in the series standings last year. Leicht, who won his first career race last season at Kentucky, has reason to be considered among the favorites at California. He’ll be driving the No. 21 car has posted a driver championship, two owner titles and 21 wins over the last five seasons.
• Brad Keselowski (No. 88 U.S. NAVY Chevrolet) made his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut at California Speedway in the fall of 2006. After competing in Saturday’s race, he’ll travel to El Centro, Calif., to fly with the Navy’s Blue Angels on Monday, Feb. 25. In honor of his flight, Keselowski will wear a gold visor this weekend and next at Las Vegas Motor Speedway; the Blue Angels wear gold visors on their helmets. It will be a family affair at California as Brad’s older brother Brian makes his debut in the No. 28 Fanista.com Chevrolet. The brothers’ dad, Bob, will serve as crew chief for Brian’s team.
• Dale Ferguson, the lead engineer for Rusty Wallace Racing, has been named interim crew chief for the No. 64 Atreus Homes & Communities Chevrolet, which is shared by the trio of David Stremme (in the car at California), Chase Austin and Max Papis. Ferguson replaces Steve Darne.

IMPORTANT: All information, schedules and/or scheduled events is/are subject to change without notice. Please check with the source to confirm.