After a great race in Tennessee, The Nationwide boys, and Cup regulars, head out west to California. Auto Club Speedway is a two mile D-shaped oval located in Fontana, CA. Nascar has raced at Auto Club since 1997. Kyle Busch has won four of the last five races held at Auto Club. Joey Logano has won once, as has Carl Edwards and Mark Martin. Yet again, Busch will be the favorite to win, but Martin has already won once this year, and looks to increase his lead on Busch in Nationwide wins.
Nationwide heads out west to California: The Royal Purple 300 Preview
Those of you that do not know what Royal Purple is, visit www.royalpurple.com. Royal Purple is a synthetic oil and lubricant producers. They make products for cars, trucks, motorcycles, boats and race cars. At my local track, Wisconsin International Raceway, Royal Purple is the choice of most racers.
Remember, it is companies like Royal Purple that sponsor races and teams so they can expand their customer base and one of the best things we can do as fans is at least be aware of those sponsors and check out their websites - it helps companies to see that sponsoring NASCAR helps!
Entry List and more after the jump!
| Ent. | Car # | Driver | Sponsor | Manu. | Owner |
| 1 | 01 | Mike Wallace | 11 Chevy | Lori Davis | |
| 2 | 2 | Elliott Sadler | Bad Boy Buggies | 11 Chevy | Delana Harvick |
| 3 | 03 | Alex Kennedy | St. Baldrick's Foundation | 11 Dodge | Robert Richardson Sr |
| 4 | 6 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | 11 Ford | Jack Roush | |
| 5 | 7 | Josh Wise | TaxSlayer.com | 11 Chevy | Kelley Earnhardt |
| 6 | 09 | Kenny Wallace | 11 Toyota | Robby Benton | |
| 7 | 11 | Brian Scott | Shore Lodge | 11 Toyota | J D Gibbs |
| 8 | 14 | Eric McClure | Hefty "Black Out" - Reynolds | 11 Chevy | Mark Smith |
| 9 | 15 | Timmy Hill | 11 Ford | Bob Germain | |
| 10 | 16 | Trevor Bayne | 11 Ford | Jack Roush | |
| 11 | 18 | Kyle Busch(i) | Z-Line Designs | 11 Toyota | Joe Gibbs |
| 12 | 19 | Mike Bliss | 11 Chevy | Mark Smith | |
| 13 | 20 | Joey Logano(i) | GameStop | 11 Toyota | Joe Gibbs |
| 14 | 22 | Brad Keselowski(i) | Discount Tire | 11 Dodge | Roger Penske |
| 15 | 23 | Robert Richardson Jr | Wildlife Conservation Society | 11 Dodge | Robert Richardson Sr |
| 16 | 24 | Kevin Lepage | 11 Ford | Ed Rensi | |
| 17 | 25 | Kelly Bires | 11 Ford | Gary Weisbaum | |
| 18 | 27 | J R Fitzpatrick | 11 Ford | Mike Curb | |
| 19 | 28 | Derrike Cope | The PreventionPlan.com | 11 Chevy | Jay Robinson |
| 20 | 30 | Reed Sorenson | Rexall | 11 Chevy | Harry Scott Jr |
| 21 | 31 | Justin Allgaier | Brandt | 11 Chevy | Steve Turner |
| 22 | 32 | Mark Martin(i) | Dollar General | 11 Chevy | Sandra Turner |
| 23 | 33 | Kevin Harvick(i) [PC1] | Rheem Pool and Spa Heaters | 11 Chevy | Delana Harvick |
| 24 | 38 | Jason Leffler | Great Clips | 11 Chevy | Steve Turner |
| 25 | 39 | Charles Lewandoski | 11 Ford | Jack Roush | |
| 26 | 40 | Scott Wimmer | 11 Chevy | Curtis Key Sr | |
| 27 | 41 | Jennifer Jo Cobb | 11 Ford | Rick Ware | |
| 28 | 44 | Jeff Green [PC2] | 11 Chevy | Mark Smith | |
| 29 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | www.racedaysponsor.com | 10 Chevy | Johnny Davis |
| 30 | 52 | Tony Raines(i) | 11 Chevy | Jimmy Means | |
| 31 | 55 | Brett Rowe | Imperial Bedding | 11 Chevy | Cindy Shepherd |
| 32 | 60 | Carl Edwards(i) | 11 Ford | Jack Roush | |
| 33 | 62 | Michael Annett | Pilot Travel Centers/Flying J | 10 Toyota | Rusty Wallace |
| 34 | 66 | Steve Wallace | 5 Hour Energy | 10 Toyota | Rusty Wallace |
| 35 | 68 | Carl Long | 11 Ford | Craig Partee | |
| 36 | 70 | Dennis Setzer(i) | 11 Chevy | Mary Louise Miller | |
| 37 | 74 | Mike Harmon | Riverwalk Cafe | 11 Chevy | Mike Harmon |
| 38 | 75 | Donnie Neuenberger | 11 Ford | Rick Ware | |
| 39 | 79 | Tim Andrews | 11 Ford | Rick Russell | |
| 40 | 81 | Blake Koch | Eagle Convenience Stores/IHOP | 10 Dodge | Pat MacDonald |
| 41 | 87 | Kevin Conway(i) | Extenze | 11 Toyota | Andrea Nemechek |
| 42 | 88 | Aric Almirola | Ragu | 11 Chevy | Dale Earnhardt Jr |
| 43 | 89 | Morgan Shepherd | Imperial Bedding | 11 Chevy | Morgan Shepherd |
| 44 | 97 | Joe Nemechek [PC3] | 11 Chevy | Andrea Nemechek | |
| 45 | 99 | Ryan Truex | 11 Toyota | Gary Bechtel |
There are 45 teams on the entry list, so two teams will go home.
#03-Alex Kennedy steps into the Start and Park second team for R3 Motorsports. They have a listed sponsor this week, so they may race. Kennedy has to qualify on time.
#7-Danica Patrick is done for a few weeks so she can focus on IndyCar, so Josh Wise steps into the #7 Chevy this week. Wise has been a surprise for Go Green Racing this year, and will have some of the best equipment this week with JR Motorsports.
#30-Reed Sorenson will look to rebound after Bristol cost him the points lead. He moves over to the #30 Chevy this week.
#32-Mark Martin will try to go two for two this year as he takes Reed Sorenson’s primary car to the track this week.
#39-Charles Lewandowski steps in for Josh Wise this week. Lewandowski is locked into the field.
#41-Jennifer Jo Cobb has joined Rick Ware Racing this week. She’s unsponsored, but should race the full race. Cobb will have to qualify on time.
#52-Tony Raines steps into the Jimmy Means Chevy this week. Means is trying to stay afloat in the Nationwide Series. They may start and park. Raines has to qualify on time.
#68-Carl Long returns to Fleur-De-Lis Racing this week. Long will have to qualify on time.
#70-In a move that really upsets me, Dennis Setzer steps in for Shelby Howard this week. Howard has been running pretty well this year, and I have no clue why he is not in the car this week.
#74-Mike Harmon returns to the Nationwide Series in a self owned Chevy. Harmon will have to qualify on time.
#75-I have conflicting entry lists this week. I’m going with Donnie Neuenberger in the third team for Rick Ware Racing. One entry list had Neuenberger in the #81, and this team TBA. The other has Neuenberger in the #75, and Blake Koch in the #81 - that’s the one I’m going with, so if it’s wrong, I’m sorry.
#79-After the fallout from Bristol, Cobb and 2nd Chance have split. Tim Andrews will pilot the Ford Mustage this week. If we believe what happened last week, this team will run the full race. Andrews will have to qualify on time.
#81-Blake Koch should be in this team this week. Koch returns with IHOP as a sponsor.
#87-Everyone’s favorite punching bag Kevin Conway returns this week. Hopefully he can stay away from Robbie Gordon this week. He is sponsored by ExtenZe again this week which is a surprise. ExtenZe has two pending lawsuits against it. One from Front Row Motorsports, the other from Robby Gordon. Both are for Non-payment. Hopefully Joe Nemechek is getting the money up front.
#97-Joe Nemechek will run a second team this week, and will have to qualify on time unless both Kevin Harvick and Jeff Green qualify on time, then Nemechek would have a past champions provisional.
Join us Saturday, March 26th at 5pm Eastern for some awesome night racing from Fontana California! Tune in to ESPN for the Royal Purple 300! Enjoy!
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