California, Here We Come: Live-Blogging NASCAR In Fontana

If you read between the lines, Denny Hamlin’s Chase strategy with six races to go is quite simple: Out-run Jimmie Johnson.

“At this point, to be within whatever amount of points we are (36), I can take that and I can race him from there,” Hamlin said after finishing eighth on Sunday.

Tony Stewart held off Jimmie Johnson on the final restart to win the fourth race of the Chase, the Pepsi Max 400 in Southern California.

During the race, fans chatted about the surprisingly entertaining battles at Fontana. The event featured 14 different leaders.

After going eight straight races without a top-10 qualifying effort, Dale Earnhardt Jr. qualified in the top 10 for the second time in four races Friday at Auto Club Speedway in Southern California.

Earnhardt Jr. qualified ninth for Sunday’s Pepsi Max 400 after he said his team made smart changes and he switched his racing line – a result of watching Juan Pablo Montoya drive in the middle of the track instead of the bottom.

Though the South Park character Cartman ripped NASCAR drivers in this week’s season premiere as being “poor and stupid,” the drivers portrayed in the episode said they were pleased to have been featured – though none had actually viewed themselves on the show yet.

Danica Patrick said she’s been “trying like heck” to see it, even though her character was run over by another car during the show.

Two-time World Series champ Johnny Damon had just wrapped up his baseball season with the Detroit Tigers and was driving back home to Orlando when he made a stop that led to a few more at-bats than he bargained for.

Damon, 36, took a detour to Charlotte, N.C. for lunch with a friend. The friend just so happened to be one of NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin’s managers, so Hamlin tagged along.

Auto Club Speedway is the track most NASCAR fans outside California love to hate.

But with perfect SoCal weather in the forecast, only 400 miles instead of 500 and the drama of a tight Chase race, the Pepsi Max 400 could make for a pretty enjoyable race weekend.