Only seven cautions waved during the Auto Club 500 at California Speedway with the last four coming during the final 36 laps. With a car that was faster on the long run, Dale Jarrett and the #88 UPS Racing Team finished the event in 17th place.
The UPS Team started the event in 19th and competed in the top 25 throughout the duration of the 251-lap event. Jarrett battled a handling condition on the UPS Ford that had him loose getting into the turns and then tight at the exit of the turns during the first half of the race. Despite handling issues, the UPS Ford was among the fastest on a long run. During the last of the long green-flag runs, Jarrett raced the UPS Ford to 12th place and was in position to move into the top-10 with more such laps.
The fourth caution of the day waved on lap 214, and Jarrett was in 15th place when green flag racing resumed on lap 218. With subsequent yellow flags on laps 219, 225 and 246, Jarrett never could maneuver the UPS Ford to the top-10 and finished in 17th place.
"The car just would not go at the beginning of a run," Jarrett said after the event. "I don't know if it would have been different with old tires on the car or not, but it didn't fall off a lot or lose a lot of speed on the long green flag runs we had early in the race. We just had too many cautions at the end and gave up a lot of spots."
The day was a bit longer for Elliott Sadler and the #38 M&M'S® Racing Team as they started the race in 16th place but fell through the field early with handling issues. The issues persisted throughout the race and Sadler wound up 23rd at the conclusion of the event which featured a green, white, checkered flag finish with Matt Kenseth picking up the win. Kenseth's win in Sunday's NEXTEL Cup Series race made it a complete NASCAR sweep of the weekend for Roush Racing as Mark Martin won Friday night's truck race, and Greg Biffle won Saturday's Busch Series event.
Jimmie Johnson finished the race in second place to solidify his hold on the top spot in the point standings with a lead of 39 points over Casey Mears. Jarrett lost one position in the standings and is now 11th while teammate Sadler tumbled to 10th place, 96 points out of first. Jarrett is 109 points out of first place.
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series teams do not race next weekend. The next event will be in two weeks at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. FOX will provide live television coverage of the event that will start at 1:30 p.m. PST.
