NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Auto Club Speedway: entry list
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series embarks on his fifth race of the 2015 season and the third and final race of its West Coast swing on Sunday with the running of the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif.
Friday was supposed to be a typical Friday of practice and qualifying for the Cup Series, but an announcement that Brian Vickers, again, has been sidelined for blood clots set off a game of musical chairs, so to speak.
Brett Moffitt headed to Fontana, expecting to fill in for David Ragan in the No. 34 Furniture Row Racing Ford as Ragan continued to fill in for the injured Kyle Busch behind the wheel of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.
But with Vickers’ latest health issue, Michael Waltrip Racing has recalled its development driver, Moffitt, to substitute for Vickers in the No. 55 Toyota. Since Ragan is continuing his substitute role at JGR, Front Row Motorsports tapped into the Roush Fenway Racing Xfinity Series driver stable and called up Chris Buescher to drive the No. 34.
Meanwhile, it’s same-ol’, same-ol’ for Kevin Harvick and the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet team, or at least they hope so. Because the same song, next verse would be a win or runner-up finish. Harvick heads to ACS as the winner of the two most recent races at Phoenix International Raceway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and riding a wave of momentum in the form of top-two finishes in the last seven races, dating back to the final three races of last season.
Here’s a look at the entry list for the Auto Club 400 (list doesn’t reflect movement by Vickers, Moffitt and Buescher):
19th Annual Auto Club “400” – NASCAR Sprint Cup Series – Auto Club Speedway – 3/22/2015 Last Update: 3/18/2015 4:05:00 PM
Entry Veh # Driver Owner Crew Chief Veh Mfg Sponsor
| 1 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Felix Sabates | Matt McCall | 15 Chevrolet | McDonald’s |
| 2 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Roger Penske | Paul Wolfe | 15 Ford | Wurth |
| 3 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress | Gil Martin | 15 Chevrolet | Dow |
| 4 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Tony Stewart | Rodney Childers | 15 Chevrolet | Jimmy John’s/ Budweiser |
| 5 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Linda Hendrick | Keith Rodden | 15 Chevrolet | TIME WARNER CABLE |
| 6 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | John Henry | Bob Osborne | 15 Ford | Advocare Ford Fusion |
| 7 | 7 | Alex Bowman | Tommy Baldwin | Bono Manion | 13 Chevrolet | Nikko RC/Toy State Car |
| 8 | 9 | Sam Hornish Jr | Richard Petty | Drew Blickensderfer | 15 Ford | Medallion Bank/Mercury Marine |
| 9 | 10 | Danica Patrick | Tony Stewart | Daniel Knost | 15 Chevrolet | Aspen Dental |
| 10 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | J D Gibbs | Dave Rogers | 15 Toyota | Sport Clips |
| 11 | 13 | Casey Mears | Bob Germain | Bootie Barker III | 15 Chevrolet | No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet SS |
| 12 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Margaret Haas | Chad Johnston | 15 Chevrolet | Rush Truck Centers / Mobil 1 |
| 13 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | Rob Kauffman | Brian Pattie | 14 Toyota | BlueDEF |
| 14 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Jack Roush | Matt Puccia | 15 Ford | Clean Harbors Ford Fusion |
| 15 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | John Henry | Nicholas Sandler | 15 Ford | NOS Energy Drink Ford Fusion |
| 16 | 18 | David Ragan | Joe Gibbs | Adam Stevens | 15 Toyota | Interstate Batteries |
| 17 | 19 | Carl Edwards | J D Gibbs | Darian Grubb | 15 Toyota | SUBWAY |
| 18 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs | Jason Ratcliff | 15 Toyota | DeWalt |
| 19 | 22 | Joey Logano | Walter Czarnecki | Todd Gordon | 15 Ford | AAA So. California |
| 20 | 23 | J J Yeley(i) | Ron Devine | Joe Williams Jr | 15 Toyota | Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry |
| 21 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Rick Hendrick | Alan Gustafson | 15 Chevrolet | AXALTA |
| 22 | 26 | Jeb Burton | Anthony Marlowe | Patrick Donahue | 15 Toyota | Maxim.com |
| 23 | 27 | Paul Menard | Richard Childress | Justin Alexander | 15 Chevrolet | FVP / Menards |
| 24 | 129 | Reed Sorenson | Robby Benton | Matthew Lucas | 15 Toyota | None |
| 25 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress | Luke Lambert | 15 Chevrolet | Caterpillar |
| 26 | 32 | Mike Bliss(i) | Archie St Hilaire | Clinton Cram | 15 Ford | KING TACO |
| 27 | 33 | Brian Scott(i) | Joe Falk | Slugger Labbe | 15 Chevrolet | Shore Lodge |
| 28 | 34 | Brett Moffitt | Jerry Freeze | Derrick Finley | 15 Ford | Dockside Logistics |
| 29 | 35 | Cole Whitt | Bob Jenkins | Randy Cox | 15 Ford | Rinnai Tankless Water Heaters |
| 30 | 38 | David Gilliland | Brad Jenkins | Donnie Wingo | 15 Ford | Love’s Travel Stops |
| 31 | 40 | Landon Cassill(i) | Michael Hillman | Mark Hillman | 15 Chevrolet | TBA |
| 32 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Gene Haas | Tony Gibson | 15 Chevrolet | Haas Automation |
| 33 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi | Chris Heroy | 14 Chevrolet | Target |
| 34 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Richard Petty | Trent Owens | 15 Ford | Smithfield |
| 35 | 44 | Travis Kvapil(i) | John Cohen | Peter Sospenzo | 15 Chevrolet | TBA |
| 36 | 46 | Michael Annett | Harry Scott Jr | Jay Guy | 15 Chevrolet | Cypress |
| 37 | 47 | A J Allmendinger | Tad Geschickter | Brian Burns | 15 Chevrolet | Scott Products |
| 38 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Jeff Gordon | Chad Knaus | 15 Chevrolet | LOWE’S PRO SERVICES |
| 39 | 51 | Justin Allgaier | Harry Scott Jr | Steve Addington | 15 Chevrolet | BRANDT |
| 40 | 55 | Brian Vickers | Michael Waltrip | Billy Scott | 14 Toyota | Janssen |
| 41 | 62 | Brendan Gaughan(i) | Jay Robinson | Zach McGowan | 15 Chevrolet | South Point Hotel & Casino |
| 42 | * 66 | Mike Wallace | Jay Robinson | Scott Eggleston | 15 Chevrolet | TBA |
| 43 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr | Barney Visser | Cole Pearn | 15 Chevrolet | Furniture Row/Visser Precision |
| 44 | 83 | Matt Dibenedetto | Ron Devine | Douglas Richert | 15 Toyota | Burger King |
| 45 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | Rick Hendrick | Greg Ives | 15 Chevrolet | NATIONWIDE |
| 46 | 98 | Josh Wise | Mike Curb | Gene Nead | 15 Ford | Curb Records/LEE BRICE |
* equals withdrawn from the event
(i) equals ineligible for driver championship points
Follow Stock Car Spin on Twitter @SCSblog or like Stock Car Spin on Facebook. Amanda’s also on Twitter @NASCARexaminer and has a fan/like page on Facebook: NASCAR Examiner