Kenseth could change luck of Chase outsiders at Fontana

This year's Chase schedule brings the Sprint Cup Series to Auto Club Speedway for the first time. Thanks to a calendar shuffle, NASCAR has essentially swapped Atlanta for Fontana in the championship season, with Sunday's Pepsi 500 occupying the fourth slot.

But don't expect anything much different Sunday than what has been going on in the opening three races.

Chase drivers have flexed their muscles in a big way since the postseason kicked off in New Hampshire, with nine of the top 10 finishers in last week's Kansas race title contenders.

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That kind of showing makes it pretty hard for those outside the top 12 to break through and steal the spotlight away.

"The saying the crew rises to the top certainly comes to mind," said David Reutimann, the only driver outside the Chase field to crack the top 10 last Sunday.

It's a trend that will certainly continue as the title race wears on and time becomes as much of an opponent as the other cars on the track to any driver trying to make up ground in the standings.

But one driver who has the credentials to crash the party this weekend is Matt Kenseth, who has always considered the two-mile Auto Club Speedway one of his favorites.

And with his track record at ACS, who could blame him?

Kenseth has gone to Fontana's Victory Lane three times, including last February, when he followed up his Daytona 500 victory with another Auto Club Speedway win.

"We got off to a start where Matt won the first two races [and] I thought this is great, this is spectacular, this is going to be our year," teammate Carl Edwards said.

But it has been a downhill ride since. Kenseth ended up missing the Chase for the first time since the format's inception.

Forced to play second fiddle to this year's championship story, Kenseth is hoping to end the year on a positive note and try to put the disappointment of 2009 behind.

"Maybe this will be the weekend we start getting things turned around," said Kenseth. "I really don't know what's wrong, and if I knew exactly I'd fix it. This year, for whatever reason -- somewhere close to or after Texas -- our stuff just quit running. I don't know why."

Kenseth's woes have run through the entire Roush Fenway Racing operation, which despite having two of its drivers in the Chase (Edwards and Greg Biffle) hasn't performed nearly as well this season as in years past.

Edwards, who led the series with nine victories last season and comes into Sunday's race 10th in points, understands he must a make a move in the standings quickly to keep alive any championship hopes.

"If we leave California with a 150- or 160-point deficit, points racing is done," said Edwards. "We've got to go out and take chances. To make those points up, we're going to have to do some dramatic things."

"We felt like at this point we'd be vying for the point lead. It's been a real frustrating year."

With only seven races left, that's looking like less of a possibility, but Edwards isn't throwing in the towel.

"I never, ever give up," he said. "As long as it's mathematically possible, then you can't give up. I understand. I realize the chances of the championship being won by our Aflac team keep getting smaller and smaller. We have to close that number."

Who's hot

Jimmie Johnson: Defending event winner, Johnson's victory was the third of his ACS career in 13 starts. He finished ninth in the spring for ninth top 10.

Matt Kenseth: Three-time winner and the race winner this past February. Kenseth leads all drivers with 11 top 10s and average finish of 3.7 with the COT.

Jeff Gordon: Three-time winner, Gordon finished second in the spring for nine top fives in 18 starts. Has posted the best average finish (2.0) on two-mile tracks in 2009.

Who's not

Jeff Burton: Has posted a 15.9 average finish in 10 starts with Richard Childress Racing. Burton's best finish with the team is a pair of fourth-place runs in 2007.

Kevin Harvick: Finished 38th in February after a crash took him out of contention. Harvick has recorded four top 10s in 14 starts and finished fourth in this event last year.

Sam Hornish Jr.: Has a 32.3 average finish in three starts; his finish of 23rd in February is his best to date.

Make a note

• Johnson has won this race the past two seasons. His three career Fontana victories is tied for the most all time with Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth.

• Roush Fenway Racing and Hendrick Motorsports are tied with the most Fontana wins among team owners with seven each.

• Tony Stewart has finished in the top 10 in the past three races at Auto Club Speedway with the earlier start time.

• Mark Martin has 36 combined career top 10s at Auto Club and its sister track, Michigan International Speedway.

• Juan Pablo Montoya has finished in the top five in the three Chase races.

• Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Sam Hornish Jr. finished in the top five at Michigan in August.