Momentum shifts gears at Fontana

The California Speedway is a perfect example of the unpredictability in NASCAR’s Nextel Cup series.

At the Auto Club 500 a year ago, the Fords of what now is Roush Fenway Racing dominated the field, with Matt Kenseth driving his No. 17 Fusion to victory at the Fontana track and three other Roush cars finishing in the top 10.

But that was a year ago.

As the series returns to the speedway for today’s running of the race, the second event on the 36-race Cup calendar, the Roush Fords have struggled to keep pace since Kenseth celebrated in Victory Lane.

Kasey Kahne won the track’s Labor Day race in an Evernham Motorsports Dodge and starts second today. On the pole is the familiar No. 24 Chevrolet of three-time Fontana winner Jeff Gordon, the Hendrick Motorsports driver who qualified at 185.735 mph.

There are six more Chevrolets starting behind Kahne, those driven by Mark Martin, Daytona 500 winner Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Clint Bowyer, Martin Truex Jr. and Jeff Burton.

Then comes another Dodge -- driven by NASCAR newcomer Juan Pablo Montoya, the former Formula One driver -- and three more Chevrolets.

Where’s Roush? Greg Biffle, who dominated the Auto Club 500 a year ago before his car’s engine problems cleared the way for Kenseth, qualified 13th for today’s race. Kenseth managed only a 25th-place start.

Roush’s Carl Edwards starts 21st, and the team’s two other drivers, Jamie McMurray and rookie David Ragan, are 35th and 39th, respectively.

Regardless, the Roush cars can’t be counted out.

Kenseth started the race 31st a year ago, and still won. And even though Kahne won the Labor Day race, Edwards was fourth and Kenseth seventh.

“I really like this type of track,” Kenseth said of the two-mile, D-shaped oval 50 miles east of Los Angeles. “It’s smooth and wide with plenty of room to try some different lines and set up the pass.”

Biffle, too, hinted that he’ll show more speed today than his qualifying time indicated.

“The car was way better than I was,” he said. “I left a lot out there.”

Edwards also is among the most consistent drivers at Fontana. In five starts, he has completed all of 1,255 possible laps, won one pole and tallied four top-five and five top-10 finishes. But he has never won.

Kenseth is without his crew chief, Robbie Reiser, after Reiser and four other crew chiefs were suspended by NASCAR for alleged cheating violations during qualifying for the Daytona 500. Kahne’s crew chief, Kenny Francis, also was among them. Both suspensions are being appealed.

In the meantime, Kenseth said, “It’s business as usual,” with interim crew chief Chip Bolin. “Everyone has done a great job stepping up at the track in Robbie’s absence and I don’t anticipate a letdown this week.”

Harvick and Martin, meanwhile, will start today’s race the way they finished the Daytona 500, side by side. Martin, the Ginn Racing driver who lost by a nose to Harvick at Daytona International Speedway, qualified third for today’s race and Harvick starts fourth for Richard Childress Racing.

Harvick’s teammate, Bowyer, still looking for his first Cup win, was among the fastest drivers in practice Friday and Saturday.

Today also is a homecoming for David Gilliland, the Riverside driver who jumped into the Cup series last summer with Robert Yates Racing after a decade in NASCAR’s western minor leagues racing at tracks such as Irwindale, Perris and the California Speedway.

Gilliland returned to Fontana after putting his No. 38 Ford on the pole at the Daytona 500 and finishing eighth. But he qualified 40th for today’s race.

That will put a premium on his patience as he tries to thread his way through the pack. “The biggest thing I have worked on is my patience,” said Gilliland, who isn’t feeling well this weekend. “These are 500-mile races, much longer than anything I have been used to running.”

Southern Californians also will get their first look at Montoya in a stock car. The Colombia native -- who also won the Indianapolis 500 in 2000 and drove at the California Speedway in his open-wheel racing career -- now drives the No. 42 Dodge for the Chip Ganassi Racing team with Felix Sabates.

“It’s going to be a tough race,” said Montoya, who finished 19th at Daytona. “Our goal for the first five races was to bring the car home in the top 20. If it’s better, great.”

Earnhardt’s second-place finish in the Labor Day race was his best at Fontana, and his team brought the same car back for this race.

“It’s kind of like going out wearing your favorite jeans and T-shirt,” Earnhardt said. “It’s hard to explain, but you just feel better and more relaxed.”

Earnhardt was one of several top drivers dealt poor finishes in the Daytona 500 by multi-car crashes.

In fact, only four of the 10 drivers in last year’s Chase for the Cup -- NASCAR’s late-season playoff to determine the series champion -- finished in the top 10 at Daytona. The Chase was expanded this year to include 12 drivers.

Earnhardt was 32nd at Daytona, reigning title holder Jimmie Johnson was 39th, 2004 champion Kurt Busch was 41st and 2005 champion Tony Stewart was 43rd.

“We’re not going out there feeling like we’re in trouble in the points or worry about being in a big crash at Daytona,” Earnhardt said. “That was only the first race, and if we do what we know we can as a team, we’ll be in the top 12 in points when the Chase begins.”

james.peltz@latimes.com

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Today’s lineup

*--* PP. (No.) Driver MPH 1. (24) Jeff Gordon 185.735 2. (9) Kasey Kahne 185.519 3. (01) Mark Martin 185.500 4. (29) Kevin Harvick 185.424 5. (8) Dale Earnhardt Jr. 185.405 6. (07) Clint Bowyer 184.805 7. (1) Martin Truex Jr. 184.573 8. (31) Jeff Burton 184.341 9. (42) J.Pablo Montoya 184.219 10. (25) Casey Mears 184.153 11. (20) Tony Stewart 184.148 12. (5) Kyle Busch 184.139 13. (16) Greg Biffle 183.932 14. (22) Dave Blaney 183.927 15. (83) Brian Vickers 183.852 16. (66) Jeff Green 183.748 17. (11) Denny Hamlin 183.650 18. (2) Kurt Busch 183.627 19. (12) Ryan Newman 183.533 20. (41) Reed Sorenson 183.468 21. (99) Carl Edwards 183.365 22. (15) Paul Menard 183.323 23. (48) Jimmie Johnson 183.299 24. (40) David Stremme 183.136 25. (17) Matt Kenseth 182.931 26. (13) Joe Nemechek 182.871 27. (14) Sterling Marlin 182.857 28. (43) Bobby Labonte 182.723 29. (18) J.J. Yeley 182.639 30. (10) Scott Riggs 182.611 31. (70) Johnny Sauter 182.593 32. (37) John Andretti 182.500 33. (00) David Reutimann 182.431 34. (88) Ricky Rudd 182.089 35. (26) Jamie McMurray 181.947 36. (21) Ken Schrader 181.685 37. (45) Kyle Petty 181.681 38. (19) Elliott Sadler 181.603 39. (6) David Ragan owner points 40. (38) David Gilliland owner points 41. (96) Tony Raines owner points 42. (7) Robby Gordon owner points 43. (44) Dale Jarrett past champion

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Source: Associated Press