Fontana produces same old script

FONTANA, Calif. – For being in a town full of script writers, Auto Club Speedway sure does produce a lot of reruns.

It really is the same show every time the Sprint Cup circuit hits this suburban Los Angeles track. It starts with half-empty stands, followed by a strung-out race that tests the patience of even the die-hard fan, both of which prompt the requisite visit to the media center by track president Gillian Zucker, who puts her best spin on why NASCAR needs to be in the Los Angeles market for two races a year, which, in the end, usually are won by Jimmie Johnson.

Let's start the breakdown with the half-empty stands, which, despite NASCAR's attempt to put the attendance figure at 72,000, were half full at best. The track seats 93,000, so even if there were 10,000 in the infield – which is generous – the number tops out at 56,500.

Compared to last year's estimated attendance figures, that would make Sunday's race the lowest-attended event on the Sprint Cup circuit

There are a number of reasons the track can't draw. Los Angeles obviously is a tough sports market, evident by the lack of success by the NFL. The location isn't great – it's situated about 50 miles from downtown L.A – and the track's amenities are subpar, especially in comparison to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where the tour heads next week.

And the racing, for the most part, stinks.

All this, combined with the yawning dominance of Johnson, who has won four of the last six races at Auto Club Speedway, makes Zucker's an extremely difficult job.

This doesn't mean the track will get a break when International Speedway Corporation and NASCAR sit down in the coming months to decide which track will lose a race in 2011 to make way for a second Cup date at Kansas Speedway. Auto Club absolutely should be on the chopping block. The two-race experiment here is in its seventh year now, and it's not getting any better.

What is getting better is the competition. Though it was another victory for Johnson, who now has 48 in his brilliant career, his wasn't the best car on the track Sunday. Kevin Harvick's was. This is the one break from the script.

The Hendrick Motorsports domination on the intermediate tracks, where Johnson has separated himself in winning four straight titles, was put to the test Sunday. And when it was over, Harvick's Richard Childress Racing squad showed they have the power to keep up. In fact, if it weren't for a lucky break late in the race when Johnson got on pit road just before a caution came out, then exited a split second in front of then-leader Jeff Burton, the four-time defending champion would have been a lap down and ended the day nowhere near victory lane.

"They're really good, but they're really, really lucky, too," said Harvick, who finished second. "They did a good job today winning the race, but they have a golden horseshoe stuck up their …"

Well, we know where Harvick is going with this one, and there is some truth to it. En route to his four championships, Johnson has benefitted from some good fortune, the most memorable being two years ago at Talladega when he emerged from the epicenter of a 12-car melee unscathed.

"Yes, we were lucky today, but you don't get lucky and win four championships and 48 races," Johnson countered. "Things went our way today with pit stops, but then I had to go out there and hold Kevin off and [Burton].

"I'm not discrediting that we were given a huge gift when we were on pit road and the caution came out, but it is what it is and we've had plenty of races go the other way on us. From how consistent we've been from the first race we've competed in eight seasons ago until now, it's because we're a good race team."

Talking about luck now is semantics; it doesn't matter. What does is the part that bodes well for NASCAR, and that's having another team stepping up to challenge Johnson and the rest of the Hendrick stable. Yes, the season is only two weeks old, but Sunday's race is expected to be a good predictor of things to come. In it, the RCR boys finished second (Harvick), third (Burton) and eighth (Clint Bowyer), and now they sit first (Harvick), second (Bowyer) and fifth (Burton) in the standings.

"I think the 29 [Harvick] by far, the first two races of the year, has been the best car," Burton said.

This, even with no rooting interest, is a good thing. Because without this twist, it would have been the same old show, and where's the drama in watching the same thing over and over and over again?