Joey Logano celebrates his victory at the Royal Purple 300 in 2012
Photo – Getty Images

West Coast racing returns this weekend as NASCAR’s Nationwide Series heads out to Auto Club Speedway in Southern California. The drivers will take on the daunting two-mile “D” shaped-oval this weekend after racing at Bristol which is just about the complete opposite type of track. Fans will surely see a different race on Saturday, compared to last weekend since the field will likely spread out all-over the track versus having  bumper-to-bumper racing which we saw at Bristol. The transition between one of the smallest tracks on the circuit to one of the biggest will be a tough animal to tame for the drivers but, it will surely make the racing interesting as the fifth different type of track this season for the new Gen 6 cars.

The Royal Purple 300 will take place on Saturday March 23, 2013 with the green flag set to wave at 5:18 PM EST/2:18 PM PT. The drivers will race hard during the 150 laps which make up the 300 miles of the race. Fans can expect a whole event on Saturday with a fabulous weather forecast of mostly sunny skies with a high temperature of 76 F. Fans can catch a television broadcast of the race on ESPN and a radio broadcast of the race on MRN.

Last year’s version of this race featured Joey Logano holding up the trophy at the end of the day after Logano put on a show in front of the stars of NASCAR and Hollywood. With the win, Logano ended Kyle Busch’s streak of Fontana Nationwide victories at three in-a-row. Logano will not be in this year’s race which leaves the door open for a new winner. Many young Nationwide Series drivers are going to be fighting for the win but, they will have to fend off some of the Cup regulars who will be competing in the race. Without a doubt, the race is wide-open for any driver to get to victory lane on Saturday and a first time Auto Club Speedway winner will likely emerge.

The Nationwide Series regulars have competed very well with the Cup regulars so far this season but, as the season progresses we should see the Nationwide drivers start overpowering the Cup drivers. Last weekend’s race at Bristol showed just how well the Nationwide regulars can compete since Kyle Larson barely lost to Kyle Busch at the line. Larson turned some heads last Saturday and he will try to better this performance this weekend in his home-state of California.

Point’s leader Sam Hornish Jr. has a couple of flawless races so far this season where he has run up front and was competing for the win throughout the race. Hornish Jr. now has a 22 point cushion over Justin Allgaier in the point’s standings. Allgaier has been showing a lot of strength so far this season and this weekend at Fontana could be the week where Allgaier surpasses Hornish Jr. in the standings. Brian Scott, Regan Smith and Brian Vickers are among the drivers who continue to lurk behind the drivers at the top of the standings and they too could pass Hornish Jr. in the coming weeks. Hornish Jr. will need to continue his streak of decent runs this weekend if he wants to avoid playing defense in the standings.

West coast racing is always great and every year when the Nationwide Series takes to the Auto Club Speedway, the racing heats up. The fastest drivers in this Saturday’s race will be the ones competing for the trophy and any driver who starts their engine before the event could end up in victory lane. I believe the Nationwide Series regulars will be exceptionally strong this weekend and one of them will cross the finish line first. Auto Club Speedway will be rocking this Saturday afternoon as the Nationwide Series competes in their fourth race of the season with any one of them taking the win by the time the checkered flag waves.

Event Schedule

1:40 PM PT-4:00 PM PT (4:40-7:00 PM EST) (Friday) Nationwide Series Final Practice, televised on SPEED

10:35 AM PT (1:35 PM EST) (Saturday) Nationwide Series Qualifying, televised on SPEED

2:00 PM PT (5:00 PM ET) (Saturday) the Nationwide Series’ Race, the Royal Purple 300, televised on ESPN

Next Race- 4/12 O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 at the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, TX

Entry List via Jayski.com