Yahoo! Qualification Story – Auto Club

Jamie McMurray carried his substantial momentum from the Daytona 500, but will it be enough to recommend him at Auto Club Speedway? And who is the driver most likely to star in a Hollywood horror story?

Find out in this week's Yahoo! qualification story (.pdf).

IRL: Sato coming to IndyCar

Former F1 driver Takuma Sato will race for KV Racing Technologies as a teammate to Hideki Mutoh, according to ESPN.com.

Our View It's kind of nice to see an open wheel guy stay with open wheel after the sudden influx of F1 drivers into NASCAR. Expect Sato to run better on road courses than ovals as he starts his learning curve in this type of racing.

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Martin wins Auto Club practice 1

Mark Martin set the pace early in the first practice session at Auto Club Speedway with a speed of 182.924 mph and he maintained his top spot until the end of Friday's 1.5-hour practice.

Our View This practice is typically used to work on qualification setups and while Martin was fast nearly everywhere, he struggled a bit at Auto Club with an 18th-place time trial run in this race and a ninth in the fall. As one of only three drivers to break the 182 mph mark, he should better that this week.

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