The reason why I gave it the title Rest in Peace is 1. It's in Dani California by Red Hot Chili Peppers, that's where I got the saying, 2. This year, California can't be a locker race for who gets in the chase, so it won't have to do any deciding this year like in 04.... anyway, to the predictions!!! (by the way, I know it is called Auto Club Speedway now, but I will take that into full account next year)

Tier 1

1.) Jimmie Johnson  Wait, Carl Edwards or Kyle Busch not picked to win, your crazy, well, that maybe true, and I may regret it later, but this guy won 2 races this year, and other than that crash, he has been on a roll right below Edwards and Kyle, but he excells at this track, winning 2 times, including the night race last year, getting 2nd 4 times, including the spring race this year, and a 3rd, but 7 top 3 finishes out of 11, can you say, RELIABLE, but wait, there's more!!! He also has never finished below 16th in 11 starts, that did happen twice, but still, he is WAY more reliable than any other driver out there at this track, look for him to win. Avg. 6.4

2.) Carl Edwards His last 5 finishes have been 1st, 9th, 2nd, 1st, and 1st, this year, so he is on a HUGE  roll, in addition, won in the spring, and in 8 starts, has 6 of 8 top 5s to show, the other 2 finishes were 6th, so right outside the top 5, then a 29th where he had problems, ending 3 laps down, this guy knows this track slightly less than Johnson, but he does have much more momentum, so he or Johnson will win, it will be very close. avg finish, 6.8

3.) Kyle Busch  Not as jaw dropping as Edwards or Johnson, but will still make your mouth wide open, he has 6-8 top 10s, the other 2 finishes were a 23rd and 24th, he has a night race win back in 05, and finished 4th this year, so this guy could very well win as well, as if their momentum wasn't enough, their record will certainly make them shine. avg. 10.3

4.) Matt Kenseth  He's the last guy who could be competition for the win, the others maybe, but not nearly a spark of what these others guys hold, avg. of 9.9, 5th in the spring, and other than that, look at his last few finishes here... 7,1,7,1,7... Hey! I'm starting to notice something here... the only problem is that all those 1sts are in the spring, and the 7ths for the night race, that hurts him a little bit, but still, great record here with 9-13 top 10s

Tier 2

5.) Now I won't be as descriptive for these guys, there are many levels for this track though 5 is, Jeff Gordon  I honestly think that HMS will be putting all their work into Gordon since the other 2 pretty much made the chase, he also has a momentum swing at Bristol, he has a win and avg. finish of 11.3, and 3rd in the spring, he could pop up for a top 5 finish.

6.) Kasey Kahne  2 40ths in a row after having great momentum, this guy might get back on his game given the chance, he will also be racing hard to make the chase, has a win, avg. finish of 13.7, and 9th in the spring.

7.) Clint Bowyer 7th at Bristol, why not here too, has a 3rd for best finish in 5 starts, and not one below 20th, although he got a 19th in the spring, he also has a 6th, 3rd, and 14th, so he might only be top 15 material, but his 3rd was in the night race, I believe this guy will fight.

8.) David Ragan  Well, now all I need is Denny for a full house of guys struggling to make the chase, unfortunately Denny is further back, but in 3 starts, Ragan has 12th through 16th, and his other finish, you guessed it, 14th, so he is around top 15 material, but he will be fighting very hard for the chase, and will ride up with his roll he is on right now for his first top 10.

9.) Tony Stewart  Here he is either top 20 or doomed, he is good here, with a 4th only for best finish, not quite like Tony, and him not in the shootout will bring down morale, and moving teams, but he does have good finishes recently, so he has momentum, got a 7th in the spring, and from fall 05 to now, has been top 10-15 material (except for 1 crash) so top 10 is very believeable. avg. is 16.0

10.) Jeff Burton  He is not himself lately, but I believe he can get back on his feet, 2nd for best finish and for his last 5 finishes, 12, 4,4, 16, 5, so he is good at the night and day, good recently at this track, so a top 10 is very reasonable. avg. finish 15.8

Tier 3

11.) Jaime Mcmurray  12, 10, 16, 9 and 6 his last few races, getting some of his steam back for a good track of his, at this place, he has top 15 finishes all the way from 2003-2006 (spring), but since then, he lost it, not getting in the top 15 once, and got a 22nd in the spring race, but with redemption on his side, and with one of the 4 being a crash, could he go for a top 15 again? avg. finish 13.7

12.) Brian Vickers  11th in the spring, 3rd for best finish, I might be underrating this guy, but he is not longera  chase contender, so I think he will drop a bit, keep in mind he got a 20th too last week, but the 3rd was in the fall, so you never know with his breakout season. avg. finish 17.1

13.) Martin Truex Jr.  Truex says, watch me win...  no way, but he does have a 6th here, guess where that was, this season, in his horrible season, he got his best finish here, he might be able to bull it off again, but I doubt it, avg. finish is 17.4

14.) Denny Hamlin  Well... I can't avoid him forever can I, has a 6th for best finish just like Truex, 5 starts, just like Truex, a 41st worst finish to Truex's 42nd, and Denny has a 17.8 avg. finish to his 17.4, pretty equal, but Truex has a slight edge, especially since he got his best finish this spring, Hamlin's was the 06 night race though, and with his 3rd place at Bristol, could make a nice finish, I just tend to doubt it.

15.) Dale Earnhart Jr.  This guy is either hot or dead here, because of that, I will only rank him here, quite honestly with his variety I can't decide where to put him, 21.6 avg. finish guys, he does have 3 top 5s, and 2 at the last 3 night course, so that gives him hope, but I will pop up this guy's finishes, from most recent to beginning, 40, 5, 40, 2, 11, 38, 32, 34, 19, 6, 36, 3, 12... so lets see, 6 of 13 finishes under 30th, but all the others are top 20s, so he will either finish below 30th or finish probably better than here, honestly though, don't take the risk...

16.) Kurt Busch  Statistically he is a great driver here, but for Busch, statistics don't help much this year, he has a 15th at a track he domianted at, at this track he has an avg. finish of 11.4 and a 1st, and a 13th in the spring, so stats show that he shouldn't go this low, but his season overall says otherwise.

17.) Greg Biffle  2005 was his only highlight season here, getting a win and a 2nd, other than that, has a 19.6 avg. finish, why? because other than that, he has 3 other top 15s, 2 of the 3 were recently though, 1 in the spring, so if we are lucky, he will show us a spark.

18.) Kevin Harvick  6th for best finish, but 19.1 for avg. finish, ouch.but he is very good recently, and got an 8th in the spring, but his only other top 10s here came in 05 and 04, and they were both for the spring race, he has a14th for his best night finish, which was last year, so he could get top 15, but that's about it...

19.) A.J. Allmendinger  only 1 finish here, an 18th in the spring, and that wasn't on his roll, I might be underrating this guy, watch this guy closely...

20.) Ryan Newman  He has a 3rd here, but only an 18.6 avg. finish, never mind he is having a worse season than most excluding Daytona, 10th in the spring, but his shine time was in 05 and 04, these last few years obviously took a toll on many drivers at this track...

Other Drivers of Watch

David Gilliland, got a 17th in the spring, but for his best finish here, you never know, but don't count on it

Aric Almirola, only a 31st, but after Bristol, could that give him momentum?

Bobby LaBonte has a 2nd here, and around 18th avg. finish, and with his season and being with Petty, don't expect him to get very high up there...

Elliot Sadler- He won here, but guess where that was!!!? That's right, 05, also good in 04, but other than that, has 2 top 20s to show after 14 starts, so don't expect to see anything jaw dropping.

Sam Hornish Jr.- 1 finish for a 43rd, so we really don't know what this guy can do, only time will tell.