TV: FOX, 2:30 p.m. EDT

Laps: 250 laps
Track length: 2 miles
Race length: 500 miles

Qualifying Record: Mike Skinner, 186.061 mph, 2000
Race Record: Jeff Gordon, 155.012 mph, 1997

DRIVERS TO WATCH

Johnny Benson -- Excellent season after nine races; sits third in the standings, only five points behind Jeff Gordon; finished six races in the top 10, with third in Texas a season best; comes off a seventh-place result at Talladega; in search for his fist career Winston Cup win.

Jeff Burton -- Rebounded nicely in the last two races, after finishes of 18th or lower in the season's first seven races; was third in the Virginia 500 and 10th at the Talladega 500 this past Sunday; looks to continue the positive run out west where he finished second in 1999 and fifth last year.

Kurt Busch -- Good team work in the pits and smart driving led the rookie driver to his first career third-place finish in Winston Cup racing; also led for the first time in a Winston Cup race between laps 78-80; trails Kevin Harvick by two points (97-95) in the Rookie of the Year standings.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- Ran among the top 10 for much of the race last year at Fontana until the power steering failed on his red Monte Carlo; was able to hang on for a 12th-place finish; speaking of 12th, Earnhardt moved into 12th place in Winston Cup points, his second-highest point position ever; the Budweiser team was second after the season-opening Daytona 500.

Jeff Gordon -- Only driver to have three top-five finishes in the four races held at California Speedway; winner in the inaugural 1997 race and again in 1999 (was fourth in 1998); last year, just missed the top 10, by finishing 11th; has five top-five finishes in nine races this year, with one victory at Las Vegas; is 145 points behind Dale Jarrett in the standings.

Bobby Hamilton -- Passed Tony Stewart with one lap left to win the caution-free Talladega 500 last Sunday; it was his fourth career Winston Cup victory and the first for Andy Petree as car owner; Hamilton got a push from teammate Joe Nemechek while running sixth in the late stages; up to fourth in the standings, less than 200 points behind leader Dale Jarrett.

Dale Jarrett -- Maintained the top position in the Winston Cup standings despite an 18th-place finish at Talladega; leads the series with three wins in the last five races; holds a 145 points advantage over Jeff Gordon; finished ninth in last year's NAPA Auto Parts 500 and was fifth in 1999, when the race was known as the California 500.

Bobby Labonte -- Pushed Jeremy Mayfield hard in the late stages of the race last year in California, but could not overtake and settled for a second place finish; after disappointing results in six of the first seven races this year, has put together two consecutive top-10 finishes, including fifth in Sunday's Talladega 500; ranks 14th in the standings with 966 points.

Terry Labonte -- Seems to perform well in the state of California, where he won races at Riverside in 1984 and 1985; in four events held at California Speedway at Fontana, he was second in the inaugural 1997 race, third in 1998 and ninth the next season; Winston Cup champion in 1996.

Mark Martin -- Posted his first top-five finish of the year with a fourth-place showing at Talladega last weekend; comes to one of his favorite tracks since California Speedway was added to the Winston Cup schedule in 1997; nearly won that year but fell short of fuel mileage and finished 10th; made up for that a year later when he drove to victory lane after starting third; was 14th last year.

Jeremy Mayfield -- Held off several late challenges by Bobby Labonte to take the checkered flag at the NAPA Auto Parts 500 last year for his second career victory; went on to add another to his record later in the year at Pocono; finished third in two races this season, but also 22nd or lower in six of nine competed; also runner-up at the track in 1998 and seventh the following year.

Tony Stewart -- With California Speedway being similar to Michigan International Speedway (both built by Roger Penske), Stewart heads west with optimism; hopes to turn the NAPA Auto Parts 500 into career win No. 10; notched his sixth career Winston Cup win last year at the carbon copy track in Michigan; was 10th in this race last year and fourth in 1999; up to ninth in the points standings.

Rusty Wallace -- Finished 13th or better in eight of the nine races this season; top result was third in the opening Daytona 500; by way of those efforts, he is sixth in the points standings; eighth at California Speedway last year; tied with Jeff Gordon for eighth on the all-time wins list (53); won at least one race in 15 consecutive seasons.