After a shortened race helped produce closer racing and ended with a thrilling finish, Auto Club Speedway in Fontana said Tuesday it would stick with a 400-mile event when it holds its next NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race in late March.

The sprawling track, which seats 92,000, formerly held two 500-mile Cup races a year but had suffered attendance declines, and NASCAR last August announced that one of its races would be moved to Kansas Speedway, starting this season.

Among the many factors cited for the lower attendance were complaints that races were too long on the wide, two-mile Auto Club Speedway oval, where the cars -- which reach speeds of nearly 200 mph on the straightaways -- often would get strung out and passing was sparse.

But when Auto Club Speedway held its most recent Cup race last October, it shortened the race to 400 miles and the result was one of the most exciting competitions in years, with cars sometimes racing three- and four-wide and Tony Stewart winning by a mere half a second over Clint Bowyer.

A shorter race, among other things, forces Cup drivers and their crews to shift strategy because there is at least one less pit stop than in a 500-mile race. It also forces them to get their cars into contention sooner before the final laps.

"It's impossible to ignore the on-track excitement we experienced" in October, Auto Club Speedway President Gillian Zucker said in a statement. "We're confident the newly remileaged Auto Club 400 will continue the momentum."

The race is scheduled to start at noon Pacific time. The Fontana track also will host a race in NASCAR's second-tier Nationwide Series on March 26.

NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series season opens with the Daytona 500 on Feb. 20.

-- Jim Peltz

Photo: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers head into the first turn at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana during the Pepsi Max 400 race Oct. 10. Credit: Jayne Oncea / US Presswire

Tony Stewart won for the first time in a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana on Sunday.

Jimmie Johnson extended his lead in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.

Three drivers from Roush Fenway Racing all but fell out of contention in the Chase standings, though. Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle finished 30th or worse in the NASCAR race in Fontana, the fourth race in the 10-race Chase.

Go to Haddock in the Paddock for more on the Cup race from Fontana.

-- Tim Haddock

Tony Stewart posted his first career win at Auto Club Speedway in one of the more entertaining races held at the Fontana track when he won the Pepsi Max 400 this afternoon.

With seven laps left, David Ragan and Kurt Busch tangled in the first major wreck of the day. Stewart was leading the race at the time but Jimmie Johnson was starting to chase him down. What that set up was a two-lap shootout between Stewart and Johnson.

Stewart, who climbed five spots to fifth in the Chase for the Sprint Cup standings with the win, chose to take the high line and he grabbed the lead by the backstretch. When he took the white flag he looked to be in command. The battle was then for second, and that was won by Clint Bowyer.

There was also a caution for the always present debris with 18 laps to go. Bowyer, who thought he had the race won, was rather upset over the call, wondering where the debris was located.

The top 10 in the race were: Stewart, Bowyer, Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman, Mark Martin, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Jeff Gordon and David Reutimann.

Johnson maintained his slim lead in the Chase for the Sprint Cup standings over Hamlin. The official standings are: Johnson with 5,673 points, followed by Hamlin (-36), Harvick (-54), Gordon (-85), Stewart (-107), Kurt Busch (-140), Carl Edwards (-162), Jeff Burton (-177), Kyle Busch (-187), Greg Biffle (-215), Matt Kenseth (-241) and Bowyer (-247).

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On lap 155 of the Pepsi Max 400, Kyle Busch's hopes in the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup took a severe downturn when he blew an engine, forcing him from the field. On the radio, he told his pit crew that this ends his hopes of winning the series championship. It's been a difficult race for three of the Chase drivers. Besides Busch, Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards might have seen their chances go down with early exits.

Danica Patrick was driving her best NASCAR Nationwide race yet when she was collected in a multi-car crash with 10 laps left that ended her day Saturday at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana.

Kyle Busch went on to win the CampingWorld.com 300, his record 12th Nationwide win of the season. Busch also is a top driver in NASCAR's premier Sprint Cup Series.

The popular Patrick, an IndyCar driver trying her hand in NASCAR stock-car racing's second-tier Nationwide Series, qualified 14th in her No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, her best starting spot in the eight Nationwide races she's run so far.

When the field restarted after a caution period with only 11 laps left in the 150-lap race, Patrick was running 12th and on the lead lap with Busch and other front-runners.

But on the next lap, she was shuffled back to 17th in heavy traffic and hit from behind by James Buescher on the back straightaway, causing her car to spin sideways and slam into the wall. Two other cars, including one driven by former off-road motorcycle champion Ricky Carmichael, also were involved.

Patrick was not hurt, but she finished 30th in the 43-car field. Her average finish in seven previous Nationwide races was 31st.

"It was a pretty big hit," Patrick said of the wreck. "Obviously we had a good day. I just wanted to follow through with it" with a strong finish.

Patrick acknowledged earlier this week that she was struggling in NASCAR and would welcome a driving coach. But she showed marked improvement Saturday.

"This [result] should have been much better," she said. "I was passing good cars. I know in my heart I was having a good day, so we'll just take that."

--Jim Peltz

Photo: Kyle Busch makes a pit stop in his No. 18 Toyota during the CampingWorld.com 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana. Credit: Harry How/Getty Images

Reigning NASCAR Nationwide Series champion Kyle Busch, already an 11-time winner in NASCAR's second-tier series this season, won the pole position for Saturday's Nationwide race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana.

Busch captured the first spot for the CampingWorld.com 300 with a lap of 182.039 mph on the two-mile oval track, followed by Kevin Harvick at 181.187 mph. Brad Keselowski, who's leading this year's Nationwide point standings by a wide margin, qualified third in a Penske Racing Dodge.

Danica Patrick, the popular IndyCar series star who's making her eighth start in NASCAR, qualified 14th in her JR Motorsports Chevrolet, her top starting spot so far this season.

But Patrick's average finish in her first seven Nationwide races was 31st, and she acknowledged earlier this week that she could use a driving coach to help her get a better handle on stock-car racing.

Busch, Harvick and Keselowski also are among the drivers who will be racing Sunday in NASCAR's premier Sprint Cup Series in the Pepsi Max 400 at Auto Club Speedway.

--Jim Peltz

Photo: NASCAR driver Kyle Busch during practice Saturday at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana. Credit: Rusty Jarrett / Getty Images

Jamie McMurray won the pole position for the Pepsi Max 400 at Auto Club Speedway, the fourth race in NASCAR's 10-race Chase for the Cup championship playoff.

McMurray, this year's Daytona 500 winner, turned a lap of 185.285 mph Friday at the two-mile oval track in Fontana. Elliott Sadler qualified second at 184.407 mph and will start alongside McMurray on the front row Sunday.

Neither driver is among the 12 who are competing for the Cup title in this year's Chase.

"I worked really hard for my lap," said McMurray, who drives the No. 1 Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. "The track has a lot of speed in it, but it’s also really slick and even in qualifying with brand new tires, it’s really a handful."

Jimmie Johnson, who is seeking a record fifth consecutive Cup title and leads this year's Chase by eight points over Denny Hamlin, qualified eighth. Hamlin qualified poorly and will start 34th on the 43-car grid. Johnson has won four of the last six races at Fontana.

Elsewhere in the field, Dale Earnhardt Jr. qualified ninth, Mark Martin was 11th, Kyle Busch will start 16th, Jeff Gordon was 17th and Tony Stewart qualified 22nd.

-- Jim Peltz

Photo: Jamie McMurray climbs from his car Friday after his qualifying run for the Pepsi Max 400 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana. Credit: Jason Smith/Getty Images

NASCAR owner Joe Gibbs has two drivers in the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.

Denny Hamlin is second in the Chase standings, eight points behind four-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson.

Kyle Busch is in seventh place in Chase standings, 80 points out of first.

The fourth race in the Chase is Sunday at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana.

Go to Haddock in the Paddock for an exclusive interview with Gibbs, who talked about how Hamlin and Busch have different styles of racing.

-- Tim Haddock

NASCAR's decision to drop one of its two annual Sprint Cup Series races in Southern California should benefit crowd sizes for the region's remaining race, series title contender Kevin Harvick said Friday.

Stock-car racing's sanctioning body announced in August that Auto Club Speedway, the two-mile oval track in Fontana, would host only one race next season, on March 27.

The speedway has held two Cup races a year since 2004, and NASCAR made the change after crowds at the 92,000-seat speedway had dropped to 70,000 to 80,000 in recent years. Many other tracks on NASCAR's schedule also have seen significant declines in attendance amid the poor economy.

The series returns to Fontana next weekend for the fourth race in NASCAR's 10-race Chase for the Cup championship playoff.

"What's best for the sport is full grandstands, and they always had good crowds when they had one race [in Fontana] and I think they'll have a good crowd for one race" going forward, Harvick told reporters at Kansas Speedway, site of the third Chase race this Sunday.

"When people watch on TV and the grandstands are full then they want to be there too," said Harvick, the Bakersfield native who drives the No. 29 Chevrolet and currently is fifth in the Chase, 65 points behind leader Denny Hamlin.

Jimmie Johnson, the El Cajon native seeking an unprecedented fifth consecutive Cup championship, is second in the standings, 35 points behind Hamlin,  after winning last weekend in Dover, Del.

But Harvick maintained that the Chase remained "wide open," according to a transcript released by Team Chevy. "I don't think there's any clear-cut favorite." And Harvick, who narrowly lost to Johnson at Fontana in the race there last February, said "we're really looking forward to going back" to Southern California.

"We need to capitalize over the next couple of weeks on making something happen," Harvick said.

-- Jim Peltz

Photos: Top, NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick before practice Friday for the Sprint Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway on Sunday. Credit: Mark J. Rebilas/US Presswire. Bottom, Jimmie Johnson during practice Friday at Kansas Speedway. Credit: Jason Smith/Getty Images

Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, which hosts two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races a year -- including one in the 10-race "Chase for the Cup" title playoff -- will lose one of those races next season and its remaining race will no longer be in the Chase.

Amid sagging attendance for its races in recent years, the two-mile track said Tuesday that NASCAR's 2011 schedule calls for Auto Club Speedway to host a single Cup race March 27.

The track has held two Cup races annually since 2004; this year they were on Feb. 21 -- the second race on the schedule after the season-opening Daytona 500 -- and the second one is scheduled Oct. 10, the fourth race in the Chase.

But on Tuesday, Kansas Speedway said it will have a second race starting next year, on Oct. 9, and that it will be the fourth race in the Chase.

Phoenix International Raceway, meanwhile, said it will take over the second race of the season in 2011 on Feb. 27, and that the one-mile track also will continue to host the next-to-last race of the season before the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida.

To compensate for its lost Cup race, Auto Club Speedway said it would "continue to work in earnest to add events to the speedway's race schedule in an effort to diversify on-track activity" in 2011.

NASCAR has yet to release the full schedule for 2011 but has allowed the individual tracks involved to announce changes to their schedules.

Chicagoland Speedway said Monday that it will host the first Chase race next year (it historically has started in New Hampshire) and Atlanta Motor Speedway has said it will lose one of its two races next season, with the second expected to be moved to Kentucky Speedway near Cincinnati.

-- Jim Peltz

Changes to the 2011 schedule for NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series continued to dribble out Monday with Chicagoland Speedway saying it would hold the first race in the series' 10-race "Chase for the Cup" championship playoff next year.

NASCAR plans several schedule changes for next season and, for reasons still unclear, so far has elected to let the individual tracks involved announce their new dates before posting its full 2011 schedule.

Atlanta Motor Speedway, for instance, last week said it would lose one of its two Cup races next season. And Kansas Speedway plans a news conference for Tuesday in which it's expected to announce that it will obtain a second Cup race next season.

Kansas Speedway is owned by International Speedway Corp., and Kansas' second race is expected to come from another ISC track, Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, which currently has two Cup races a year but has struggled with attendance problems at the two-mile track 50 miles east of Los Angeles.

Kentucky Speedway near Cincinnati likewise has a news conference scheduled Tuesday in which it's expected to announce that it will be hosting its first race in NASCAR's premier series in 2011.

The Cup race at the 1.5-mile Chicagoland track in Joliet, Ill., historically held in early July, will move to Sept. 18 next year to kick off NASCAR's Chase, the track said. The Chase, in which the top 12 drivers in points vie for the title, has opened in New Hampshire since the format was introduced in 2004.

-- Jim Peltz