The last two spring races at Auto Club Speedway have been duels between El Cajon’s Jimmie Johnson and Bakersfield’s Kevin Harvick. Johnson ended up in Victory Lane with the Harvick-dubbed “golden horse shoe” in hand in 2010. Harvick earned the title of “The Closer” a year ago by edging five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion Johnson by 0.144 seconds – the closest NSCS finish in the track’s history.

Johnson leads all drivers with five wins at the track followed by fellow Californian and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon of Vallejo with three wins. Daytona 500 winner Matt Kenseth, who finished second in last weekend’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, the only other driver with multiple wins.

Gordon, by the way, is one of four finalists for the Justice Brothers-Shav Glick Award given to those who have made significant contributions to motorsports from the Golden State. Other finalists are drag racer “TV Tommy” Ivo, Indianapolis 500 roadster builder A.J. Watson and sports car racer Tony Adamowicz. The winner of the award, named in honor of the longtime Los Angeles Times motorsports writer and columnist Shav Glick, will be announced prior to Sunday’s Auto Club 400.

Other California drivers expected to compete at Fontana include AJ Allmendinger, Los Gatos; David Gilliland, Riverside; Casey Mears, Bakersfield; Josh Wise, Riverside; and Robby Gordon, Orange.