Strong winter testing foreshadowed Auto Club win

After finishing the '07 campaign on a strong note, Carl Edwards continued the momentum Monday with his Auto Club 500 victory. Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR

Five things we learned from the rain-delayed Auto Club 500 on Monday at California Speedway:

1. Carl Edwards' victory came as no surprise.

He dominated the test session at California over the winter and clearly had the best car in the field in the limited practice time on the track before the race. Also, owner Jack Roush had won the last three straight spring races at Fontana, so he's obviously figured out a competitive advantage over the rest of the field.

Edwards has been something of a disappointment the last two years. Yes, he's made the Chase both seasons -- placing in 12th in '06 and ninth in '07 -- but he's never replicated his third-place finish in 2005. Like the other Roush Fenway drivers, Edwards was hamstrung last season by Roush falling behind early in its Car of Tomorrow program, struggling the entire season to catch up to Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing. But by the end of '07, it appeared the gap had been closed -- and Edwards win on Monday is further affirmation of that.

Will the Roush Fenway boys be serious players this season? Can they stay wheel-to-wheel with Hendrick and Gibbs? It's still too early to tell, but Edwards made a nice statement at Fontana.

2. The Hendrick boys are back.

A week after Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon both crashed out of the Daytona 500, the duo bounced back in fine fashion. Johnson came in second while Gordon wound up third. It's still early, but you'd have to say that these are the two drivers to beat this season -- just as they were in '07.

3. The CoT continues to perform better than expected.

For the second straight week, the Car of Tomorrow -- which most in the garage are now calling the Car of Today -- produced thrilling, side-by-side racing. There were 33 lead changes in Fontana and, like at Daytona, the rear wing appears to be preventing accidents by enabling drivers to regain control of their cars once they get loose. All of this bodes well for the quality of racing this season on the Cup circuit, which has been down the past few years.

4. Casey Mears got lucky.

If you polled 30 drivers and asked them what their biggest fear is on the track, there's a good chance all 30 of them would say the same thing: fire. And so when Sam Hornish Jr. rammed into Mears from behind on Sunday in the opening laps, the worst-case scenario played out when Mears' Chevy was flipped on its side and quickly caught on fire. For a moment it appeared that Mears was going to be trapped in the inferno, but rescue workers did a solid job of quickly reaching him and pulling him to safety.

"It seems like when you see fire it takes an eternity for someone to get there to help you out," said Mears. "Fortunately everybody is OK. I just hate that this early we are sitting here right now, especially after where we were in Daytona. So now we are pretty bad in the points, so we have to rally back here."

Mears has wrecked in both races this season and is 42nd in the standings. Still, given his partnership with crew chief Alan Gustafson (who had been with Kyle Busch the past three seasons), I think they've got a excellent shot to make the Chase. Mears needs a good run next week at Las Vegas, where he's finished in the top 10 in three of his last four starts.

5. Dale Earnhardt Jr. didn't get lucky.

For the second straight year at California Speedway, Little E didn't finish on the lead lap. Mears smashed into Earnhardt after losing control of his Chevy, causing significant damage to his teammate's car. After extended repairs in the garage, Junior headed back out and finished 47 laps down. He's now 23rd in the points, but it's way too early for this team to panic. After all, Earnhardt now has the resources of Hendrick Motorsports behind him. It would be a major upset if Earnhardt didn't win at least five races this season and breeze into the Chase.