Some of NASCAR's biggest stars left Daytona International Speedway in big holes.

		Today Event: Auto Club 500. Where: California Speedway, Fontana, Calif. When: 3 p.m. TV: WPGH. Pole: Jeff Gordon. The skinny: Despite a sophomore slump in 2006, Carl Edwards has been nearly perfect at Fontana since first racing there in 2004. He has an average finish of 4.4 in five races.

Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth -- the past five Cup series champions -- wrecked in the season opener and finished well back in the points race. Fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. had similar results.

Even Jeff Gordon crashed, but ended up finishing 10th despite getting caught up in the melee on the final lap in the Daytona 500.

But Gordon bounced back quickly, winning the pole for the Auto Club 500 today at California Speedway in Fontana. He turned a fast lap of 185.735 mph Friday to grab the 57th pole of his career.

"It feels good to me just to get out from restrictor-plate racing," he said after qualifying first.

Kasey Kahne was second to Gordon at 185.519.

Today, the past five Cup champs have little momentum heading in to the race. They do have lots of hope, because only two of the past 27 Daytona 500 winners have claimed series titles.

"The season, in some people's minds, starts this weekend," said Johnson, who accomplished the rare feat of winning the Great American Race and the championship a year ago.

Others haven't been as fortunate.

Only four of the past 12 series champions even finished in the top 15 at Daytona. Stewart was last in 2002 but rebounded to win his first of two series titles; Ward Burton won the opener that year and ended up 25th in the standings.

"It's completely a clean slate," Earnhardt said. "You can't compare the two. Daytona is like a season of its own, and the superspeedway program is different than the rest of the tracks. So, we're not going out there feeling like we're in trouble in the points or worry about being in a big crash at Daytona.

"That was only the first race, and if we do what we know we can as a team, we'll be in the top 12 in points when the Chase begins."

NASCAR's opener has so much hype, buildup, attention and emphasis that what's often overlooked is the fact that the Daytona 500 means no more to the championship than less prominent races in Virginia, Delaware, New Hampshire and Kansas City.

But Daytona can set the tone for the season.

In 2004, six of the 10 drivers who made the Chase started the year by finishing in the top 10 at Daytona. The following year, seven of the 10 were in the top 20. Last year, six of the 10 were in the top 15.

The top 10 at the Daytona 500 featured Kevin Harvick, Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, Mike Wallace, David Ragan, Elliott Sadler, Kasey Kahne, David Gilliland, Joe Nemechek and Jeff Gordon.

So Kenseth (27th), Earnhardt (32rd), Kurt Busch (41st), Johnson (39th) and Stewart (43rd) know they have ground to make up.

Kenseth might be in an even bigger hole, pending his appeal. Roush Fenway Racing formally appealed the 50-point penalty assessed to Kenseth and the team last week for illegal modifications during qualifying. If NASCAR upholds the punishment, Kenseth would drop from 26th to a tie for 40th in the points standings.

Kenseth, Stewart, Busch and Earnhardt had cars that seemed capable of winning Daytona before they wrecked.

Busch and Stewart started the crash-fest when Stewart's car wiggled on lap 153. Busch, running right behind, tapped Stewart's bumper, causing both cars to lose control. Stewart finished last and Busch was two spots better in 41st.

But the real chaos came on the final lap, when Kenseth and Kyle Busch collided, causing a chain-reaction pileup that sent cars flying in all directions.

Kenseth dropped to 27th as Harvick edged Martin for the victory.

"We've always bounced back in a big way after Daytona, so I'm expecting nothing less this weekend," Kenseth said.