Its heart may still be in Dixie but the pulse of NASCAR is certainly being felt in the Golden State.

When the green flag drops on Sunday's Auto Club 500 at Fontana, there will likey be six Califonians in the field. Exactly twice the number of drivers as there will be from North Carolina, the state many people identify as the hub of stock car racing.

	Teammates Jeff Gordon, left, and Jimmie Johnson, right, each hail from California.

"Winston Cup is not just a good 'ole boy sport any longer," said Mike Skinner, who grew up in Susanville, Calif. "It involves guys with college degrees and drivers from every area. Our sport has become more diversified with its reaches to people."

Of course there was a time when California was not a place that nurtured racing talent.

Facing regulations that restricted minors from racing at high level competition, Jeff Gordon's family relocated from Vallejo, Calif., to Pittsboro, Ind., during Gordon's early teenage years. They hoped Jeff, one of the nations' most promising go-kart and quarter-midget racers, would be able to hone his skills, move to a higher level and get noticed in a more racing-friendly environment. Obviously, it worked.

Today the bright young stars of California no longer have to worry about being obscured in the shadows of the West Coast.

"I think it's obviously evolved over the last 20 years," said Kevin Harvick, a Bakersfield, Calif., native. "Twenty years ago, if you would have told them you were from California, they would have looked at you like you had four eyes. It just goes to show you how big our sport has become, and how wide spread the Winston Cup teams are going to look for talent."

Nine winners in this season's first nine races is testament to the high level of competition in the Winston Cup Series. Parity has forced teams to be creative, seeking an edge by conducting nation-wide searches for drivers.

The effect is that NASCAR is no longer exclusively southern. It has become a fusion of Americana. Among the first nine winners there have been drivers from California, Indiana, Wisconsin, Nevada and Maine.

"I just think that racing is becoming more mainstream," said Casey Mears, also of Bakersfield, Calif. "It's just opened the doors for people in other parts of the country to get involved in it. Back when my dad (Roger Mears) raced in the Grand National cars at Riverside in the late '70s, my dad said it was tough. NASCAR always had it's own niche and it was the guys from back East and if you weren't from that area then it was damn hard to even just get through tech. It's come a long way since then."

But perhaps the influx of Californians should not be much of a surprise. Afterall, drag racing, hot rodding and a variety of other speed sports have always been part of So Cal sports landscape.

"Racing is very popular in California and is growing every week," Robby Gordon said. "I've been involved with friends that water ski race, off-road race, boat race and race in the Long Beach Grand Prix. Now Fontana hosts one of the biggest races in California when the Winston Cup Series comes to town. Racing is just huge in California and the fans eat it up."

However, when it comes to California motorsports, stock car racing has always been in the minority.

"Racing is huge out there. But the area where I grew up, it was all dirt related," said Jimmie Johnson, who hails from El Cajon, Calif. "From off road racing, stadium and dessert off road racing, motorcross, sprint cars and a little bit of Indy car. Stock car racing? I can honestly say that I went to maybe five stock car races before I ever raced one. At local tracks and on the West Coast it really wasn't the big thing in Southern California, it was all dirt races."

Of course there are exceptions. Before Ernie Irvan won 15 Cup races, including the 1991 Daytona 500, he cut his teeth at the Madera and Stockton speedways in California.

In 1983, Irvin left California with $700 to his name and headed to North Carolina to pursue his dream. That gamble paid off and paved the way for other California racers. That includes guys like Bakersfield natives Ron Hornaday and Harvick, who will rekindle their rivalry Saturday night in a 75-lap late model race at nearby Mesa Marin Speedway.

But, of course, California pride will be center stage Sunday, when Jeff Gordon, Johnson, Harvick, Robby Gordon, Skinner and Mears battle for home state honors. Jeff Gordon has won this race twice (1997 and '99), but a year ago it was Johnson who stole the spotlight, capturing his first career win on his home turf.