Auto Club 400 Tag

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Correspondent A pit road speeding penalty and an ill-timed caution could not keep Denny Hamlin from a top-10 finish in the Auto Club 400. Hamlin used the wave-around under the final caution to his advantage. The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Driver restarted on the lead lap, and inside the top-10. Hamlin surged forward in the No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry during the final 30 laps. He held off charges from his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex, Jr., as well as Ricky Stenhouse to crossRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor If there’s one Chevrolet team that has stood out above the rest of the Bowtie Brigade in 2019, it has been the No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing team piloted by Kurt Busch. Following a 25th place finish in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season opener, Busch and company have rebounded in the races since, piling up top-10 finish after top-10 finish. In Sunday’s Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway, it was more of the same with the elder Busch brother bringing home a sixth-placeRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer It was quite the captivating weekend for Austin Dillon, who not only led the field to the green, but also battle an illness throughout Sunday’s Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, finishing a valiant 10th. Dillon’s Busch Pole Award on Friday was overshadowed after none of the 12 competitors crossed the line before the final round struck zero, and because of him being the fastest in Round 2, he was credited as the pole winner. The qualifying fiasco was the least ofRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service FONTANA, Calif. – Let the debate begin. Recovering from a pit road speeding penalty with the help of a timely caution, Kyle Busch collected his 200th NASCAR national series victory with a dominating win in Sunday’s Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway. At the same venue that gave Busch his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory in 2005, the driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota beat runner-up Joey Logano to the finish line by a comfortable 2.354 seconds to earn his 53rdRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service FONTANA, Calif. – Austin Dillon didn’t make it to the Start / Finish line in time to turn a lap in the final session of knockout qualifying at Auto Club Speedway. And yet the driver of the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet won the pole for Sunday’s Auto Club 400 at the two-mile track (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)—because no one else made it to the stripe in the final round, either. In a bizarre money round in Friday’sRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The annual NASCAR Goes West campaign reaches the end of its three week run this weekend as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Southern California for Sunday’s running of the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway. Built on the site of an old steel mill featured in the movie “Terminator”, the two-mile oval has been a part of the NASCAR schedule since opening in 1997. During its 20+ years on the circuit, the track has gone through ownership changes, as well as expandingRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The final leg of the “West Coast Swing” will be an important one for Garrett Smithley, driver of the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, as he’ll have a special partnership for Sunday’s Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Smithley’s major partnership will be the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) and 10 Tanker Air Carrier, with a goal of raising awareness for the CDF Benevolent Fund. What makes the deal significant for the 26-year-old is that hisRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service FONTANA, Calif. – Martin Truex Jr. drove three things on Sunday afternoon at Auto Club Speedway. First, he drove the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota to a dominating victory in the Auto Club 400, the fifth Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race of the season. Second, he drove a time machine, turning back the clock to 2017 when his mastery of stage racing propelled him to his first series championship. Truex’s effort in Sunday’s race was every bit as overwhelming as his most convincingRead More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer To say it was an up and down day for Ryan Blaney would be an understatement. Despite tagging the wall early and losing a lap, the young Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series veteran still managed to finish eighth at Auto Club Speedway. On the final restart with nearly 70 laps left in the Auto Club 400, Blaney found himself outside the top-15. Slowly, he clawed his way back towards the top-10. After the final round of green flag pit stops around 45 laps to go,Read More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Kyle Larson has put a stranglehold on his competitors at the two-mile circuits, winning the last four races, but his bid for a fifth victory (Larson’s second at Fontana) came to an end in Sunday’s Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway after finishing second behind race winner Martin Truex, Jr. Despite being his best finish of the season and only his second top-five, Larson failed to put his No. 42 DC Solar Chevrolet on top of the leaderboard. “We had a lot of weirdRead More