Auto Club Speedway Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The most anticipated day in NASCAR history has been tremendously spoiled, but it doesn’t mean the excitement and disappointment levels have waned. It’s the exact opposite because the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series calendar looks drastically different. There’s so much to digest with various announcements involving multiple tracks over the past 24 hours have left not just NASCAR, but also the NTT IndyCar Series community buzzing. SCHEDULE: 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Depending on who you are, you’re either thrilled with the drastic changes on next season’s calendarRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Will Ferrell’s “I’m not even mad. That’s amazing” and Lindsay Ellis’ “Thanks, I hate it!” If there’s ever been a moment in NASCAR where those two quotes works like fine wine, Tuesday’s shocking development of NASCAR submitting a plan of converting Auto Club Speedway from a 2-mile circuit to a banked half-mile short track is it. When I woke up at 10 a.m. PT to open Twitter, I couldn’t believe what I was reading from The Athletic’s Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi. Fontana might become aRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer It was far from a pretty race for Denny Hamlin, who managed to escape Sunday’s Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway with a less than satisfying sixth-place finish. The three-time Daytona 500 champion had two infamous moments happened in the 200-lap race where outside of race winner Alex Bowman, he was the focal point of the event. Earlier in the race, a three-car battle between Hamlin, Kyle Larson and Kevin Harvick nearly went awry on the frontstretch when the trio drafted together. Harvick slightly bumpedRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Jimmie Johnson enjoys strong run in swan song at Auto Club Speedway FONTANA, Calif. – Before the green flag waved Sunday at Auto Club Speedway, Jimmie Johnson took prime position behind the pace car as the rest of the NASCAR Cup Series field fanned out five-wide behind him in a respectful salute to the seven-time champion. When the green flag waved to signal the beginning of the Auto Club 400, Johnson saw his wife Chandra and daughters Genevieve and Lydia doing the honors fromRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service FONTANA, Calif. – Alex Bowman had a new nose for the finish line Sunday at Auto Club Speedway. Driving the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet—a sleeker version of the Camaro with a new front fascia—Bowman ran away with the final stage of the Auto Club 400 at the two-mile track in the Inland Empire. In picking up his second career victory and his first at Fontana, Bowman led five times for 110 of the 200 laps in the third NASCAR Cup event of theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer There were no back-to-back triumphs for Chase Briscoe in Saturday’s Production Alliance Group 300 at Auto Club Speedway as a late-race spin dashed his hopes and ended up a gut punching 19th place. Despite leading 16 of 150 laps, Briscoe started off as not one of the more stronger cars among the 36-car grid. That would change on Lap 97 when he took the lead for the first time from Justin Haley. It wouldn’t be the only time Briscoe took the top spot from a KauligRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service FONTANA, Calif. – Holding off teammate Riley Herbst with a determined run over the final 19 laps, 19-year old rookie Harrison Burton charged to his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory in Saturday’s Production Alliance Group 300 at Auto Club Speedway. Working his way through traffic in the closing laps in his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Burton beat Herbst’s No. 18 Camry to the finish line by .455 seconds, with Austin Cindric trailing the winner by .642 seconds in third. The victory wasRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service FONTANA, Calif. – It’s far too early to be thinking about Christmas, but Clint Bowyer was the Grinch whole stole the thunder from local favorite Jimmie Johnson during Saturday’s time trials at Auto Club Speedway. With a stronger run off Turn 4 on his qualifying lap, Bowyer edged Johnson by .007 seconds to earn the pole position for Sunday’s Auto Club 400 (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The last driver to turn a lap, Johnson had the edge atRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Jimmie Johnson brings vivid memories in return to home track FONTANA, Calif. – Eighteen years ago, Jimmie Johnson came to Auto Club Speedway with no job security. This weekend, Johnson returns to the two-mile track for his last ride as a full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver with 83 victories, seven championships and nothing left to prove. That wasn’t the case in 2002 in his first season with Hendrick Motorsports. Despite assurances to the contrary, Johnson thought he was on a short leash with theRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service It has certainly not been the season start to a robust defense of his 2019 NASCAR Cup Series championship for Kyle Busch. A pair of sub-par showings in the opening two races have placed the driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in a rather unfamiliar position – not even among the top-20 in the NASCAR Cup Series points standings. But he arrives at California’s Auto Club Speedway for Sunday’s Auto Club 400 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) withRead More