Fontana Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Winning the Daytona 500 brings its perks, especially for a single-car organization like JTG-Daugherty Racing. Although most of the praise goes to Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., who won his first NASCAR Cup Series race since July 2017, history was also made in the 65th renewal of “The Great American Race.” Daugherty became the first African-American owner to win NASCAR’s most prestigious event, but wasn’t around to see Stenhouse win big. Due to recently having eye surgery 10 days before, the Florida sunlight bothered Daugherty, so in theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Erik Jones came out to play in Sunday’s Wise Power 400 at Auto Club Speedway, finishing a hard fought third after leading six times for 18 of 200 laps. Thanks to two runner-up outings in the opening two stages, it was also a massive points day for Jones, who racked up 52 points. He equaled race winner Kyle Larson with the most points scored after the grueling 200-lap contest concluded. As several of the top contenders afternoon went south in Stage 3, notably Tyler Reddick whoRead 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 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 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 Luis Torres, Staff Writer Auto Club Speedway was once again unkind to John Hunter Nemechek, who took a heavy shunt past the start/finish line on the 84th lap of Saturday’s Production Alliance Group 300 in Fontana, California, and will be credited with a 28th place result. Already dealing with adversity such as a brush in the Turn 4 wall during Stage 1 and later in Stage 2, he lost a lap by pitting for a vibration, but would have a decent recovery and saw himself battling Justin Haley for theRead 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 Luis Torres, Staff Writer Quiet consistency often times goes unnoticed in NASCAR, but for the second time this season, JD Motorsports driver Ross Chastain finished in the top-10, already matching his total from 2017. Chastain brought his No. 4 Daley Technology Systems Chevrolet home in 10th during Saturday’s Roseanne 300 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Chastain’s performance marked his ninth-career NASCAR Xfinity Series top-10 and only the fifth time he’s accomplished this feat outside of Daytona International Speedway, where he finished ninth last month. Chastain showed paceRead More

By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter Author’s note: This is part of a 10-part series discussing tracks around the world that I feel would be a good fit for the Verizon IndyCar Series. The opinions here are expressed solely of the author and not necessarily of the Motorsports Tribune. While Auto Club Speedway only had a relatively short stint in Indy car racing history, it has rightfully earned its place at the top of the list. The 2-mile Speedway located in Fontana, California opened in 1997 on the site of theRead More

With a record 83 lead changes over the course of 500 miles, yesterday’s MavTV 500 was  one of the wildest IndyCar races in recent memory and arguably one of the best races of the season. The race has pushed IndyCar well into cyberspace with the race being one of the highest trending topics on Twitter and whether fans and the pundits love it or hate it, people are talking about it. Leading into the race weekend, some drivers (notably Juan Pablo Montoya) expressed concerns on Friday in criticism of theRead More