For the Final Time in Fontana: Auto Club Race Review and Analysis

 



The Pala Casino 400 at Auto Club Speedway was the last on the 2-mile configuration.  Kyle Busch took home the checkered flag in his second race with Richard Childress Racing.  Busch collected his 5th win at the Fontana track, the 61st win of his career, and his 1st of the 2023 season.  The 37-year old joins Ricky Stenhouse Jr., as the only two drivers locked into the playoffs. This also marks Busch's 19th straight season with a win in the Nascar Cup Series. The Las Vegas native surpasses Richard Petty for the most consecutive seasons with at least 1 win, for the most of all-time in Nascar history.



Momentum is the name of the game in not only racing, but at Auto Club Speedway.  Here are today’s results from southern California.  Busch claims the win at Auto Club for the final time, following him is Chase Elliott in 2nd for Hendrick Motorsports.  


(Kyle Busch in Victory Lane in Fontana)


Third place goes to Ross Chastain for Trackhouse Racing, who led 91 laps.  Teammate to Chastain, Daniel Suarez slots in at fourth.  Kevin Harvick, the lone Stewart-Haas Racing car in the top-10 finishes 5th.  Sixth place goes to Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing, alongside him is Brad Keselowski in 7th who had a bounce-back day for RFK Racing.  


Alex Bowman, who showed promising flashes for Hendrick Motorsports by leading 17 laps, finished 8th.  Ninth goes to Austin Dillon of Richard Childress Racing, who has five top-12 finishes in his last six starts at the 2-mile track.  Rounding out the top-10 is Joey Logano for Team Penske.  


Honorable mentions go to Martin Truex Jr. in 11th for Joe Gibbs Racing.  The 2023 Daytona 500 champion, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., in 12th for JTG Daugherty Racing. 


Chris Buescher in 13th for RFK Racing, along with Corey LaJoie in 14th for Spire Motorsports.  Harrison Burton in 15th for Wood Brothers Racing, and lastly, rookie Ty Gibbs in 16th for Joe Gibbs Racing.  


(The class of the field in today's race: Chastain and Busch)


Auto Club Speedway put on a show in its final race weekend on the 2-mile configuration.  Today’s race showed that the five-groove track is truly a formula for a veteran solve. From a multi-car stack up, to pure green flag racing, Kyle Busch drove a smart, precise, and savvy race for Richard Childress Racing.  I'd give today's on-track performance a 9.0 out of 10.


The teardown begins, as the goal for a short track starts now in terms of Nascar's vision for Auto Club.  2024 will not feature an Auto Club event in late February, as the search will begin for who will host a race weekend in place of the popular speedway.  Look for Trackhouse Racing, Team Penske, and Joe Gibbs Racing to be strong next weekend in Las Vegas.  


Drivers looking for a rebound weekend next week in Vegas are, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace, Christopher Bell, along with Aric Almirola, and A.J. Allmendinger.


The third race weekend for Nascar is on the horizon, as the Craftsman Truck Series returns to action on Friday. 


Practice and qualifying for the Trucks will begin at 4:35 pm ET, with the Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200 beginning at 9:00pm ET on FS1.  The Xfinity Series will have practice and qualifying on Friday at 6:35 pm ET.  The Alsco Uniforms 300 will be at 4:30pm ET on FS1.  For the Cup Series, practice and qualifying get underway at 1:35 pm ET on Saturday.  The Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube will occur at 3:30pm ET only on FOX.  



( All images credited to https://www.foxsports.com/nascar/cup-series.)


For next week's race information please view the link down below:

Las Vegas Motor Speedway Website


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