NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Official Race Results From Auto Club Speedway

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES OFFICIAL RACE REPORT No. 5
18TH ANNUAL AUTO CLUB "400"
AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY

Fontana, CA - March 23, 2014
2-Mile Oval
200 Laps - 400 Miles Purse: $5,956,154

-

When it came down to Kyle Busch and rookie Kyle Larson, for a moment I thought we were going to see a rookied sweep the CA weekend out at Auto Club Speedway.  But it may seem that Kyle Busch learned a thing or two about Larson the day prior, when Larson won his first Nationwide race by a narrow margin, beating out Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch.

Plus, this now puts Kyle Busch pretty much in the Chase for the Cup at the end of the year.

-

Race Comments: Kyle Busch won the Auto Club 400 his 29th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory. Prior to the green flag to start the event, the following car(s) will drop to the rear of the field for the reasons indicated: #78, 22 - back-up car; #27, 11 - driver change.

TIME OF RACE:3 hours, 5 minutes, 53 seconds AVERAGE SPEED:132.987 mph MARGIN OF VICTORY:0.214 second(s)

COORS LIGHT POLE AWARD: Matt Kenseth (187.315 mph. 38.438 secs.)

3M LAP LEADER: Jimmie Johnson (104 Laps)

=

Caution Flags: 9 cautions for 42 laps. [Beneficiary in Brackets]
20-23 (Debris For #4 (Frontstetch) [None]);
44-47 (Car #88 Accident (Turn 2) [None]);
58-60 (Car #14 Spinout (Backstretch) [None]);
71-74 (Car #33, 43 Accident (Frontstretch) [14]);
87-90 (Car #30 Accident (Turn 4) [35]);
119-122 (Car #99 Spinout (Turn 2) [34]);
142-148 (Debris (Turn 3) [99]);
168-173 (Car #38, 98 Accident (Turn 4) [78]);
199-204 (Car #15 Spinout (Turn 4) [31]).

Lap Leaders: 35 lead changes among 15 drivers.
Kenseth-pole, Keselowski 1-9, Bowyer 10, Keselowski 11-20, Ragan 21,
Keselowski 22, Ky. Busch 23-26, Keselowski 27-43, Gilliland 44, Cassill 45,
Johnson 46, Vickers 47, Johnson 48-57, Bowyer 58, Keselowski 59,
Johnson 60-70, Newman 71-73, Kenseth 74-83, Johnson 84-86, Kenseth 87,
Nemechek 88, Kenseth 89-90, Johnson 91-105, J. Gordon 106-119,
Sorenson 120, Kenseth 121-126, Johnson 127-142, J. Gordon 143, Reutimann 144,
Johnson 145-167, J. Gordon 168, Johnson 169-193, J. Gordon 194-200,
Cassill 201-203, Ku. Busch 204-205, Ky. Busch 206.

=

With Kyle being the fifth driver to win in five races, this is how the Chase Field is starting to shape up:

POS	Driver	Points	Wins
1	CARL EDWARDS	186	1
2	DALE EARNHARDT JR.	185	1
4	BRAD KESELOWSKI	182	1
7	KYLE BUSCH	158	1
25	KEVIN HARVICK	97	1

=
Official Results From California:

Pos	No	Driver	Laps	Points	B. Pts	Status	Laps Led
1	18	Kyle Busch	206	47	4	Running	5
2	42	Kyle Larson #	206	42	0	Running
3	41	Kurt Busch	206	42	1	Running	2
4	20	Matt Kenseth	206	41	1	Running	19
5	14	Tony Stewart	206	39	0	Running
6	1	Jamie McMurray	206	38	0	Running
7	55	Brian Vickers	206	38	1	Running	1
8	47	AJ Allmendinger	206	36	0	Running
9	27	Paul Menard	206	35	0	Running
10	99	Carl Edwards	206	34	0	Running
11	3	Austin Dillon #	206	33	0	Running
12	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr	206	32	0	Running
13	24	Jeff Gordon	206	32	1	Running	23
14	10	Danica Patrick	206	30	0	Running
15	13	Casey Mears	206	29	0	Running
16	15	Clint Bowyer	206	29	1	Running	2
17	11	Sam Hornish Jr	206	0	0	Running
18	26	Cole Whitt #	206	26	0	Running
19	7	Michael Annett #	206	25	0	Running
20	31	Ryan Newman	206	25	1	Running	3
21	36	Reed Sorenson	206	24	1	Running	1
22	23	Alex Bowman #	206	22	0	Running
23	78	Martin Truex Jr	206	21	0	Running
24	48	Jimmie Johnson	206	22	2	Running	104
25	40	Landon Cassill	205	0	0	Running	4
26	2	Brad Keselowski	205	19	1	Running	38
27	34	David Ragan	205	18	1	Running	1
28	51	Justin Allgaier #	205	16	0	Running
29	35	David Reutimann	205	16	1	Running	1
30	9	Marcos Ambrose	205	14	0	Running
31	83	Ryan Truex #	205	13	0	Running
32	66	Joe Nemechek	205	0	0	Running	1
33	32	Travis Kvapil	205	11	0	Running
34	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr	204	10	0	Running
35	33	Brian Scott	204	0	0	Running
36	4	Kevin Harvick	204	8	0	Running
37	98	Josh Wise	204	7	0	Running
38	38	David Gilliland	202	7	1	Running	1
39	22	Joey Logano	195	5	0	Running
40	16	Greg Biffle	193	4	0	Running
41	5	Kasey Kahne	180	3	0	Running
42	30	Parker Kligerman #	85	2	0	Accident
43	43	Aric Almirola	68	1	0	Accident

=

NEXT RACE EVENT:

March 30, 2014 - 65th Annual STP 500, Martinsville Speedway, Ridgeway, VA (263 Miles) (500 Laps)

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Email:

- - -

Entitled Drivers and Safer Barriers

I actually missed all the fun at California's Auto Club Speedway in Fontana this last weekend.  It's a huge, D-Shaped oval and I've seen the racing there before.  So I had scheduled a bunch of honey-do things to tackle on Sunday.  I didn't even turn the TV on.  I've seen the races from the D-ovals before.  Apparently I missed some live carnage and good racing.

Was it Really Exciting?

First thing I heard about was how it was a fantastic race.  I have yet to catch the replay of the event, but I'm curious if these references involve the actual race or just the usual emotional anchor attached to an exciting finish that usually labels an entire race as exciting?  If the entire race was fun for all, then dang, I guess I did miss something.

-

Entitled Drivers

Second thing I've heard come out of the weekend, and seen numerous sound bytes and video recaps, was that of Joey Logano blocking Tony Stewart on a restart, and then after the race, Tony Stewart and team going after Joey and his team for his seeming terrible actions on the track.

My perception of any sporting event, is that they usually involve tactics.  Those being both offensive and defensive.

I also know of way too many times when Tony Stewart has actually gotten defensive and blocked people.  I believe there might have been a rather highly publicized block that took place back at Talladega last year.  I think that block involved twenty-five cars?  Just wondering.  So I am not sure I can add much to what anyone else is saying about the one-sided perception of Tony Stewart, but since I like grinding out a weekly piece on the race that was, well, hey...

Tony has got to stop getting mad at people that use his own tactics.  Since the incident, I've seen nothing but trash-talk about the driver and how only he can be allowed to block cars trying to pass him.  I'm thinking if he really hates blocking, I hear IndyCar has rules against real tactics blocking.  Maybe he'd like to go to that racing league instead?

I just find it short-sighted on how angry he got.  And crass that he had to take a shot at Joey's lineage and upbringing.

And just when I was starting to think Tony has his s*$! together and maturing from owning multiple teams.

But this isn't the first time I've heard this from a NASCAR driver.  How often do we hear the grumblings of drivers who have been blocked, or the radio chatter where someone starts bitching about being blocked.  Sure, when Juan Pablo Montoya is 10 laps down, his blocking may seem irritating.  But at his core, he's a racer, racing.  (I'm not saying I approve, but I see where he's coming from.)

These millionaires have become such because they have the talent to get to the front. And they've proven it in fields of competitors who they have bested.  And I'm betting they've done enough blocking on their parts somewhere in the past.  But when I hear drivers complain about a fellow competitor being in their way, I take a step back and start to question exactly what is this?  Isn't this racing, where the end goal is to race around everyone and win the race?  Or is it a gentleman's sport?

Driver 1 to Driver 2:  "Excuse me good sir!  I was able to catch you and would like to pass on your left please!  I shall turn my lane-change signal on now!"

Driver 2:  "By Jove, I am terribly sorry for being in the way while trying to race to the number one spot in the pack.  Here good man, let me move aside like the spineless jellyfish I am and let you dust my arse, my sponsor's arse and incur the wrath of my fans while I'm at it!  Have a dashing good day sir!"

Driver 1: "By god, it's about time you got out of my way.  For a moment there, I thought I would have to scrub some extra tire wear off, and use some sort of competitive tactics and driving talent in trying to circumvent you.  For a moment, I thought I might have had to work for it and earn it!!!"

No, you only see that in the classic race leagues where teams are running 100-year-old cars and they don't want to ding up their one-and-only version of their car.  I expect my drivers in NASCAR to get the front by racing.  If it were a gentleman's sport, what's the point of different shaped and sized race tracks?  Where would be the fun of short-track events?  But that's just me.  I'm weird that way.

-

Safer Barriers Have No Place To Not Be

Many people today and wondering why all walls at a race track aren't covered in safer barriers?  And I'm right there with them.  Sure, it might have been a cost-savings measure in a tight, economic times.  But this is racing and if you don't think it's happened in the past, and hence, won't happen in the future, I don't think that's a good premise.

Right now Denny Hamlin is suffering from smacking the inside wall at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana.  As far as I'm concerned, any track should have the safer barriers on every wall that a car at speed, has some form of potential access to.

And that's that.

-

Now I have to go find myself an encore performance of the race.  Word on the street is that the TV ratings for this event were overall, 30% higher than they were last year.  Of course, that's not all good.  Next year, if the numbers flub a little, the media will be all over the fact that ratings are down 10%.  It seems most ratings reports focus on the numbers that way.  But that's just an observation.  It's the train wrecks that get the attention.

Until my next Race Rant!!!

The 'Auto Club 400' Was A Wash, But Tony Stewart Cleaned Up

Rain on lap 125, or the Auto Club 250 as I'm calling it.  The Auto Club 400, was cut short by rain...  again, the first time rain set its own record.  This is the first race to be rain-shortened at the Fontana CA track, much like this year's Daytona 500 was postponed by rain for the first time ever.  I hope this isn't going to be a trend this year, that's for sure.

Be it as it may, The Auto Club 400 went from perfect blue skies in early morning to rain by lap 125 and everyone pretty much knew it was coming and raced to the halfway point. Some drivers were tweaked that the race was called as early as it was (around 2pm CA time), but had they seen the radar, they might have noticed that the light rain was stopping the race, and heavier rain was on its way.  Plus, I don't think NASCAR needed a repeat of that one fateful CA race where they ran on into to wee hours of the morning.

What befuddled me was that when the caution for rain came out (the first yellow flag of the day), drivers like Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson & Mark Martin pitted.  Very uncharacteristic of how a team might view a rain caution, but they had hopes the band of rain would pass quickly and the race would be on.  But alas, someone wasn't watching the radar close enough.

On the lucky side of things, the race being rain shorted, saved Jimmie Johnson's butt big time... after his pit stop, he car started blowing smoke and had the race gone on to green, he would not have even had the 10th place finish he mustered up.

When the race was called at 1:52pm, local time, Tony Stewart found himself the winner, followed by Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards.

-

During the race, the biggest controversy during the telecast was how some of the drivers were passing aggressively on the low side then sliding up in front of their slide-pass victim.  The Fox telecast went on and on about that for a bit.

But then again, That's better than then going on about car wrecks or burning track dryer trucks.  (Whose staff was probably getting nervous when it started raining.)

After the race was stopped, did anyone notice the drivers propensity for not holding their own umbrellas?  Seriously guys?

-

The rain-shortened Sprint Cup race did see a few changes in the point standings... Greg Biffle remains the points leader & Kevin Harvick 2nd, but Dale Earnhardt Jr., moved up 3 spots to third, as did Tony Stewart, moving into fourth.  Other big upward moves included Jimmie Johnson (3 spots into eigth) and Ryan Newman (3 spots into tenth).

Kurt Busch finished 9th on Sunday, and that propelled him 4 spots, into twenty-third while Kasey Kahne's 15th place finish moved him 4 spots up into twenty-eighth.

This won't be indicative of the rest of the season.  As races get run and points get settled, there will be fewer and fewer big jumps in spots... but for now, that's what makes the early part of the season exciting.  The position jostling.

The Auto Club 400 ended with twenty-six cars still on the lead lap.

Unofficial Results:

FIN	DRIVER
1	Tony Stewart
2	Kyle Busch
3	Dale Earnhardt Jr.
4	Kevin Harvick
5	Carl Edwards
6	Greg Biffle
7	Ryan Newman
8	Martin Truex Jr.
9	Kurt Busch
10	Jimmie Johnson
11	Denny Hamlin
12	Mark Martin
13	Matt Kenseth
14	Clint Bowyer
15	Kasey Kahne
16	AJ Allmendinger
17	Juan Montoya
18	Brad Keselowski
19	Paul Menard
20	Regan Smith
21	Marcos Ambrose
22	Jeff Burton
23	Casey Mears
24	Joey Logano
25	Aric Almirola
26	Jeff Gordon
27	David Reutimann
28	Bobby Labonte
29	Travis Kvapil
30	David Gilliland
31	David Ragan
32	Jamie McMurray
33	Dave Blaney
34	Ken Schrader
35	J.J. Yeley
36	Landon Cassill
37	Josh Wise *
38	Michael McDowell
39	David Stremme
40	Mike Bliss
41	Scott Riggs
42	Reed Sorenson
43	Brendan Gaughan

--
NASCAR-Bits-and-Pieces on Twitter & Facebook .
- -

Fontana: Some Stats, 'Auto Club 400' TV Times and Other Things

It's time to visit the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Auto Club 400 event.  The big old D-shaped track is, well, a big D-shaped track.  They go round and round, with lots of space for everyone.  Hence, the cautions are minimal and it all comes down to pit stops and fuel mileage.  Of course this year, I'm betting the teams are getting mild ulcers from worrying about the new EFI system, but if all goes according to plan, it should be a good tactical experience for all the teams.

NASCAR Sprint Cup TV Schedule
If you're wondering about when what is on... all practices and qualifying will be carried on Speed TV with the race live on Fox on Sunday.  (All times ET)

Friday, March 23rd:

First Practice 3 pm
Qualifying 7 pm

Saturday, Mar 24th:

Second Practice 12:30 pm
Final Practice 3:30 pm

Sunday, Mar 25th:

Auto Club 400 @ 2:30 pm on FOX

=

The last five races at the track has seen Jimmie Johnson win two of those, with Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth winning the others.

Of that pack, actually, of all the drivers, Johnson has the best average finish from the loop data that's been collected over the last 13 events at Fontana:

Jimmie Johnson (4.2)
Matt Kenseth (8.8)
Carl Edwards (9.2)
Clint Bowyer (10.6)
Kyle Busch (11.1)

And Johnson has led the most laps, 23.7%, with Kyle Busch (12.5%), Kenseth (11.5%), Greg Biffle (8.5%) and Jeff Gordon having led 6.6% of all laps in the last 13 races.

And if you look at the above stats, then look at the driver standings, with Biffle, Harvick and Kenseth being pretty strong early-season contenders, you have to keep one thing in mind:  Jimmie Johnson is only 11th because of a 1st lap wreck at Daytona.  You can never count them out.

I think it's going to come down to Johnson vs. Biffle. 

But don't forget to temper your expectations with practice and qualifying performances for the weekend when picking your fantasy line-up for the Auto Club 400.

You might also want to check out iFantasyrace's Auto Club Fantasy Picks for the weekend.

=

Overturned Penalties
Folks were honestly shocked, the penalty cloud hanging over the No. 48 team has been lifted. 

Now that Johnson's team has been absolved (technically) of all wrong doings from their inspection woes at Daytona, Chad Knaus et al can now truly get laser focused on the task at hand.  Though it's been my observation that they get more focused when Chad takes enforced sabbatical.

Though the penalties have been lifted, they still owe the fine.  Not sure that that's about.  Though I have to wonder, with all fines applied to the NASCAR Foundation, are they tax-deductible?  Seems win-win for everyone, if that is indeed the case.

Here's a great details article on the matter:  Suspension Overturned.

-

Now Streaming

And if you heard the news, SiriusXM NASCAR content will be streaming online starting Saturday at Fontana.  That's good news and it's about bloody time.  Well, except for the fact that SiriusXM wants additional fees to get the content you're already subscribed to.  (online access fee.)

Despite the SiriusXM decisions on fees, this is the first bonus for the fans, from NASCAR getting its own digital rights back.

The Daly Planet has more on this new streaming content development.

=

You can follow
NASCAR-Bits-and-Pieces on
either Twitter & Facebook,
if you're so inclined!

- -

Jimmie Johnson Wins the Pepsi 500 - A terse Recap

It was Jimmie Johnson's race to lose. That's all there was to it. He had the pole, he owned the lead, and his team made all the right adjustments through all the changes of the race that turned from day to night.

Impressive or expected? Does it matter? Nope. He pulled it off.

Here's a quick recap of the race:

Jimmie Johnson led them to the green flag, but by the end of the lap, A.J. Almendinger had led himself a lap, but quickly lost it back to Johnson. The first few laps had the usual side-by-side rows of high octane burst of acceleration that slowly whittled down to a single file line of cars that was interrupted by a flat tire on lap 3 for Jamie McMurray.

Lap 8 Restart: 48, 84, 24, 9, 1, 18, 2, 19, 22 & 44 lead the pack across the line! Go 'Dinger!!

Lap 13 we see J Gordon's splitter smokin off the ground. ( We presume it's splitter smoke right now )

Lap 20 Caution for a BIG piece of debris - the caution light got blown off it's post by the wind of the cars flying by at 205+ mph at the end of the front stretch! McMurray gets the lucky dog and now all cars are on the lead lap.
-Lap 25 Restart: 48, 9, 84,83, 88, 16, 18, 44, 24 & 1

Lap 43 Caution for Kurt Busch losing a LR tire.
-Lap 47 Restart: 48, 16, 84, 83, 88, 9, 29, 11, 17 & 99

Lap 69 Caution: Nemechek hard in the wall out of turn 2. Knocked his drive shaft out of the car. He be done!
-lap 73 Restart: 48, 16, 11, 29, 17, 99, 44, 9, 84 & 88

Lap 100 48, 16, 11, 29, 83, 9, 44, 42, 17 & 07

Jimmie Johnson clinches a spot in the chase.

Lap 137: 48, 16, 83, 11, 29, 44, 9, 17, 99 & 42
21 cars on the lead lap

Caution for debris. Ryan Newman is the lucky dog, putting 19 cars on the lead lap.
-Restart with 98 laps to go: 48, 16, 11, 29, 83, 44, 99, 9, 17 & 20

Caution lap 160: Debris. Another piece of track light came down!! Wow!
The track is falling apart!
-Restart with 85 laps to go: 16, 99, 84, 83, 12, 48, 29, 11, 9 & 17
2 tire gambles on some of the cars.

A few laps later, the 48 car was hunting the 16 car down and with 82 to go, took the lead back.

70 Laps to go Robby Gordon Spins... one more caution!
The 48 team had an issue in the pits.
Restart with 65 laps to go: 44, 16, 99, 48, 11, 29, 12, 17, 9 & 18.
(uh ho, here comes the 18 car.)

Is this the final restart of then night?
Restart with 28 to go 16, 48, 11, 99, 29, 17, 18, 9, 07 &, 44
by the end of the lap, the 48 car was leading the way.


We're watching 3 and 4 wide in mid pack. It's pretty exciting.
There's a lot of dancing between the 83, 84, 12 and 88 for 11th spot.
With 20 to go, we have 48, 16, 11, 29 & 17 lead the pack.

15 to go: 48, 16, 11, 29, 17, 99 & 18 !!??!!

10 to go: 48, 16, 11, 29 & 17

The winner of the Pepsi 500 at CA is Jimmie Johnson!
He led oodles of laps and was followed across the line by
16, 11, 29, 17, 99, 18, 9, 44 & 07 cars.

Check out the details over at NASCAR:
Cup Series Results
Cup Series Standings

I'll break things down later!

But I'll tell you what, back in June I said David Ragan is my favorite dark horse driver in this whole bunch because he's quietly there, lurking just outside the top 12. Not screwing around too much. He doesn't have a top performing car, but the No. 6 team is quietly getting it together.

Next year, he is either going to be a contender or will fade to black.