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Tag: Auto Club 400

  • Keselowski Rallies from Spin to Finish Runner-up

    Keselowski Rallies from Spin to Finish Runner-up

    The day for Brad Keselowski started with a spin through the frontstretch grass, then ended with a second-place finish at Auto Club Speedway.

    On the initial start, Denny Hamlin spun the tires and forced Keselowski off the gas. The resulting accordion effect led to the front bumper of Ryan Newman, who turned Keselowski up the track. It left him with a damaged left-rear corner panel.

    Exiting Turn 4 on the third lap, Keselowski got loose trying not to hit Ty Dillon, and was tapped in his left-rear by Jimmie Johnson, and spun down the track and through the frontstretch grass, bringing out the first caution of the race.

    “I got ran into the back of and it did a lot of damage to the car and we were in a lot of trouble and started to freefall through the field and then I got ran over again,” Keselowski said in his post-race press conference. “I got ran over, so I’m not really sure who, why, what. I haven’t seen any of that.”

    With his damaged race car, he fought his way back into the top-10 just past halfway through the race and was in the top-five when the final caution flew with three laps to go.

    Keselowski restarted third on the overtime restart and passed Hamlin to finish second.

    “The last two restarts we really hit pretty well,” Keselowski added. “I don’t know if I would have had a shot at Kyle, but I would have liked to have seen. We came from third on that last one and a couple of three-wide passes and what-not. Kyle was smart. He picked the outside lane and kind of pinned me behind a guy that had older tires, so by the time I cleared everybody Kyle was just too far gone.”

  • Larson Sweeps Weekend in Fontana

    Larson Sweeps Weekend in Fontana

    Instead of bridesmaid status for the fourth straight week, Kyle Larson dominated most of the day at Auto Club Speedway and took the lead in the closing laps to return to victory lane in NASCAR.

    He led 110 laps from start to the finish of the Auto Club 400 and beat Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr. and Brad Keselowski on the final restart to score his second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory.

    “I was staying as calm as I could be, but also frustrated at the same time,” Larson said. “It seems like every time I get to the lead at the end of one of these things, the caution comes out and I’ve got to fight people off on restarts. Our Target Chevy was amazing all day. We were able to lead a lot of laps today. Truex was better than us that second stage by quite a bit. We were able to get the jump on him the following restart and led pretty much the rest of the distance. I had to fight them off there after the green flag stops and that was a lot of fun.

    “This is just amazing. We have been so good all year long; three seconds in a row. I’ve been watching all the TV like ‘he doesn’t know how to win’, but we knew how to win today, so that was good.”

    This win is in addition to his victory in the XFINITY Series race the day prior.

    Keselowski overcame a spin on the third lap to finish runner-up. Clint Bowyer came home third.

    “It was a good weekend for us,” Bowyer said. “We never showed the speed in practice, but I wasn’t worried about it because I knew the car was really comfortable on the long run and things like that. I was proud of the effort that (Mike) Buga and all the guys give me each and every week.

    “I’m just having fun again. That’s what it’s about.”

    Starting on pole, Larson lost the lead only during the green flag cycle in the middle of the first stage. But he quickly regained it and won it.

    Though Larson dominating Stage 1, Truex took command of the race under the stage break and easily won the second stage.

    “Well, I had slid through my (pit) box at the end of that first stage and I had to overdrive some to get to second and then Truex was just really good that run and I had run the top of (Turns) 3 and 4 and probably wore my tires out too much,” Larson said. “When I got to the lead in the third stage I knew to just commit to the bottom of (Turns) 3 and 4 and save my tires the best I could. Our long run was really good the rest of the race.”

    On the ensuing restart, Larson made a power move on Truex in Turn 1 to take the lead back. Other than surrendering it to Kyle Busch and Ty Dillon during a cycle of green-flag stops with 45 laps to go, which he took back with 37 to go, he was in command the entire run to the finish.

    The complexion of the race changed when Corey LaJoie spun out in Turn 2, bringing out the penultimate caution with nine to go. Hamlin, Truex and Erik Jones elected to stay out while everyone else pitted.

    Restarting with five to go, Larson powered by Truex for second with ease. He had a run on Hamlin but was boxed in by Truex to his inside and the outside wall. This only delayed him momentarily as he passed Hamlin to take the lead exiting Turn 2 with three to go and held him off on the overtime restart to win.

    On the initial start, Hamlin got a bad start, forcing Keselowski to back into Ryan Newman. Keselowski was turned up into Kevin Harvick, who then made contact with Newman. Two laps later, Keselowski, with some help from Jimmie Johnson, spun out exiting Turn 4 and spun through the grass.

    With 20 to go, Gray Gaulding suffered a right-front tire blowout and slammed the wall in Turn 2.

    With 16 to go, Truex hooked Matt Kenseth exiting Turn 2, turning him down the track where he slammed the inside wall driver-side.

    Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spun out exiting Turn 2 with three to go, setting up the overtime finish.

    The race lasted two hours, 57 minutes and 48 seconds at an average speed of 136.359 mph. There were 17 lead changes among eight different drivers and seven cautions for 29 laps.

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  • Danica Patrick Chimes in on NASCAR not Punishing Austin Dillon

    Danica Patrick Chimes in on NASCAR not Punishing Austin Dillon

    NASCAR elected not to punish Austin Dillon for his actions against Cole Custer in last weekend’s XFINITY Series race at Phoenix International Raceway in which Dillon ran his car into Custer’s under caution as retaliation for contact just minutes prior.

    The no penalty decision raised eyebrows as just the day prior, NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell said that NASCAR wouldn’t allow drivers to use cars as a weapon.

    It came after a meeting with Kyle Busch and Joey Logano, who were involved in a post-race brawl on pit road the preceding week at Las Vegas Motor Speedway where the former punched the latter in the face, and NASCAR chose not to fine either for their involvement.

    The driver most vocal about NASCAR’s ruling was Danica Patrick, saying NASCAR should “Give me my money back.”

    Last year, she was hooked into the outside wall by Kasey Kahne and fined for walking onto the apron to show her displeasure to him.

    “I also got fined here last year for Kasey Kahne right-rearing me on the front straightaway at 215 miles an hour and I gave him this sign, and I got fined for that, too,” she said.

    Patrick was upset about NASCAR’s ambiguous rules, but she was more concerned about fining drivers for actions that “makes for good TV.”

    “I think NASCAR makes a really big mistake of fining for some stuff, especially something that happens in the car because it makes for good TV – just like fights and all that stuff,” she said. “We can handle it. I think it’s a mistake. I might be speaking too much, but I’ve been fined a few times and I think that it makes for good TV and I think that we handle it out on the track ourselves.”

    Patrick said she’s fine with NASCAR having not fined drivers in the last few weeks, she wishes that they were consistent in that regard and asked where the fine money goes to.

    “Yeah, I’d rather that be the standard,” she added. “I mean, what does that really do? I’m not gonna not go on vacation. I would actually rather know what it did. I would actually love to see like the playground that got built for it, or homeless people that got food. I would like to see actually what the money does for fines because it’s supposed to go to charity, right? So what does it really do? I would like to see that.”

  • Larson Right at Home with Coors Light Pole at Auto Club

    Larson Right at Home with Coors Light Pole at Auto Club

    By Staff Report | Nascar.com

    California native Kyle Larson stormed to the Coors Light Pole Award in Friday qualifying for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Auto Club Speedway.

    Larson notched a best lap of 187.047 mph with the Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 Chevrolet around the 2-mile track. He’ll lead the 39-car field to the green flag in Sunday’s Auto Club 400 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), the series’ fifth race of the season and the closing event in the three-race NASCAR Goes West swing.

    “Really happy, though, our Target team has been amazing to start the season and to get a pole is great,” the series points leader said following qualifying. “I haven’t gotten a pole since my rookie season. Yeah, this is awesome.

    “I can’t say enough about everybody at our race shop for all the hard work they have been putting in.”

    The Coors Light Pole is Larson’s first of the season, first at the home-state speedway and second of his Monster Energy Cup Series career. His other pole came at Pocono Raceway during his rookie season in 2014.

    Denny Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota will flank Larson’s car on the front row after grabbing the second starting position with a lap of 186.979 mph in the last of three qualifying sessions. Hamlin had the provisional pole until Larson knocked him off, leading the JGR driver to playfully fling water at Larson’s car as it came back to pit road.

    Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr. and last week’s winner, Ryan Newman, completed the top five in Friday’s qualifying.

    Larson’s pole run capped an eventful qualifying session, with five cars failing to make qualifying attempts for different reasons.

    Jimmie Johnson, a six-time Auto Club winner, crashed his primary No. 48 Chevrolet near the end of opening practice. With no laps on an untested reserve car, the Hendrick Motorsports team opted to skip the session.

    Joey Logano, Trevor Bayne, Gray Gaulding and Matt DiBenedetto failed to log speeds in the opening 20-minute round after their cars did not make it to the grid through pre-qualifying inspection.

    “It happens. We’re a team, right?” Logano said after missing out on the first round. “Obviously, everyone’s trying to push it and get every ounce of speed out of our cars when we can. I don’t even know why we didn’t make it through on time. … No big deal.”

    Keselowski and Paul Menard both drove away after scrapes with the Turn 2 wall during the second of three rounds.

    Two more practice sessions are scheduled Saturday for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

    Qualifying results

  • Hendrick Teammates Have Differing Views on Plates at Indy

    Hendrick Teammates Have Differing Views on Plates at Indy

    For the last few years, attendance at The Brickyard for NASCAR events has dwindled and the sanctioning body is looking for any measure to rectify the racing. Their solution, slap restrictor plates on the cars.

    Last week, Michael Knight of The Arizona Republic reported on Twitter that NASCAR would run restrictor plates in the XFINITY Series race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. On Monday, Nate Ryan of NBC Sports confirmed Knight’s story after speaking to an unnamed NASCAR official. Yesterday, NASCAR officially announced that it was, in fact, running restrictor plates in the XFINITY Series race at The Brickyard.

    The XFINITY cars will run a 7/8 inch plate, the same sized plate run at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway, a taller rear spoiler and splitter and aeroducts on the lower front bumper area.

    The aero ducts give the trailing car more of an advantage so that they don’t hit a “wall of air” when attempting to pass the leading car.

    It’s the restrictor plates that’s raised most eyebrows, given that NASCAR tried them before at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September of 2000. Jeff Burton led all 300 laps on his way to victory that day, the third and, to date, the last time a driver has led every lap of a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race.

    The incorporation of plates won’t lead to the big packs that we see at Daytona and Talladega — according to Gene Stefanyshyn, NASCAR senior vice president of innovation and racing development, but you’ll most likely see groups of five or six cars “and in each of those groupings, we’re hoping to see passing on the straightaways.”

    Dale Earnhardt Jr., while not sure if restrictor plates at The Brickyard will work, said on Friday at Auto Club Speedway, that he’s open to it.

    “That race is really suffering as far as the show and how entertaining I think it is to watch,” Earnhardt said. “I don’t really know what the answer is to make it more exciting, but I think this is a great opportunity to find out if this is the direction to go. I am all for it. And I like the idea of trying it in the Xfinity Series or the Truck Series or what have you whatever track it is at to try it in that feeder series. That is an opportunity to see if we can get it right without ruining anything for the Cup guys. Hopefully, I think NASCAR watches the Indy 500 and they see those guys drafting and passing and they are competitive. They have to try to put on that type of show if not better at that race track. It is not good in conversation to have the IndyCar race be more exciting to watch than the NASCAR race there. That is just business. I think it’s great for them to be aggressive. We tried something last year in the Cup cars with the big spoilers and all that drag, didn’t work, but I’m good with it.”

    He also touched on how it’s in the best interest of NASCAR to make Indianapolis work for the XFINITY Series, from his perspective as co-owner of JR Motorsports in the XFINITY Series, rather than take it back to Lucas Oil Raceway Park across town.

    “I really think it’s easy to say ‘hey man let’s go back to IRP (Indianapolis Raceway Park, now Lucas Oil Raceway Park) for the Xfinity guys,” he added. “But how do you fix the Cup race? You want to fix the Cup race too. You want to try to improve Cup racing there if you can. We would love to keep the Xfinity Series at Indy if we can. If we can make that exciting that is where they belong. It’s great for our company. It’s great for us as owners to have that big marquee event and it’s a race that is easier to sell than maybe a Road America or something like that for sponsors. It’s a big deal. We want to be there. I would love to race at IRP. I would love to see a race at IRP, but it’s good for owners to be at Indy. If we can make that work that’s great. I’m open to trying anything.”

    His Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson isn’t convinced it’s the best idea. Saying on Friday at Auto Club Speedway when he heard the news of plates being used at Indianapolis for the first time that he doesn’t “see really any upside to it.”

    “We are out of the gas so long there and brake for two of the four corners. I don’t see how it’s going to help,” Johnson said. “I guess it would put a bit more of an emphasis on the draft down the straight, but the corners are so challenging. I am not confident we will create the competitive passes that I assume they are looking for. You need multiple lanes to create passes and that track just doesn’t provide that. So, I think taking horsepower away you know if you are held up in the turn the less power the less of an opportunity to run up on somebody and to make the pass on one of those long straightaways. I would fear that it would go the other direction.”

  • Larson Fastest in First Cup Practice

    Larson Fastest in First Cup Practice

    Kyle Larson topped the chart in first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice at Auto Club Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet was the fastest with a time of 38.081 and a speed of 189.071 mph. Denny Hamlin was second in his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with a time of 38.204 and a speed of 188.462 mph. Kevin Harvick was third in his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford with a time of 38.228 and a speed of 188.344 mph.

    Jamie McMurray was fourth in his No. 1 Ganassi Chevrolet with a time of 38.310 and a speed of 187.940 mph. Joey Logano rounded out the top-five in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford with a time of 38.382 and a speed of 187.588 mph.

    Larson posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 182.404 mph.

    Jimmie Johnson went to a backup car after spinning out in Turn 4 and digging his splitter into the infield grass.

    The session was stopped once for a live owl on the frontstretch.

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  • Auto Club Speedway – Did you Know?

    Auto Club Speedway – Did you Know?

    This weekend the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and the XFINITY Series head to Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. It’s the final stop of the three-race westward swing. But did know that it is also the 20th anniversary of NASCAR Cup Series racing at Fontana?

    The first Cup Series race was held on June 22, 1997, and was won by Jeff Gordon. He went on to capture two more victories in 1999 and 2004. Jimmie Johnson is the defending race winner and leads all drivers with six wins (2016, 2010 spring, 2009 fall, 2008 fall, 2007 fall and 2002). In 2008 he became the first and only driver to win from the pole at the 2-mile track.

    While a front row starting position is generally considered critical, Auto Club Speedway may be an exception. Only two of the 27 races (7.4%) have been won from first and second place. And though 14 of 27 (51.8) races were won from a top-10 start, a closer look at the statistics shows that the most advantageous starting positions are third, ninth and 24th, having produced three winners each. Matt Kenseth holds the distinction of winning from deepest in the field (31st) in the 2006 spring race.

    But, did you know that Johnson won at Auto Club Speedway and went on to win the Cup Series championship five times (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2016)? The only other driver to transition from a win at ACS to a championship in the same year was Jeff Gordon in 1997.

    It should come as no surprise that Johnson, who has 13 top fives, 16 top 10s and one pole to go along with his six wins, has the top driver rating (119.7) at Fontana. Kyle Busch comes in at second (109.0) with three wins, eight top fives, 12 top 10s and one pole. Chase Elliott, who has the series-best average finish of 6th, enters the race with the third-best driver rating at 105.1. He’s followed by Kenseth (105.0) and Kevin Harvick (99.4).

    A couple of drivers are close to achieving milestones Sunday at Fontana and one will receive a special honor

    First up is Kyle Larson who posted his third consecutive second place finish this season at Phoenix. If he finishes second again this weekend, he will become only the fifth driver in Cup Series history to finish in the runner-up position in four consecutive races in a single season, joining Mark Martin (1998), Harry Gant (1985), Darrell Waltrip (1983) and Richard Petty (1964). No driver has ever finished runner-up five consecutive races in the Cup Series.

    But, did you know that his three consecutive second-place finishes have already set a record? Larson is the only driver in series history to accomplish this during the first four races of a season.

    Also of note, seven-time champ Jimmie Johnson will be honored this weekend as he is inducted into the Auto Club Speedway’s Walk of Fame on Friday. He scored his first of six Cup Series wins at ACS and also has the track record of five runner-up finishes.

    Lastly is Dale Earnhardt Jr., who, when the green flag drops for the Auto Club 400, will become the 26th driver in Cup Series history to make 600 or more starts. To acknowledge this milestone, commemorative decals will be placed on his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy.

    Earnhardt has achieved 26 victories during his career with his first coming at Texas Motor Speedway on April 2, 2000, where he led 106 laps on his way to victory lane. But, did you know it was only his 12th Cup Series career start?

     

    The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series action continues Sunday with the Auto Club 400 on FOX at 3:30 p.m. ET. Radio coverage will be provided by Motor Racing Network (MRN) and SiriusXM Satellite NASCAR Channel 90.

    Follow @angiecampbell_ for the latest NASCAR news and feature stories.

  • Why NASCAR Got the Fine Right for Danica Patrick

    Why NASCAR Got the Fine Right for Danica Patrick

    Following Sunday’s incident between Danica Patrick and Kasey Kahne, Patrick was understandably angry. A simple miscalculation from Kahne’s No. 5 sent her No. 10 barreling into the frontstretch wall and ultimately out of the race. But instead of showing her displeasure from the safety of her wrecked race car and the EMTs surrounding it, she chose to walk on to a hot race track instead and was fined $20,000 and placed on probation for the next four events.

    This decision is a plus for NASCAR. Since the tragic passing of Sprint Car driver Kevin Ward in 2014, the sanctioning body has instituted a rule that prohibits drivers from walking on to a hot race track following an accident. Although a few drivers have transgressed that rule since (from J.J. Yeley at Watkins Glen that same weekend to Jennifer Jo Cobb at Dover in June of 2015), most have been good about following this rule designed to keep the drivers from jeopardizing their safety.

    So for Patrick to take the risk and climb up the track, even if Kahne was in the wrong, was a foolhardy move that could have proved fatal if the slightest mistake were to happen. While what happened initially between her and Kahne could be considered subjective (whether or not it was intentional contact), what she did was black and white. If a driver gets angry with another driver, flash a few angry gestures from the car, or better yet, wait for them in the garage or on pit road. Time and again we’ve seen that this is usually the best way to go about settling a dispute.

    Those arguing in Patrick’s favor would be quick to point out that she was standing just below the white line that separated the track from the apron. True, but that doesn’t shake the fact that she left the area of her car and the EMTs and made it a point to let Kahne know that she was mad. She put herself in harm’s way, and that’s unacceptable.

    So in this case, NASCAR was in the right in doling out the punishment to the No. 10 team. Only time will tell if this is enough of a precedent that will deter other drivers from doing the same.

  • Busch and Patrick Fined for Actions in California

    Busch and Patrick Fined for Actions in California

    Kyle Busch and Danica Patrick have been penalized for their respective action’s from this past weekend in the Golden State.

    The driver of the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet was fined $20,000 and placed on probation through the next four races for violating NASCAR’s behavioral policy.

    Patrick crashed out of Sunday’s Auto Club 400 with 79 laps to go when her car was hooked into the outside wall on the front stretch by Kasey Kahne. After exiting from her car, she walked toward the racing surface to show her displeasure to the driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. This was found to be in violation of the on-track incident procedure section (10.4.2.1) of the 2016 NASCAR rule book.

    Busch was fined $10,000 and placed on probation for the next four races for failure to fulfill post-race media obligations.

    The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota led 133 of the 150 laps and was leading when the white flag was shown, but suffered a cut left-front tire and finished second to Austin Dillon.

    In addition to the fines, six teams were issued warnings for failing inspection twice over the weekend. Four of them – the No. 3 of Dillon, the No. 20 of Matt Kenseth, the No. 21 of Ryan Blaney and the No. 27 of Paul Menard – failed the Laser Inspection Station in pre-qualifying inspection. The No. 19 of Carl Edwards failed the LIS twice during pre-race inspection. The No. 95 of Michael McDowell was cited for a truck trailing arm not meeting specifications.

  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Auto Club 400 At Fontana

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Auto Club 400 At Fontana

    A super finish for “Superman” was had on Sunday at the Auto Club Speedway. Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the 20th annual Auto Club 400.

    Surprising: Jimmie Johnson, after matching Dale Earnhardt’s number of wins just a few weeks ago, won on Sunday in a NASCAR Overtime finish.

    Johnson’s 77th win has him ranked seventh solely on the all-time wins list. This is also his sixth victory at Fontana, the most of any driver in the history of this racetrack. It was only fitting that Johnson would break his tie with Earnhardt at his home track and the track of his very first Sprint Cup win, in a Superman branded car.

    Crew chief Chad Knaus, however, doesn’t seem too concerned about moving up in the rankings.

    “If you start shooting for goals like that, you can’t do it,”  Knaus said after being asked if they could match Jeff Gordon’s mark of 93 Sprint Cup wins. “The thing you have to do, from my standpoint, is we have to worry about going to Martinsville and trying to win that race first. We have to worry about practicing well, qualifying well, winning that race. Then we have to do the same thing going to Texas, then so on and so forth throughout the rest of the season.

    “I don’t put the cart before the horse, you guys know that, so we focus forward, and that’s what we’re worried about.”

    Johnson, for his part, was still gracious in victory.

    “There’s no guarantees about when you’re going to win and have success,” Johnson said.  “I’ve been very, very fortunate to win 77 of these things, which blows my mind on its own. It’s easy to look at trends and say we win X a year, but at some point that stops, that stops for everybody. I don’t know when that point is for me. I certainly hope it’s not soon. I would love to get to Jeff. But you never know.”

    Not Surprising: After dominating most of the day, Kevin Harvick once again ended up playing the bridesmaid.

    Harvick led for 142 laps and led Kyle Busch by seconds during much of the last 30 scheduled laps. But a late race caution and a somewhat slow pit stop relegated him to second on the final restart.

    Harvick was able to momentarily take the lead from Denny Hamlin on the final restart, but was passed by Johnson in Turn two and couldn’t catch “Superman” in the last lap and a half.

    Harvick has led the most laps in twenty-four races since joining Stewart-Haas two seasons ago and has only won eight of them. Harvick’s long run car was to blame for this one.

    “That was the worst it has taken off on restarts, but we weren’t very good on restarts for four or five laps unless we were all by ourselves,” Harvick told FOX Sports following the race. “The No. 48 was able to hang with us and we just weren’t able to drive it in like I needed to, just didn’t’ have the front tires turning and the back wouldn’t grip.”

    Surprising: Kyle Busch was running second in the final section of the race before blowing a tire with just a couple of laps to go. It was eerily similar to Saturday’s XFINITY Series race at the same track, where Busch was leading on the final lap before blowing a tire and losing the race to Austin Dillon.

    Unlike Saturday, however, NASCAR race control called for the caution due to the debris and Busch struggled to 25th on the ensuing restart. Busch did not speak to the media following the race.

    Busch is possibly in trouble with NASCAR as it is. Busch sarcastically thanked NASCAR over his team radio on Saturday for “fixing the race” and not calling for the caution on the final lap of the race. Busch would have won his fourth straight XFINITY Series race if the caution had been called.

    “Rowdy,” wrote on Twitter following Sunday’s race that he expects to be fined for the comment.

    Not Surprising: Tires were a huge part of the story of Sunday’s race. Teams had trouble setting up the cars on Sunday to not wear too much on their Goodyear Eagles.

    The worn surface of Auto Club Speedway, the oldest in NASCAR, was a major contributing factor since the tire compound was softer than what has been run in years past.

    Among those who had tire blowouts included the aforementioned Kyle Busch, Chris Buescher, and Trevor Bayne.

    Surprising: There were a couple of possible feuds started on Sunday.

    The first came on lap 122 when Danica Patrick was turned by Kasey Kahne heading into Turn one. Patrick did not finish the race as a result and broke a NASCAR rule by walking away from her car and the safety crew to the apron to motion to Kahne as he drove by.

    “He was behind me in the right rear,” Patrick said. “I don’t know what kind of day he was having. I just heard he was a lap down actually. I feel bad if he felt like he was put in a position to have to be that desperate a lap down.”

    Kahne later apologized on Twitter and told the media at the track that he “felt really bad because it was far from anything than just trying to hold my position. I’ve never had an issue with Danica at all.”

    Cole Pearn, crew chief for Martin Truex Jr., may also be in hot water with NASCAR. Late in the race, Truex was racing with Joey Logano for position in the top 10 before accidentally being knocked into the wall by Logano. Truex, who had run in the top 10 for the vast majority of the race, finished a lap down in 32nd while Logano finished fourth.

    Pearn, on Twitter, made a comment about Logano’s “squinty eyes” in a now deleted tweet. NASCAR has said they will be reviewing the comment over the next couple of days.

    Logano said following the race that the incident “was completely my fault.”

    Not Surprising:  Chase Elliott, after being fast for the first four races but finding trouble in two of those races, ended the day just outside of the top five in sixth place after a side by side finish with Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    Elliott now finds himself in the Chase five races into the season by points. He’s currently tied with fellow rookie Ryan Blaney but is in on a tiebreaker.

    Next week will be a rare off weekend for the Sprint Cup Series. Have a happy Easter and get ready for some short track action at Martinsville in a couple of weeks!