MARTINSVILLE, Va.– Brian Vickers posted the fastest time in first Sprint Cup Series practice at Martinsville Speedway.
The driver of the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet was fastest in the first practice session with a time of 19.485 and a speed of 97.182 mph. Denny Hamlin was second in his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with a time of 19.500 and a speed of 97.108 mph. Joey Logano was third in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford with a time of 19.504 and a speed of 97.088 mph. Ryan Newman was fourth in his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet with a time of 19.511 and a speed of 97.053 mph. Kyle Larson rounded out the top-five in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a time of 19.517 and a speed of 97.023 mph.
Kasey Kahne was sixth in his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Ryan Blaney was seventh in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford. Matt Kenseth was eighth in his No. 20 JGR Toyota. Paul Menard was ninth in his No. 27 RCR Chevrolet. Jamie McMurray rounded out the top-10 in his No. 1 CGR Chevrolet.
Larson posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 94.369 mph.
Trevor Bayne crashed his car after locking up the brakes going into turn 1.
“We had a really good car in race true and the long run,” Bayne said. “It was lacking short-run speed and I felt like I was really being held up on my brakes. I was having a lot of rear wheel hop getting into the corner. We were giving up two to three-tenths into both corners and I tried to just push the braking zone a little bit more and it started wheel-hopping really bad. There was nothing I could do about it. Once it started bouncing, I tried to save it and once it got backwards stood in the gas and it just backed in. You never want to tear one up, especially not in practice, but maybe that rear wheel-hop won’t be in our backup car and we can go qualify OK.”
The team opted to roll out the backup car. Because this took place prior to qualifying, the driver of the No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford won’t be required to drop to the rear of the field.
The Sprint Cup Series will be back on track later this evening for qualifying at 4:15.
NSCS Complete Practice 1 Results – Martinsville Speedway
MARTINSVILLE, Va.– NASCAR is back from the left coast and ready to go bumping and banging at the Virginia paperclip.
This week, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series comes off the Easter holiday and rolls into Ridgeway, Virginia to run the STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway. The 500 lap race on the .526 mile (.847 km) short track will be the sixth race of the 2016 season.
After spending the previous month on the western end of the United States, Martinsville is the first stop of what I like to call the short track gauntlet. Over the course of April, the Sprint Cup Series will also visit Bristol Motor Speedway and Richmond International Raceway with Texas Motor Speedway sandwiched between Martinsville and Bristol.
Opened in 1947, Martinsville Speedway is the last remaining track from the NASCAR’s first season in 1948. It’s a throwback to a bygone era when race tracks were located in the middle of nowhere in the most remote parts of America. During that stretch of 68 years, many tracks have come and many more have gone. The only two constants in NASCAR are change and Martinsville. In a way, Martinsville serves as a bridge that connects the past to the present.
When people say Martinsville never changes, they’re right to a very large degree. Nine-time Martinsville winner Jeff Gordon once said that of all the tracks he’s raced at in his entire 23-year Sprint Cup Series career, Martinsville was the one track that changed the least. He said the way you drove the track in 1993 was virtually the same as the way he drove the track in his last start at the Virginia paperclip in 2015.
At Martinsville, the outside line is the kiss of death. Photo: Jeff Zelevansky/NASCAR via Getty Images
Martinsville is a rhythm-heavy race track. Once you figure out the rhythm, you can conquer all who race on it. You run against the wall on the straights and hug the yellow curb in the turns. Protecting the inside line is vital at Martinsville. You pass someone by diving underneath them going into turn 1 or turn 3 or you use your chrome bumper to gently nudge them out of the way. If you’re caught on the outside line, you’d better fall behind another car and get to the bottom or you’ll drift towards the back.
While you could run a 500 lap event on just three or four pit stops with a fuel window of 130 laps, you’ll be stopping for tires at least double-digit times. If you’re the race leader when the caution flies and forces overtime, you’re pretty much a sitting duck. If you pit, everybody behind you stays out. If you stay out, everybody behind you pits. To put it shortly, you have to pick your poison.
Carnage lurks around every turn at Martinsville. Photo: Rob Carr/Getty Images
Like most short tracks, the tight confines and low banking means passing is at a premium at Martinsville. As I mentioned earlier, there are two primary ways to pass someone at Martinsville; dive underneath someone going into turn 1 and/or turn 3 or use the chrome bumper to nudge someone out of the way.
Many times in a race, one driver will nudge another out of the way, collect another driver and cause a multi-car pileup. Other times, one car will dive too deep into turns 1 or 3, hop the curb, slam into another car and cause a chain-reaction crash that way. This type of accordion-effect wrecking will happen multiple times in a 500 lap race at Martinsville.
Controlling your temper is vital at Martinsville. Photo: Jeff Zelevansky/2015 Getty Images
With all the bumping and banging, it’s very easy to lose your composure. Keeping your temper in check is important to success at Martinsville.
Most of the time, it leads to a lead lap car forcibly nudging a lapped car out of his or her way. Sometimes, it can give us classic Martinsville moments like Brad Keselowski rubbing up against Kurt Busch for about five laps.
Other times, though, it can lead one driver who’s running nine laps down losing focus of reality, intentionally taking the race leader and getting that driver parked for two races.
I believe we’re going to see our first real test of the updated NASCAR behavioral policy this weekend in Martinsville. While I doubt we’ll see a repeat of what happened last November, I don’t think we’ve seen the last of drivers taking out one another at Martinsville.
Now let’s talk about drivers to watch this weekend.
Few drivers have mastered the Virginia paperclip like Jimmie Johnson. Photo: Sal Sigala Jr.
The odds-on favorite at 9/2 is Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (Vegas Insider).
In his 28 career starts at Martinsville, the driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet has eight wins, 18 top fives (64.29 percent) and 22 top-10s (78.57 percent). He’s led nearly 3,000 laps (2746) and has a 7.5 average finish.
However, he hasn’t led a single lap at the Virginia paperclip since 2014 and has finished second, 32nd, 35th and 12th. That’s a 20.3 finishing average in the last four races.
I don’t see this trend continuing for a few reasons. First, the 48 team is on a roll right now having won 40 percent of the races so far this season. Second, Johnson is historically no slouch when it comes to Martinsville. Finally, his mentor was Jeff Gordon who made Martinsville his playground through his 23-year career.
I expect Johnson to be up front and contending for the win on Sunday.
Denny Hamlin has also found success at Martinsville. Photo: Nick Laham/NASCAR via Getty Images
Next, at 6/1 is James Dennis Alan “Denny” Hamlin.
In 20 career starts at Martinsville, the driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota has five wins, 11 top fives (55 percent) and 16 top-10s (80 percent). He’s led over 1,000 laps (1315) and has an average finish of eighth.
Unlike Johnson, the last four races have been kind to the Virginia native with finishes of 19th, eighth, first and third. That’s a 7.8 finishing average.
He’s also the defending race winner having led 91 laps on his way to scoring his first checkered flag of the 2015 season. He enters Martinsville with a win in the Daytona 500 and three top-10s. He’s finished on the podium in the last two races and looks to continue that run this weekend.
I expect Hamlin to contend for the win on Sunday.
Joey Logano looks to continue his strong runs this weekend at Martinsville. Photo: Todd Warshaw/NASCAR via Getty Images
Next, at 6/1 is one Joseph Thomas Logano.
Since 2014, the driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford has been arguably the best at the Virginia paperclip with finishes of fourth, fifth, third and 37th. In those four races, he led 39, 60, 108 and 207 laps.
In the last visit to Martinsville, he and teammate Brad Keselowski had the field in check the entire afternoon before Keselowski suffered a suspension failure and crashed out of the race. Logano was in total control with 47 laps remaining, but then he was eliminated from the race after being intentionally wrecked by Matt Kenseth.
Both drivers are smart enough to know that it wouldn’t be in the best interest of either of them to re-light that fire and force NASCAR to step in again, so I don’t expect anything to come about from it this time around.
I see no reason as to why he won’t be a force on Sunday.
Kevin Harvick should be a threat to win at Martinsville. Photo: Robert Laberge/NASCAR via Getty Images
The final driver to keep your eye on this weekend at 7/1 is Kevin Michael Harvick.
In 29 career starts at Martinsville, the driver of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet has amassed one win, three top fives (10.35 percent) and 14 top-10s (48.28 percent).
That might not seem like much, especially compared to the success of Johnson, but in his last four starts, he’s finished seventh, 33rd, eighth and eighth. That’s an average finish of 14th. In the last two trips to the Virginia paperclip, he’s led 154 and 38 laps.
At any other track, Harvick would be my outright pick to win. I’m not as willing to go out on that limb at Martinsville. He’s only finished in the top-five three times and those were during his time at Richard Childress Racing. While I do expect him to be leading at some point Sunday, I wouldn’t pick him over someone like Johnson to win.
Tune into the STP 500 on Sunday to see who takes home the grandfather clock. You can watch the race beginning at 12:30 p.m. on FOX Sports 1 or at noon on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM (subscription required for the latter). If you’re within a few hours of Ridgeway, Virginia, hop in your car, drive to the track and watch the action in person. I’m on assignment at Martinsville this weekend, so I’ll be bringing you all the happenings from the media center.
“The white zone is for immediate loading and unloading…” and I need to unload on who’s been performing and who’s been lacking so far in 2016.
After a wild first five races of the 2016 NASCAR campaign, we’re taking a weekend breather for Easter. Since I haven’t done one of these in awhile, I decided to climb atop my soapbox and tell you whom I believe is hot so far and who’s not so far.
For this list, I’m only counting drivers that weren’t expected to be driving at the level they are as drivers who are hot. I won’t include drivers like Kevin Harvick or Jimmie Johnson because we all expect them to perform well. For drivers who are not, I’m only including those who were expected to perform better than they are at the moment. That means you won’t see Danica Patrick on this list.
Without further ado, let’s begin.
Who’s hot #1: Austin Dillon
Austin Dillon is looking great so far. Photo: Brian Lawdermilk/NASCAR via Getty Images
I think it’s safe to say that 2016 is looking to be a career season for Austin Dillon.
The driver of the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet has had finishes of ninth, 11th, fifth, ninth and 24th to start out his third full season in the Sprint Cup Series. He had an average finish of 17.5 in 2014 and 21.0 in 2015 through the entire 36-race stretch. In 2016, his average is 11.6 through five. At this point in 2014, he had just one top-10 finish and no top-five. At this point in 2015, he had neither a top-10 nor top-five finish. He’s easily bested both through five races in 2016.
This would appear to be a sign that RCR is finally making ground and becoming a competitive organization again, but teammates Paul Menard and Ryan Newman have been lagging toward the back-end of the front half of the field with a finishing average of around 20th for both drivers.
Either way, I have no reason to believe Dillon won’t continue his strong run as we head into Martinsville. I even believe that he’ll finally break through and win a race or two this season.
Who’s not #1: Kyle Larson
2016 has not been too kind so far to Kyle Larson. Photo: Getty Images
While things are looking great for one driver of the 2014 rookie class, Kyle Larson has been unable to mount any great drives.
After a seventh-place finish in the Daytona 500, the driver of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet and 2014 rookie of the year was looking to rebound from a disappointing 2015 season with the low downforce package that many said would favor drivers like Larson. This, however, has not been the case.
With finishes of seventh, 26th, 34th, 12th and 39th, 2016 is looking to be a continuation of 2015. But by this point in 2015, he already had two top-10 finishes and those were at tracks other than Daytona.
After starting out with so much promise in 2014, he seemed to regress in 2015 and it’s not looking to be any better after five races in 2016. While he’s signed on with Ganassi through 2017, I believe he’s getting to the point where he’s about to be declared the NASCAR equivalent of an NFL draft “bust.” In a nutshell, it means someone who probably had tremendous potential, but it never materialized.
Who’s hot #2: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is showing signs of life early in 2016. Photo: Getty Images
The upgrade in performance from Ricky Stenhouse Jr. appears to be a sign that Roush Fenway Racing is starting to turn the ship around.
While teammates Trevor Bayne and Greg Biffle continue to lag behind, the driver of the No. 17 RFR Ford is potentially showing that the organization that once put all five of its drivers into the Chase is starting to return to competitive form.
Now if you look at his finishes of 22nd, 10th, 12th, 37th and fifth, you might think this is par for the course for Stenhouse. When you look at his career statistics, the answer would appear to be yes. However, after five races in each of his previous three seasons, he never had more than one top-10 finish and only once did he have one top-10 finish in the first five races.
I’m not ready to say if the two-time XFINITY Series champion is ready to fight for a win just yet, but if he continues to have strong runs like he’s had in the first five races of 2016, he’ll continue to accumulate top-10 finishes.
Who’s not #2: Matt Kenseth
Matt Kenseth has been dealt awful luck so far in 2016. Photo: Noel Lanier
The last driver I’ll talk about is one Matthew Roy Kenseth.
I almost didn’t include the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota on my list because I could chalk up his lousy start to the season to incredibly bad luck. When you look at all his bad finishes after five races, there was a reasonable catalyst that was beyond his control in almost each of them and he was running up front in most of those races. But as I stated in my criteria for this list, I’m looking at drivers that had high expectations and have so far fallen short.
Let’s go back to the start of the season in Daytona Beach, Florida. Kenseth had the race lead on the final lap and was in good position to score his second Daytona 500 victory. With two laps to go, however, teammate Denny Hamlin broke formation and moved to the high line. By the time the field was in turn 3, Kenseth moved up to block Hamlin. By that time, Hamlin got under Kenseth who came down, got loose and fell back to a 14th-place finish.
Then came Atlanta where he had a car that could win. Unfortunately, he fell afoul of an unusual rule when his gas man placed a wrench on the back deck lid of the car while the fuel can was engaged. NASCAR deemed this “improper fueling” and Kenseth was shown the black flag. While crew chief Jason Ratcliff argued the call, nobody relayed the penalty to Kenseth. After three laps, he was shown the black flag with white cross marks which meant he would no longer be scored until he served his penalty. This process took him from fourth in the running order to 31st two laps down. The best he could do was rally back to a 19th-place finish.
In Las Vegas, Kenseth was running toward the front when he was sent up toward the wall and rear-ended by Chase Elliott near the end of the Kobalt 400 and finished 37th.
In Phoenix, he finally did enough to post his first top-10 of the season with a seventh-place finish in the Good Sam 500.
Last week in Fontana, Kenseth was largely a non-factor as he finished 19th.
Unlike Larson, I don’t expect the 2003 Sprint Cup Series champion to continue having rotten finishes. His team will find a way to have more consistent finishes and get him to victory lane. In the month of April, he’ll be visiting four tracks at which he has a combined eight wins and an over 50 percent top-10 average at two of the next four tracks.
Now five races is, by no means, a representative sample of the 36-race season. If I were to do this again in five weeks time, this list could look very different. So don’t freak out if your driver isn’t living up to his expectations after five races because it could all change for better or worse on any given Sunday.
My plane is about to take off, so I must wrap this up. Until next time, I’ll leave you with this fact. Most toilets flush in E flat.
The opinions expressed in this piece are solely those of the author. They may or may not be shared by SpeedwayMedia.com.
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.
1. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson got by Kevin Harvick on a late restart and won the Auto Club 400, giving him 77 career wins, one more than the late Dale Earnhardt.
“’Superman’ was on my car today,” Johnson said, “and his superpowers seemed to rub off on me. Some say I leap tall buildings; others, like maybe Kevin Harvick, say I jump restarts.”
2. Kevin Harvick: Harvick dominated at Fontana, leading 142 of 205 laps, but fell short after a late caution evaporated his sizable lead. Jimmie Johnson slipped by Harvick on the restart, leaving Harvick with another runner-up finish, his 15th in the last two seasons.
“Unless it’s not a tenth of a second,” Harvick said, “I’m getting tired of hearing about seconds.
3. Kyle Busch: Busch blew a tire late at Fontana on Sunday, the same fate he suffered in Saturday’s XFINITY Series race. Busch eventually finished 25th and dropped three places in the points standings.
“I’m not sure what’s going on with our tires,” Busch said. “Is Goodyear peddling faulty rubber? It would take a real sales job to sell bad tires to an established racing team. So, who’s the real person with superpowers? Batman, Superman, or the Goodyear Pimp?
“I gave NASCAR an earful after they refused to wave a caution flag when I blew the tire in the XFINITY race. Of course, they’ll levy a hefty fine on me I’m sure. But that’s okay. The Busch family ‘swear jar’ is a 55-gallon drum.”
4. Carl Edwards: Edwards started fifth at Fontana and finished seventh, posting his fourth top 10 of the year.
“The No. 19 Toyota was fast,” Edwards said, “but it just didn’t have the handling to put me over the top. I was fighting the steering wheel all day. I know my sponsor Subway would rather not hear these two particular words, but Sunday was a ‘hard drive.’”
5. Kurt Busch: Busch started 26th and started from the rear in a backup car, leading to a long day at Fontana. He finished 30th, the last car on the lead lap.
“I got rammed by Dale Earnhardt Jr.,” Busch said, “and I’m angry. Junior had Batman on his car, which made me want to go ‘Robin’ on him, with a ‘trusty sidekick’ to the head.”
6. Joey Logano: Logano took fourth in the Auto Club 400, scoring his second top-five finish of the year. He is sixth in the Sprint Cup points standings, 30 out of first.
“Hey,” Logano said, “I love Batman and Superman. Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. showed me that it’s cool to have ‘Superfriends’ on their cars. Matt Kenseth showed me that it’s not so great to have an ‘Avenger’ in his car.”
7. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished third at Fontana, posted his second consecutive third place finish. He is now fourth in the points standings, 25 out of first.
“Kasey Kahne wrecked Danica Patrick,” Hamlin said, “and Danica was none too happy. I think it’s safe to say, despite all the images of Batman and Superman at the race, Patrick and Kahne won’t be ‘super friends.’
“Me? I had my issues with Danica, and I’ve tried talking to her face to face to come to some resolution. It hasn’t always worked. Talking to Danica is like talking to a wall, a very pretty wall.”
8. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Earnhardt finished 11th in the Auto Club 400 as Hendrick teammate Jimmie Johnson captured the win.
“The No. 88 Chevrolet sported a ‘Batman’ theme in connection with the ‘Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn Of Justice’ movie,” Earnhardt said. “And my merchandise tent did as well. We were selling any and everything that had a bat on it—hats, T-shirts, flags, all kinds of crap. You know my fans—they’ll go bat ‘S’ crazy over bat ‘S’ if it has my name on it.”
9. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished ninth in the Auto Club 400, joining Penske Racing teammate Joey Logano, who finished fourth, in the top 10.
“I love the way NASCAR is promoting the upcoming ‘Batman Vs. Superman’ movie,” Keselowski said. “I think most drivers would say this sport needs more heroes. Danica Patrick would say this sport needs more heroines. Jeremy Mayfield would say this sport needs more heroin.”
10. Austin Dillon: Dillon started on the pole in the Auto Club 400 yet didn’t lead a single lap and finished a distant 24th. He is 10th in the points standings, 56 out of first.
“The heck with Sunday’s race,” Dillon said. “Let’s talk about Saturday’s race. I won when Kyle Busch blew a tire and Daniel Suarez ran out of gas. I haven’t had a race handed to me like that by anyone other than my grandfather.”
It’s time to put a nice little bow on the events of Fontana from this past weekend.
Superman…I mean Kal-El…I mean Clark Kent…I mean Jimmie Johnson was up front when it counted at the end of the race to score his 77th career victory in the Sprint Cup Series. With it, he moved past the late Dale Earnhardt and took sole possession of seventh-place on NASCAR’s all-time wins list. He’s now six wins from tying Cale Yarborough for sixth, seven from tying Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip for fourth and 16 from tying his mentor Jeff Gordon for third.
If there was still any shred of doubt that Johnson is not a first-ballot bound NASCAR Hall of Famer, it’s gone now. There is nothing that will stop him from going down as one of the greatest in NASCAR history.
Kevin Harvick once again led the most laps in a race only to come up short. Despite leading 142 of the 205 laps, the driver of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet couldn’t hold off Superman in overtime and had to settle for runner-up. This is the 14th time Harvick and Johnson have finished first and second together. Of those, Harvick came up short in nine.
If he continues to run like this, he’ll win more than three races this season and show why he’s still a threat to win the title.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. continues to show his muscle this season with a fifth-place finish in his No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford. Granted, it came as a result of the overtime finish. But he had been running in the top-15 to top-10 for most of the afternoon. I don’t think Stenhouse is to the point that he’ll be a threat to win just yet, but he’s getting there.
After starting from the rear, AJ Allmendinger and his 80 pounds of hair gel rallied back to finish eighth. His day wasn’t really anything spectacular but he was toward the front when it counted. He leaves Fontana 19th in points,87 back of Harvick.
I’ll end by talking about the XFINITY Series race.
The finish was spectacular, but the race overall was serviceable. It wasn’t the best of all time, but it’ll keep me satisfied until they return at Texas.
That about sums up the events of this past weekend. NASCAR is taking its first off-week this Easter weekend. In two weeks, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series kick off what I like to call the “Short Track Gauntlet.” Three of the next four races will be at the three short tracks and we start at the Virginia paperclip of Martinsville Speedway. I’m on assignment that weekend so I’ll be bringing you all the NASCAR news on location in Ridgeway, Va.
The opinions expressed in this piece are solely those of the writer and may or may not be shared by SpeedwayMedia.com.
Kyle Larson walked away from a scary wreck in the early stages of today’s race in Fontana.
Hurtling down the backstretch, the driver of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet cut down his left-rear tire, turned into the outside wall, turned down the track and slammed the wall head-on. The car actually got airborne for a few seconds before coming back to Earth.
“I was going down the back stretch and I think it was my left-rear tire got cut,” Larson said. “It must have ripped the brake line because I went to push the pedal and it went straight to the floor board. I couldn’t slow down. It was definitely a hard hit there, probably one of the harder ones of my career. Even before that we were pretty sub-average there, we were pretty bad. Disappointed in our run today, but glad I’m alright.
“It was really good for about 20 laps on each run. The take-off speed was awesome and I don’t know I just couldn’t get the thing to last for a whole run. We just kind of struggled there at the end of each run, that kind of hurt us, but short-run speed that was a lot of fun. I thought we were as competitive as anybody on short-run speed. We just needed something there for the last 10 to 15 laps. We will work on it. The pit crew was awesome. They bounced back with great stops all day.”
It added to a miserable weekend that included being wrecked by Greg Biffle the day before in final practice.
“We were struggling all day,” Larson said. “We were really bad. And just on that backstretch, my left rear tire got cut and spun me to the outside wall and then spun me back into the inside wall. By the time I could hit the brakes it must have ripped the brake line and I had no brakes. They just went to the floorboard. I couldn’t slow down and had a hard hit there; head-on. I’m okay. I’m thankful for SAFER barriers and thankful that I’m all right. That was definitely probably the hardest hit I’ve ever had in my career. I’m glad to be on my feet right here.”
Larson leaves Fontana, California 24th in points trailing Kevin Harvick by 108 points.
Jimmie Johnson may not be faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, but he was up front when it counted and scored the victory in the Golden State.
The driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Superman Chevrolet led 25 laps and beat Kevin Harvick in overtime to win the Auto Club 400. It’s the sixth career victory at Auto Club Speedway and 77th of his career.
“Man, this is cool…I knew we had great car and that caution fell at a bad time the run before,” Johnson said. “I just didn’t have the tires on the car to race with those guys. To go there at the end and have good tires on the car, Harvick and I got by I guess Joey there at the start. I got a great run off of Turn 2 and I thought ‘man, I’ve got a shot at this thing.’ Which I didn’t expect to have, Harvick has been so fast. I cleared him and kind of got away. We saved our best for last for sure. I told everybody Superman kicked Batman’s butt and it happened. I’m very thankful for Lowe’s and the amazing relationship we have had over the years, Chevrolet, everybody at Hendrick Motorsports, this is going to be a good time.”
With it, he moves past Dale Earnhardt into sole possession of seventh-place on NASCAR’s all-time wins list.
“Man, it’s hard to believe,” he said. “I grew up out in the desert as a desert rat having fun and going to the river a little bit and having some fun over there too. To have those early childhood memories kind of shape me into the racer I am today and to be here in Victory Lane is pretty awesome.”
Despite leading nearly three-quarters of the laps, the driver of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet had to settle for runner-up. It’s the ninth time he’s finished brides maid to Johnson.
“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 said. “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. Still a good day for us, just have to thank everybody from Jimmy John’s and Busch. We will keep at it.
“They just had us beat for a couple of laps. That was even worse than it was the previous restarts. I don’t know. We just had a really good car today with our Jimmy John’s Chevrolet. It would just take us five or six laps to get going. That was worst case scenario for us.”
Despite being busted for speeding early in the race, Denny Hamlin took his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota home to a podium finish.
“Disappointing third, I can tell you that, but two penalties, radio changes, just a lot of mistakes on my part early on and gave us ourselves a shot a there,” Hamlin said. “I just – the 22 (Joey Lugano) for the one time he time didn’t get a good restart, we didn’t have that push there and that hurt us. I thought going early in the zone was probably the thing to do – hindsight maybe later, but who knows? Those two (Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick) linked up on the bottom and there’s really nothing we could have done at that point, but thanks Sport Clips, Toyota, the Greenbrier, the Jordan brand, Coca-Cola, Toyota for everything they do. Good day – just not a great day.”
Joey Logano brought his No. 22 Team Penske Ford home to a fourth-place finish. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. continued his run of great finishes to start the season by bringing his No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford home to round out the top-five.
“It was really good for us,” Stenhouse said. “That was a crazy restart there at the end. We had a really good Fastenal Ford on the long run and that’s where we excelled – kind of like Atlanta and Las Vegas. On the long run we excelled and that really paid off today. Our tires were good every pit stop, which was good for us, and we made the right adjustments there at the end. Nick did a great job. The pit crew did a great job and we were able to get the adjustments that we needed and was able to really rip the top there and gain a few extra spots at the end.”
Chase Elliott was the highest finishing rookie with a sixth-place finish in his No. 24 HMS Chevrolet.
“We were able to get up to third,” Elliott said. “I thought we had a really good car. Just need to get going a little bit better on those restarts and try to maximize that opportunity. Jimmie did a great job. Congrats to him. It’s good to see Hendrick in Victory Lane. We’ll try again at Martinsville.”
Carl Edwards finished seventh in his No. 19 JGR Toyota.
“Some of those restarts were just a blast,” Edwards said. “That’s what it’s about. We were really – I was having a blast. At the end, I just got choked up one time behind Brad (Keselowski), he got really loose and kind of killed our momentum. We had a really fast Subway Toyota. I wish we could have done better with it.”
After starting from the rear of the field, AJ Allmendinger rallied to finish eighth in his No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet. Brad Keselowski finished ninth in his No. 2 Team Penske Ford.
“We seemed to be about a fifth to 10th-place car, probably with everybody having some troubles we should have finished fifth,” Keselowski said. “I slid back to eighth there, which was frustrating, but, all in all, it was a decent day.”
Jamie McMurray rounded out the top-10 in his No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet.
Martin Truex Jr. had a race-winning car for most of the event after leading 21 laps. But in the closing laps, he made contact with the wall in turn 1. This would lead to him cutting down a tire and finishing 32nd. Although FOX showed that he got loose on his own, the driver of the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota believed it was due to contact with Logano.
“We had a good run going until the No. 22 (Joey Logano) put our car into the fence,” Truex said. “There was a lot of right-side damage to the car, and we were pretty much toast after that incident. Not sure what he was thinking about at the time, but that hit spoiled our day. We went from being a contender to the back of the field. Really frustrating to have a good car and not have anything to show for it. I think we were running in or close to the top five when the 22 rammed our Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Toyota.”
While Logano took the blame, he said he never touched Truex.
Danica Patrick finished 38th after being hooked into the wall by Kasey Kahne on lap 122. She was turned into the outside wall on the front stretch and slammed it head-on. Her car got airborne and came to a halt off the track in turn 1. Understandably upset with Kahne, Patrick approached the racing surface to show her displeasure. As Dustin Long of NBC Sports pointed out on Twitter, that’s a violation of NASCAR rules.
If any penalty results from this, it will be announced either Tuesday or Wednesday.
Kyle Larson cut down his left-rear tire early in the race. He kissed the outside wall, turned down the track and slammed the inside wall head-on. Just like Patrick, Larson’s car got airborne after collision.
The race lasted two hours, 59 minutes and 17 seconds at an average speed of 137.213 mph. There were 26 lead changes among eighth different drivers and six cautions for 33 laps.
Matt Kenseth topped the chart in final Sprint Cup Series practice at Auto Club Speedway. The driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 38.831 and a speed of 185.419 mph.
Carl Edwards was second in his No. 19 JGR Toyota with a time of 38.846 and a speed of 185.347 mph. Ryan Blaney was third in his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford with a time of 38.885 and a speed of 185.161 mph. Joey Logano was fourth in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford with a time of 38.898 and a speed of 185.099 mph. Aric Almirola rounded out the top-five in his No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford with a time of 38.904 and a speed of 185.071 mph.
Austin Dillon was sixth in his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Martin Truex Jr. was seventh in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota. Jamie McMurray was eighth in his No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. Kasey Kahne was ninth in his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Ryan Newman rounded out the top-10 in his No. 31 RCR Chevrolet.
Late in the session, Kyle Larson got loose exiting turn 4. Trying to go to the outside of the No. 42 CGR Chevrolet, Greg Biffle slammed into the rear of Larson. Larson went to a backup car and will start tomorrow’s race from the rear of the field. Biffle’s team has yet to go to their backup as of the publishing of this piece.
The next time the Sprint Cup Series cars are back on track will be tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. for the Auto Club 400.
Carl Edwards topped the chart in second Sprint Cup Series practice at Auto Club Speedway. The driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 38.317 and a speed of 187.906 mph.
Martin Truex Jr. was second in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota with a time of 38.373 and a speed of 187.632 mph. Ryan Newman was third in his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet with a time of 38.577 and a speed of 186.640 mph. Kyle Busch was fourth in his No. 18 JGR Toyota with a time of 38.578 and a speed of 186.635 mph. Austin Dillon rounded out the top-five in his No. 3 RCR Chevrolet with a time of 38.588 and a speed of 186.587 mph.
Paul Menard was sixth in his No. 27 RCR Chevrolet. Brian Scott was seventh in his No. 44 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was eighth in his No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford. Casey Mears was ninth in his No. 13 Germain Racing Chevrolet. Batman (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) rounded out the top-10 in his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
After posting a qualifying run good enough for 26th, Kurt Busch made contact with the wall. The team opted to roll out the backup car. Because this change took place after qualifying, the driver of the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet will start from the rear of the field.
