Reigning champion Kyle Larson took home first place in NASCAR’s return to Southern California at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana.
Larson, who grew up in Northern California, came on strong toward the end of Sunday’s race. His win was put in jeopardy when teammate Chase Elliott spun a few laps after contact between the two sent him into the wall. The spin brought out a caution and nullified Larson’s lead.
“It’s always fun here to win in the home state,” Larson said. “Definitely wild but cool to get a win here in California and hopefully get on a little streak.”
The contact between Elliott and Larson came on the same lap that fellow Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman scraped the outside wall hard, sending him to pit lane and putting him a lap down.
“They had an amazing recovery,’’ Cliff Daniels, Larson’s crew chief said of Chase Elliott’s race. “To see that get cut short is really tough for us as teammates.”
Larson’s win averted a disastrous day for Hendrick Motorsports. Both Elliott and Bowman finished off the lead lap, and William Byron crashed out of the race after contact.
That contact came after Tyler Reddick cut down a tire from the lead. Reddick won the first two stages of the race and led 90 of 200 laps. The incident put Reddick two laps down, largely out of contention.
There is still heavy speculation that Auto Club Speedway will be converted into a half-mile track as the two-mile track’s surface falls into disrepair, but the track showed that it was still capable of putting on good events. The race today had the third most lead changes in NASCAR’s history at the track.
Austin Dillon finished second despite an early pit road speeding penalty sending him to the back of the grid. Erik Jones finished third after starting second. Joey Logano finished fourth, giving him a second good result in Southern California, three weeks after his win at the Clash at the Coliseum. Daniel Suarez rounded out the top five, giving Trackhouse Racing their second-ever top five finish.
Daytona 500 winner Austin Cindric is still on top of the championship standings. Logano, Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Blaney and Chase Briscoe round out the top 10. Larson’s win today guarantees him a playoff spot alongside Cindric.