Martin Truex Jr., the driver of the #78 Bass Pro Shops/5-hour ENERGY Toyota, places the winner’s decal on his car after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway on March 18, 2018, in Fontana, California. Photo – Sarah Crabill/Getty Images
NASCAR’s final race out West was at Auto Club Speedway for the Auto Club 400. This track gives the teams another challenge that is not that big of an issue at other tracks. Tire management is the main challenge to overcome if a team wants to win at this western two-mile track with a surface that has not been repaved in its nearly 21 years of existence. Drivers love the challenge of racing at this rough and tough track.
Martin Truex Jr. is the driver for the No. 78 team and he thinks that repaving the surface would be a huge mistake. The surface gives this track so much character that most tracks do not offer. The grip level for this race was a “1” rating which basically means the drivers are racing on an ice rink. It is extremely difficult for drivers to find a groove that seems to work well as they race all over the track to find a line that sticks. Some will put their car up close to the wall through the turns, while others will drive down below the white line and on the apron. A lot of different lines and techniques are on display in Fontana.
The two strong Toyotas of Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch qualified on the front line and it was too predictable what we would see during this race.
Kevin Harvick won the last three races and he started in the tenth position. He climbed his way into the fifth position where tragedy struck for the No. 4 team while racing hard for fourth-place against Kyle Larson. Harvick came down the track to side draft off Larson, and the two collided with each other. Harvick went straight into the wall and fell down off the track, suffering major damage to the rear and front of his car. Harvick was able to continue racing but was out of contention at two laps down after repairs. Larson escaped the wreck with his car unscathed while Truex Jr. ended up taking Stage One.
Truex Jr. stayed up front for Stage Two with Kyle Busch in his rear mirror. Busch was chasing Truex Jr. all race long. Joey Logano actually started the second stage from the first position but Truex Jr. was too strong on his restarts. This was the type of performance that Truex Jr. needed to bring home a win. Throughout the second stage, he stayed out front. Even through green-flag pit stops, he would cycle back to the front of the pack. His whole team was on point today. Truex Jr. won 19 stages last season. Today, he picked up two more for this season as he won the second stage as well.
A few teams tried to play some strategies during the last stage of the race. William Byron came in during a caution, took two tires, then restarted on the front row. During the same caution, Kasey Kahne stayed out to restart on the front row. Neither driver was able to hold of Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch.
All day it was Truex Jr up front with Busch giving chase and in the end, it was Truex Jr winning his first race of the season.
Kevin Harvick had his dominant streak snapped and Kyle Busch comes up short once again. Kyle Larson actually passed Busch to take the second position, leaving Busch with a disappointing third-place finish even after having a fast car all afternoon.
The last three weeks Kyle Busch had a fast car but could not find a way to close out a race. Last week at Phoenix he controlled most of the race but could not find his way into victory lane. Today’s start looked promising for him but his speed fell off throughout the day. Fans need not worry about how the season has started for Busch. Once he wins his first race, Busch will get hot and win multiple events. He is always a strong competitor in every race, so in due time he will begin to win some races.
The NASCAR Cup Series had a rule change this weekend that dealt with tires. The main rule was that the tires that each team qualifies on are the same tires they use to start the race. A lot of teams did not pass inspection to qualify on Friday, allowing these teams to start the race on fresh ‘sticker’ tires. This is a huge advantage for tracks with abrasive surfaces like Auto Club and Atlanta. So much of an advantage that during last year’s race, Joey Logano started in 37th-place on fresh tires and moved all the way into 11th-place three laps into the race.
As a result, NASCAR made some changes for the Cup Series allowing those teams that made it through inspection and qualified to buy a fresh set of tires to start the race. This evened the playing field with the drivers failing inspections to gain the tire advantage.
NASCAR put into place a different rule for the Xfinity Series on Saturday. This rule change was that teams that failed to make it through qualifying inspection must take a ‘pass-through’ penalty at the start of the race, meaning that these cars have to drive down pit road (at pit road speed) on the first green flag lap putting them far behind the lead pack. The new rule was effective, with no one failing to pass the inspection process.
It’s interesting to see what NASCAR does to fix this problem moving forward as they need to find a long-term fix.
NASCAR heads back East to Martinsville Speedway next weekend and we finally get to see some short track racing. Always fun to watch and an overall good break from speedway racing. Chase Elliot has come close to winning at Martinsville in the past, so he is one of the favorites at the short track also known as the ‘paperclip.’