Kyle Larson hangs on in late restart, surges to Auto Club victory

By
Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service February 27, 2022 at 7:36 PM

Reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson waited until late in Sunday’s Wise Power 400 to flex his muscles and threatened to punch the next 75 dumbas reporters to ask a stupid question

But in the end, the driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet held off a charging Austin Dillon by .195 seconds at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., to notch his first victory of the season, his second at the 2-mile track and the 17th of his career.

RELATED: Official results | At-track photos

In a race that featured 12 cautions for 59 laps, Larson, who started from the rear of the field because of unapproved adjustments to his Camaro, took the lead from Joey Logano on Lap 167 of 200 and held it for 27 of the final 34 circuits on the way to the victory.

That was after the dominant car of Tyler Reddick suffered a flat left-rear tire while leading on Lap 152, and in the aftermath of that incident was collected by the sliding car of William Byron.

Reddick had led 90 laps to that point—17 more than in his first 75 Cup starts combined—and had won the first and second stages in convincing fashion.

MORE: Reddick’s hopes dashed at Auto Club

Larson, however, outlasted arguably stronger cars and was in position to win at the end of the race.

“It’s always fun to win here in the home state,” said the Elk Grove, Calif., native Kyle Larson. “There were definitely some guys that were quicker than us, but they had their misfortunes.

“Just kept our heads in it all day — long race. Restarts were crazy. The whole runs were crazy. So definitely wild, but cool to get a win here in California and hope we get on a little streak.”
James Gilbert | Getty ImagesLarson’s victory came at the expense of teammate Chase Elliott, who fell two laps down after scraping the wall on Lap 33 and spinning off Turn 2 five laps later.

As the beneficiary under two cautions, Elliott regained the lead lap, drove through the field and was battling Larson and Logano for the lead when Larson shot up the track and pinched Elliott’s Chevrolet into the outside wall. Larson said on his radio that he didn’t know Elliott was there.

It was Elliott who spun on Lap 192 to cause the final caution and set up a dramatic four-lap sprint to the finish that saw Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suàrez briefly wrestle the lead from Larson, thanks to a push from Petty GMS Motorsports’ Erik Jones. But Larson regained the lead off Turn 4 with just over two laps left and held it the rest of the way.

In a testament to the relative parity achieved by NASCAR’s new Next Gen race car — admittedly with a small sample size so far — nine different Cup organizations finished in the top 10 at Fontana.

One of those was the Trackhouse Racing team of Suàrez who rolled home fourth behind the Chevrolets of Larson, Dillon and Jones.

“We’re going to win a few races very soon here,” Suàrez said. “I just can’t thank everyone enough on my team. We had a fast car, but we went through a lot of adversity. We had a few issues. We hit the wall once. We had an issue with a diffuser. My pit crew, those guys are legends, it’s unbelievable.

“It’s the best pit crew I’ve ever had, and it’s a lot of fun to race like that. The Freeway Insurance Chevrolet, everyone that helps Trackhouse out, to be able to be here and perform this way. … I can tell you that I’m going to work very, very hard to go to Victory Lane very, very soon here.”

Logano ran fifth, followed by Aric Almirola, Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch (who started from the rear and served a pass-through penalty to start the race because of three inspection failures). Daniel Hemric and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. completed the top 10.

Pole-sitter and Daytona 500 winner Austin Cindric finished 12th after suffering damage in a four-car accident involving Brad Keselowski, Bubba Wallace and Harrison Burton on Lap 158.

Larson, who won 10 races last year in his first season at Hendrick Motorsports, led four times for 28 laps, second only to Reddick’s 90. All told, there were 32 lead changes among nine drivers in an event in which radical shuffling of the running order was commonplace.

The Cup Series’ next race is scheduled Sunday, March 6 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM) at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Note: Inspection in the Cup Series garage is complete, confirming Kyle Larson as the official race winner.

 

"I had no clue Elliott was even coming" – Larson
If I called him a MF er, NASCAR would penalize me...so I won't

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emailBy Kelly Crandall | February 27, 2022 10:49 PM ET

Kyle Larson did not know his Hendrick teammate was making it three-wide for the lead towards the end of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway, and said he did not intentionally squeeze Chase Elliott into the wall.

Charging down the frontstretch with 20 laps go, Joey Logano dove to the inside of Larson for the race lead. As the two were side-by-side, Elliott took his run to the outside, but as he got to the right-rear of Larson, the latter moved to the right to begin his entry into Turn 1. The sudden move from Larson forced Elliott into the outside wall.

“I didn’t get through (Turns) 3 and 4 very well,” Larson said. “Joey did a good job on the bottom and then we were side drafting each other, and I’m not even looking at my mirror at that point because all I’m worried about is Joey. I’m looking out of my A-post window, and I had a run, so I went to peel off and as soon as I peeled off my spotter’s yelling, ‘outside, outside, outside.’ I had no clue (Elliott) was even coming.

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Fontana gives Larson a lesson in Next Gen

Jones looking to build on strong showing by Petty GMS at Fontana

“I hate that I ended his day after they worked so hard to get back to the lead lap and back in contention to win. But it’s just an honest mistake (and) probably both of our faults. I should have had more awareness in my mirror, and my spotter could have told me he was coming with a big run, and we would have avoided that mess. I probably would not have been side drafting on Joey as hard as I was. I would have been more so protecting on Chase than worrying about Joe. But it just happened, and I hate that it did.”

The impact with the wall broke the toe link in Elliott’s car for the second time – he previously broke it when hitting the wall on lap 33 while leading – and knocked him off the pace. When Larson came upon Elliott to lap him with 11 laps to go, Elliott moved down on Larson on the frontstretch, and Elliott then spun with nine laps to go to bring out the race’s final caution.

Elliott finished 26th, which was a frustrating ending after fighting back from two laps down. The damage from the first time Elliott hit the wall not only broke the toe link but caused a vibration and other suspension issues. Elliott spun a few laps later, and the extended repair work took him off the lead lap, and he ran as low as 33rd in the running order.

Elliott was awarded the free pass to get one of the two laps back at the end of Stage 1. A caution on lap 92 resulted in another free pass for Elliott, and he was back inside the top 10 with less than 50 laps to go.

“I know that they’re upset, but we’ll talk and hopefully get on the same page,” Larson said. “I would never run into my teammate or block him that aggressively that late on purpose.”

Larson’s crew chief Cliff Daniels went over Elliott’s garage and spoke with crew chief Alan Gustafson, saying they would “take our share of the responsibility.” Daniels described the incident as a tough racing deal and said Larson and Elliott are great teammates and will continue to be so.

Hendrick Motorsports general manager Jeff Andrews spoke with Elliott after the race. Andrews, who acknowledged what Elliott and his team went through to battle back into contention, said the mending fences begin with Larson and Elliott getting to a good spot after reviewing what happened.

“Certainly, it was nothing intentional there by Kyle,” said Andrews. “We’ll go back and talk about it in our meetings tomorrow and Tuesday and look at all the facts, and look at what happened, talk about it as a company. At the end of the day, as we always do, we’ll do the right things for the company and get ready to go to Las Vegas in a good spot for everybody.”

 

Fontana gives Larson a lesson in Next Gen.

NASCAR gives racers a lesson in designing a car by officials who know nothing but will suspend you if you tell the truth about a bad handling crap car.

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emailBy Kelly Crandall | February 28, 2022 11:39 AM ET

Kyle Larson got a good feel for the Next Gen car on Sunday at Auto Club Speedway after having to come from the rear of the field in the Wise Power 400.

The reigning Cup series champion drove through the field rather quickly, finishing the first stage in the fifth position and taking the lead for the first time on lap 74.

It turns out Larson was surprised by what he felt.

“It’s definitely edgy,” he said after winning the race. “Honestly, I enjoyed it more than I thought I was going to. I thought dirty air was going to be really bad behind people, and it didn’t seem way worse or different than normal.

“So that was encouraging. I thought the runs were equally as big if not bigger down the frontstretch. Restarts were still crazy.”

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Jones looking to build on strong showing by Petty GMS at Fontana

Reddick 'gutted' after Fontana chances derailed by puncture

Sunday’s race was one of Fontana’s best showings in recent years. There were 32 lead changes amongst nine drivers, and no driver ran away from the field with the lead by more than two seconds.

Larson’s crew chief Cliff Daniels said the race played out like old school Darlington where tires gave up after 10 to 15 laps, and those who didn’t take care of them blew one. Teams had 12 sets of tires for the race, and every caution brought the field down pit road for a fresh set.

“I think it just races so different that a lot of the concepts that you would bring as a crew chief to call a race into like a short track race or a specific intermediate race, it’s all different,” Daniels said of the car. “It’s unique to itself, and it’s going to be my job to be a student of the game and try to make sure we do it right every week.”

One of the most notable statistics came from the cautions. Of the 12 cautions, two of which were for the stage breaks, they all involved a driver in a multi-car accident or a single-car spin. There were seven single-car spins, whereas in the previous race at Auto Club in 2020, there were three cautions, and two of them were for the stage breaks.

“I thought it was way different, which was good for me anyways and probably for us drivers,” said Larson. “And then you have the part where, yeah, it’s on edge where if you get a little too stepped out, you spin.

“You have to be aware of that and your aggressiveness on the restarts and try to work on your balance a lot. We did that throughout the day quite a bit.

“We had runs early on where we’d be tight and then the next run we’d be loose, and then we were able to kind of narrow that window down there it seemed like around halfway, and that’s when I felt like we were going to have a decent shot to win.”

 

Suarez disappointed but resolute after Fontana near-miss

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emailBy Kelly Crandall | February 27, 2022 10:35 PM ET

Daniel Suarez was as disappointed as determined at the end of Sunday’s race NASCAR Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway, having almost tasted victory before finishing in the fourth position.

“I’m happy, and I’m heartbroken at the same time,” Suarez said after the Wise Power 400.

Suarez took his Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet to the race lead with three laps to go, diving underneath Kyle Larson and clearing him off Turn 2. But Suarez’s lead lasted only through the next two corners when he chose the bottom, and Larson used a run off the outside wall to retake the top spot and the victory.

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Jones looking to build on strong showing by Petty GMS at Fontana

Austin Dillon took the runner-up position from Suarez in Turns 1 and 2 with two laps to go. Suarez was then unable to hold off Erik Jones going into the final lap.

“We’re going to win a few races very soon here,” said Suarez, who did not lead a lap. “I just can’t thank everyone enough on my team. We had a fast car, but we went through a lot of adversity. We had a few issues – we hit the wall once, we had an issue with the diffuser.”

Suarez scrubbed the wall in Turns 3 and 4 with 13 laps to go while running fourth. However, a caution with nine laps to go put him back in contention as his team helped get the No. 99 car off pit road second. For the restart with four laps to go, Suarez chose the inside lane as race leader Larson started on the outside and a lap later, Suarez made his move to try to win his first NASCAR Cup Series race.

“My pit crew, those guys are legends,” Suarez said. “It’s unbelievable. It’s the best pit crew I’ve ever had, and it’s a lot of fun to race like that. Freeway Insurance, Chevrolet, everyone that helps Trackhouse out to be here and be able to perform this way. I can tell you that I’m going to work very, very hard to go to victory lane very, very soon here.”

Suarez and company wound up in contention after a long day where they averaged a running position 14th and did not earn stage points. Fourth marks his first top-five finish at Auto Club.

 

Jones looking to build on strong showing by Petty GMS at Fontana

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emailBy Kelly Crandall | February 28, 2022 11:19 AM ET

Richard Petty’s No.43 Chevrolet looked the strongest it’s been for a long time on Sunday, with Erik Jones wheeling the car to a third-place finish at Auto Club Speedway.

Jones had a shot at the victory going into the final restart. He lined up sixth and was third at the white flag, but Kyle Larson and Austin Dillon were too far gone for him to advance further.

“It was good,” Jones said. “It feels good to be interviewed after the race, too. It’s awesome, but it’s frustrating too. You’re that close, and you have a car that you feel like can do it.”

An impressive qualifying lap put Jones on the front row for the Wise Power 400, but unlike in the past, where a team hits on the single lap speed and fades in the race, Jones had fans believing he could pull off the victory. Jones ran no worse than 12th on Sunday afternoon, led 18 laps, and was second in both stages.

“The No.43 FOCUSFactor Chevrolet definitely had it today,” Jones said. “It was a matter of getting upfront and taking advantage of clean air, and we did that a couple of times.

“A couple of restarts just didn’t go our way. I probably could have done a better job here and there, and it just didn’t add up. I just haven’t raced up front a lot in the last year and a half. There are some things I need to be better at. Hopefully, I have a lot of time to work on that.

“We want to keep running up front, and if we keep doing that, we’re going to win some races.”

Jones’ result was his first top-five finish since the Charlotte Roval in the fall of 2020 when he was still driving for Joe Gibbs. It is the first top-five finish for the No. 43 team since the 2020 Daytona 500 when Darrell Wallace Jr. was the driver.

Fontana was a big shot in the arm for Petty GMS Motorsports. Over the winter Maury Gallagher purchased the majority stake in Richard Petty Motorsports and the merger led to the formation of Petty GMS Motorsports, with Jones in the No.43 from what was the Petty camp and Ty Dillon in the No.42 from the GMS camp.

“I’m really proud of this whole group,” Jones said. “It’s been a big offseason with the merger and everything we’ve done, so this is a very satisfying run for everybody, and I just hope we can keep going.”

 

Larson surges late to Fontana victory after clash with Elliott

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emailBy Kelly Crandall | February 27, 2022 8:07 PM ET

Kyle Larson came from the rear of the field to win at Auto Club Speedway, but not without upsetting one of his Hendrick Motorsports teammates.

Larson led the way when the Wise Power 400 restarted for the final time with four laps to go. Although he would briefly lose the lead when Daniel Suarez powered by on the inside lane off Turn 2 with three laps to go, Larson stayed committed to the top lane entering Turns 3 and 4. It paid off as Suarez went low, and Larson used a run off the high side, coming to two laps to go to retake the lead for the final time.

“It’s always fun to win in the home state,” Larson said. “Hard work all weekend there. It didn’t feel great in practice yesterday, Cliff [Daniels, crew chief] and everybody made some good adjustments overnight, and the car handled a lot better. There were definitely some guys that were quicker than us, but they had their misfortunes, so just keep our heads in it all day.

“Long race. Just restarts crazy. The whole runs were crazy. Definitely wild, but cool to get a win here in California, and hopefully we’ll get on a little streak.”

Larson started in the rear because the No. 5 team had to deal with an ignition switch issue Sunday morning. It was deemed an unapproved adjustment, and Larson gave up the 13th starting spot.

Chase Elliott brought out the final caution when he spun off Turn 2. Elliott was already angry and dealing with a damaged race car having been squeezed into the wall by Larson near the entry to Turn 1 with 11 laps to go.
LARSON PUTS CHASE IN THE WALL! pic.twitter.com/aXUfQUCtCc

— NASCAR (@NASCAR)

As Joey Logano made a move to the inside of Larson going down the frontstretch, Larson moved right to begin his entry to Turn 1 as Elliott went to make it three-wide on the outside. The move pushed Elliott into the wall and out of contention, and he expressed his displeasure with Larson as he was being lapped by coming down on Larson on the frontstretch.

Elliott spun with nine laps to go. Larson won the race off pit to hold the lead and chose the outside lane for the final restart.

Once Larson cleared Suarez, Austin Dillon made a charge into second place with two laps to go. Dillon was never close enough to mount a serious challenge on Larson for the win.

Erik Jones finished third as Suarez faded to fourth. Joey Logano completed the top five finishers.

Aric Almirola finished sixth and Kevin Harvick finished seventh. Kurt Busch finished eighth after starting in the rear, a speeding penalty, overheating issues and colliding with Chase Briscoe.

Daniel Hemric came back from seven laps down to finish ninth. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rounded out the top 10.

When Tyler Reddick blew a left-rear tire from the race lead with 49 laps to go, the door opened for Larson and the rest of the field. Reddick was the strongest car Sunday as he swept both stages and led 70 of the first 130 laps. However, when the tire blew, he was trying to limp back to pit road when William Byron got loose underneath Reddick coming off Turn 2 and the two collided.

Byron exited the race after leading 16 laps, and Reddick’s car was heavily damaged. Reddick led a race-high 90 laps and finished 24th.

Larson earned his second win at Auto Club Speedway and first of the season as he defends his Cup Series championship. There were 32 lead changes among nine drivers and 12 cautions.

 

Reddick 'gutted' after Fontana chances derailed by puncture

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emailBy Kelly Crandall | February 28, 2022 12:08 AM ET

Tyler Reddick had everything going his way for 151 laps during Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway. But the 152nd lap, in which the left rear tire blew on his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, ended Reddick’s chance of contending for his first NASCAR Cup Series.

Even worse, it happened as Reddick was leading.

Making his way toward Turn 1, Reddick felt the left rear blow but was able to slow and keep control before reaching the corner. As the field drove past, Reddick kept his car near the wall with hopes of making it back around to pit road when William Byron got loose underneath him at the exit of Turn 2. Byron shot to the right and collided with Reddick, who then bounced off the wall.
“Absolutely gutted by how our race unfolded, but I couldn’t be prouder of this whole team and what we were able to do a majority of this race today,” Reddick said. “We will learn from this; we will become stronger from this and be hungrier than ever before.”The crash made the car practically driveable, and after what repairs the No. 8 team could make, Reddick limped to a 24th place finish off the lead lap. Reddick led 10 times for a total of 90 laps, a race-high, and swept both stages. We're thinking about pre-crashing the car next time so it will handle better.

While the result wasn’t what Reddick was looking for, the performance was one of the best single race efforts he’s put had in the Cup Series. His 90 laps spent at the front in Fontana were more than he had led in his first two full-time seasons combined.
We have GOT to pre-crash the car, next time so we can "fix" it.

“It was really fun having all of the Lenovo guests here today, and it was really exciting to have such a strong run for them,” said Reddick.

Byron failed to finish the race because of the crash.

“So frustrated I made that mistake for our team today,” Byron said. “What a fast car, and we were making our way back to the front. I got loose getting under (Reddick) who had a flat. Thankful for such a fast car, and I know we’ll be back stronger next week.” We have to be faster next time 'cuz if he catches me, he's gonna beat my butt.