2022 Wise Power 400 at Auto Club Speedway (⏰ 3:30 p.m. ET | 📺 FOX | 📻 MRN, SiriusXM)
Everything you need to know for Sunday's return to Auto Club, the second regular-season NASCAR Cup Series race of the 2022 campaign.
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Race-day info
Where: Auto Club Speedway, a 2-mile D-shaped oval located in Fontana, California Green flag: 3:47 p.m. ET Grand Marshal: Andrew Whitworth, LA Rams tackle and Matthew Stafford, LA Rams quarterback | 2022 Super Bowl champions Flyover: F-18s, VFA-122 Flying Eagles TV/Radio: FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Forecast: Mostly sunny, with a high near 71, according to NOAA.gov Race Purse: $8,035,061 Race Distance: 200 laps | 400 miles Stages: 65 | 130 | 200 Pit-road speed: 55 mph Caution car speed: 65 mph Competition caution: Lap 20 Auto Club 101: Get the full lowdown Entry list: See every driver and team Lineup: Starting lineup for Sunday | Multiple spins in last round of qualifying | Chase Elliott spins, too Practice happenings: Results | Kevin Harvick takes damage | Big hit for Ross Chastain Prepping for pit road: How Next Gen pit stops work | Pit-stall assignments Pre-race penalties: Kurt Busch to serve pass-through penalty Five things to watch 1. Sunday will mark 728 days since the NASCAR Cup Series last turned laps at Auto Club Speedway and many key events have happened since then. Seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson retired after that farewell season, Clint Bowyer gave up the No. 14 seat for a chair in the FOX Sports booth, Kyle Larson brought the Bill France Cup back to Hendrick Motorsports and NASCAR ushered in a new era with the Next Gen car — all among other important changes to the sport's landscape. Cars took to the track Saturday for practice and qualifying sessions, giving drivers a first taste of the Next Gen on a 2-mile layout. The results? Challenging — just the way drivers like it. “I wasn’t even hardly in the throttle,” Kevin Harvick radioed his No. 4 crew after skidding to a stop following a spin that sent him into the Turn 4 wall, one of several single-car incidents during the on-track activity. It should set up for an unpredictable, frenzy-filled afternoon as drivers engage the Next Gen's learning curve. | Drivers ready for 'unknowns' in long-anticipated Fontana return 2. For years, California-native Jimmie Johnson dominated the grooves of Auto Club Speedway before seemingly passing the baton to Kyle Busch — the active driver with the most wins at the track. Busch's success here has been consistently dominant, earning an remarkable 11 top fives and 16 top 10s in 22 starts. In fact, Busch has only one finish outside the top eight in more than a decade. The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota isn't surprising anyone as one of the favorites to win this weekend. But another Kyle — Larson, to be exact — tops the BetMGM oddsboard for this weekend. And after the historic 2021 campaign he and the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team put together, you'd be hard-pressed to bet against him and Hendrick's pure speed at a 2-mile track. Larson's lone win at Auto Club came in 2017 and teammate Alex Bowman rattled off the latest victory in 2020. Sandwiched in between the two, Martin Truex Jr. (2018) and Busch (2019) both found Victory Lane. Sunday may provide us with a way-too-early answer to which driver, or team, has the Next Gen edge. | Battle of the Kyles: Busch vs. Larson 3. Don't forget, Bowman isn't the only driver in the current Cup Series field to win in their last stock-car start at Auto Club. Harrison Burton, Wood Brothers Racing's talented rookie, raced his way to victory in the 2020 Xfinity Series race. For a young driver looking to bounce back after Daytona, heading to a place with its Victory Lane still fresh in the memory is a good remedy. And Burton's No. 21 Ford flexed speed already this season, with a solid showing in the Clash and front-running ability in the Daytona 500. Cindric's memorable win last Sunday definitely gave him a leg up on the Sunoco Rookie of the Year battle, but expect Burton to bounce back sooner rather than later. 4. The last six trips to Auto Club have produced six different winners and only six active drivers have ever won at the track — Kyle Busch (four wins), Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr. and Alex Bowman. Busch is certainly aiming to start the Next Gen era with his fifth, but the host of winless drivers is more confident than ever with the increased parity this year's racer brings — so far. That means, this weekend, drivers will be looking to pounce on the advantage of the unknown. In the 2021 regular season, 14 different drivers picked up wins, securing all but two of the coveted NASCAR Playoffs spots on that basis. This number could easily be a playoff-era record to watch this season, likely starting off two-for-two in Fontana. We didn't see a repeat winner last season until Truex earned his second in April. 5. With the Next Gen car comes new car configurations. Sunday's action at Auto Club Speedway will be the highly-anticipated 2-mile speedway debut of the baseline 670-horsepower, four-inch spoiler configuration. The number jumps up from 550 a year ago at intermediate tracks and brings with it a smaller rear spoiler. You've seen how Next Gen cars look at the LA Memorial Coliseum and Daytona International Speedway (though this was a seven-inch spoiler), now tune in Sunday to watch them race. | Base rules configurations set | Configurations by track for 2022 [caption id="attachment_343132" align="aligncenter" width="922"]Race-day staples
Our biggest pieces of the week — get covered for race day from all angles. • Power Rankings: Chase Briscoe starts sophomore season with a spark | Latest rankings • Paint Scheme Preview: Next Gen cars arriving in style at Auto Club | See the schemes • Preview Show: 2-mile Kyle Larson or Busch? | Watch the show • Fantasy Fastlane: Ready to roll with Blaney at Auto Club | Top plays, sleepersCatch the pack
[caption id="attachment_342650" align="alignright" width="300"]Get in on the action
[caption id="attachment_340174" align="alignright" width="300"]Arriving at Auto Club
The California speedway has had its share of incredible moments — take a look back at the race's history and track features. • Pace out front: Top 10 lap leaders at Auto Club Speedway | See the list • Club conquerors: All-time wins at Auto Club Speedway | Every winner • Cherish the times: Memorable moments from Auto Club | Relive the moments • How wide?: Breaking down Auto Club's wide pit road | Watch breakdown • Take me back: Recap of Alex Bowman's 2020 victory | Read more • Press rewind: All of the best 2020 race highlights | Watch them hereFast facts
Hard-hitting, race-relevant statistics, brought to you by the experts at Racing Insights.• West Coast drivers have won 19 of 31 Auto Club Speedway races, including 11 wins by drivers from California. • Alex Bowman is the only driver without a Cup Series championship to win in the last 15 races at ACS (2020). • Kyle Busch has led laps in nine of his last 11 starts at Auto Club Speedway, totaling a series-leading 579 in that span. • The last driver to win the first two races of the season was Matt Kenseth in 2009. • Kyle Larson's No. 5 crew had the fastest four-tire stop in the Daytona 500 at 11.501 seconds. The fastest in 2021 was 11.611 seconds by Kevin Harvick's No. 4 crew.