Posted on by Data Skrive

Josh Williams rounded out the top 10 in the Production Alliance Group 300 at Auto Club Speedway Saturday.

The top 10 finish for Williams added 27 points to his season total.

Williams qualified in 25th position at 172.393 mph. The fifth-year driver has two top-10 finishes in his career.

The tenth-place result on Saturday was the first time Williams has cracked the top 10 at Auto Club Speedway.

The Port Charlotte, Florida native’s starting and finishing positions compared favorably to his career averages, starting four spots higher than his career mark of 29.2 and completing the race 16 places ahead of his 26.3 career average finish.

Williams took on a field of 36 drivers on the way to his tenth-place finish. The race endured eight cautions and 36 caution laps. Prior to the checkered flag there were 13 lead changes.

Harrison Burton earned the victory in the race, and Riley Herbst took second. Austin Cindric crossed the finish line third, Ryan Sieg took fourth, and Justin Haley finished off the top five.

Brandon Jones got off to a great start in the race, winning both of the first two stages, but couldn’t hold on to end up in Victory Lane.

Josh Williams Driver Page | Get Josh Williams Gear | Race Center

Posted on by Data Skrive

Anthony Alfredo finished sixth in the Production Alliance Group 300 at Auto Club Speedway Saturday to collect his first career top-10 finish.

The top 10 finish for Alfredo added 31 points to his season total.

Alfredo qualified in 13th position at 176.939 mph. The first-year driver has one top-10 finish in his career.

Saturday’s race was the first of Alfredo’s career at Auto Club Speedway.

The Ridgefield, Connecticut native made only his second career start in the race, equaling his debut finish after starting at the same position in both races.

Alfredo’s sixth-place finish came against a field of 36 drivers. The race endured eight cautions and 36 caution laps. Prior to the checkered flag there were 13 lead changes.

Harrison Burton secured the win in the race, and Riley Herbst finished second. Austin Cindric placed third, Ryan Sieg took fourth, and Justin Haley grabbed the No. 5 spot.

Brandon Jones got off to a great start in the race, winning both of the first two stages, but couldn’t hold on to end up in Victory Lane.

Anthony Alfredo Driver Page | Get Anthony Alfredo Gear | Race Center

Posted on by Data Skrive

Ryan Sieg finished fourth in the Production Alliance Group 300 at Auto Club Speedway Saturday.

Sieg’s top five finish added 39 points to his season total.

Sieg qualified in eighth position at 178.037 mph. The eighth-year driver has earned seven top-five and 24 top-10 finishes in his career.

The fourth-place result on Saturday was the first time Sieg has cracked the top five at Auto Club Speedway. It also marks his first top-10 finish at Auto Club.

The Tucker, Georgia native’s starting and finishing positions compared favorably to his career averages, starting 12 spots higher than his career mark of 19.6 and completing the race 13 places ahead of his 17.3 career average finish.

Sieg’s fourth-place finish came against a field of 36 drivers. The race endured eight cautions and 36 caution laps. There were 13 lead changes.

Harrison Burton finished first in the race, followed by Riley Herbst in second place and Austin Cindric in third place. Sieg placed fourth ahead of Justin Haley’s finish to secure fifth.

Brandon Jones got off to a great start in the race, winning both of the first two stages, but couldn’t hold on to end up in Victory Lane.

Ryan Sieg Driver Page | Get Ryan Sieg Gear | Race Center

Posted on by Staff Report

Golfing buddies. Shopping buddies. Still buddies?

It appears that way judging by Denny Hamlin’s post on social media that was a reference to his on-track collision with Kyle Larson during Sunday’s Auto Club 400 in the NASCAR Cup Series.

But if you had Larson in your Fantasy Live lineup you weren’t smiling. His day was ruined after the incident, despite having a car that was strong in practices and qualifying.

 

Posted on by Reid Spencer

FONTANA, Calif. — The pit stop during the break between the first and second stages of Sunday’s Auto Club 400 certainly didn’t go the way Kurt Busch or his No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing team had planned.

Under caution on Lap 63, Busch missed his pit stall, failed to get service and had to return to pit road to correct the mistake a lap later. From fifth at the end of the stage, Busch dropped to the back of the lead-lap cars for the subsequent restart on Lap 67.

AUTO CLUB: Race results | Alex Bowman wins | At-track gallery

The 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion spent the rest of the race working his way forward, and by the time Alex Bowman took the checkered flag at the end of Lap 200, Busch was third, behind only Bowman and brother Kyle Busch.

“Yeah, really happy,” Kurt Busch said. “All weekend, the car just had a good vibe to it. The way it unloaded and the way we made small changes on our Monster Energy Chevy, I was really proud of this effort. To race and to do different things in the draft and to be able to gain speed with cars on the straightaway and then once you get all by yourself you actually lose speed, it’s a whole type of different racing, and I’m glad that I had a good car to do it all with, and just thanks to my guys. 

“I messed up on a pit cue, but to have a third‑place run right here in (sponsor) Monster Energy’s backyard, this was a solid run for our Chevy.”

 

Posted on by RJ Kraft

FONTANA, Calif. — Through the first three weeks of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season, Ryan Blaney has been one of the strongest drivers week in and week out.

He battled for the lead on the last lap of the Daytona 500 and finished second to Denny Hamlin. He held the lead at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with five to go before an untimely caution led to a strategy split among the field in which he pitted from the lead and finished 11th. In Sunday’s Auto Club 400, Blaney spent the bulk of the race running in the top two, won a stage — his first of the year — and then had a tire go down in the closing laps to finish 19th.

“It’s been a good three races for us, but the last two we haven’t gotten the finishes we deserve,” Blaney said on pit road. “Hope our luck turns around.”

Blaney holds the points lead through the first three races and also has accumulated the most stage points so far. For much of the Auto Club 400, Blaney was the only driver who put up much of a challenge to race-winner Alex Bowman. His 54 laps led were the second most to Bowman, and they were the only drivers to lead more than 10 laps.

RELATED: Full race results | Blaney, Bowman split stage wins 

Those details, plus the speed Blaney has shown in his No. 12 Team Penske Ford, are things crew chief Todd Gordon says the team can build on rather than focus on the disappointment of good runs spoiled late.

“Ryan, I give him kudos,” Gordon told NASCAR.com. “He drove his guts out to try and get there, and we had the right rear come apart trying to do it. I think it’s positive. You are looking at a group that this is our third race together. We’ve been in contention to win all three of them.

“What more can you ask for? You can ask for wins, right? I really feel like the team is doing a great job. Ryan’s doing a great job. Wins will come. They’re coming. We’re doing the right things and building notebooks.”

In January, Team Penske announced it was shuffling the deck with its crew chiefs and Gordon moved from Joey Logano — who he won the 2018 Cup championship with — to Blaney. While this may just be his first year with Blaney, Gordon has gotten a good look at the young driver for a long time and was familiar with his tendencies before he became his crew chief.

“I’ve been around Ryan since he drove the Xfinity car,” Gordon said. “We’ve got great knowledge. As an organization, we look at where everybody is every weekend. I’ve looked at Ryan’s data for four years. I’ve seen what he wants in setups for four years.

“The communication part was already there. The shuffle makes it a little different on what you focused on. I think there’s a lot of positives to come yet. Looking forward to what we can do going forward. I think Phoenix will be a good race track for us and I’m loving Atlanta and Homestead when we get that. I don’t feel like there’s any place I don’t want to go.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

FONTANA, Calif. — Before the green flag waved Sunday at Auto Club Speedway, Jimmie Johnson took prime position behind the pace car as the rest of the NASCAR Cup Series field fanned out five-wide behind him in a respectful salute to the seven-time champion.

When the green flag waved to signal the beginning of the Auto Club 400, Johnson saw his wife, Chandra, and daughters, Genevieve and Lydia, doing the honors from his second-place starting position.

AUTO CLUB: Race results | Alex Bowman wins | At-track gallery

The driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet responded with three stints in the lead for a total of 10 laps. He spent the afternoon near the front of the field and finished seventh in what could be his last start in Fontana, California, given Johnson is retiring from full-time Cup racing at the end of the 2020 season.

“This team is going in the right direction,” Johnson said. “I know in my heart what I’m capable of and what this team is capable of. It’s just taken a little bit to get the right people in the right places and rebuild and get this Ally Chevy exactly where it needs to be. We just couldn’t adjust this car on the pits stops quite enough to get the ‘tight’ out of it.

“It was really competitive and racy at the start of a run, and then we would fade at the end. At the end, I thought I was going to blow a tire. I think I had cords on the fronts, and I thought I wasn’t going to finish the race. So to salvage a top 10 out of it and two thirds in the stages … so we are headed in the right direction. I want to thank the fans here in California. There have been some great vibes all weekend.”

 

Posted on by Staff Report

The No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet of Alex Bowman passed post-race technical inspection Sunday after winning the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.

Bowman’s race-winning car was found to be compliant with the 2020 NASCAR Rule Book after the 200-lap event at the two-mile track. 

RELATED: Official Auto Club results

Tyler Reddick’s No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet and Cole Custer’s No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford were both found with one lug nut not safely secured in a post-race check.

With post-race teardown complete, the race results are official.

This is the second year of a post-race process to bring a more timely approach to inspection for all three NASCAR national series. Competition officials announced before the 2019 season thorough post-race inspections would take place shortly after the checkered flag at the track instead of midweek at the NASCAR Research & Development Center. Those inspections come with a stiffer deterrence structure that includes disqualification for significant rules infractions.

NASCAR will still inspect cars at the R&D Center as needed to monitor trends and parts compliance. Officials indicated post-race no cars would be taken to the R&D Center for further evaluation this week.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

FONTANA, Calif. — Alex Bowman had a new nose for the finish line Sunday at Auto Club Speedway.

Driving the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet — a sleeker version of the Camaro with a new front fascia — Bowman ran away with the final stage of the Auto Club 400 at the two-mile track in the Inland Empire.

RELATED: Unofficial results | Stages recap | Shop Alex Bowman gear

In picking up his second career victory and his first in Fontana, California, Bowman led five times for 110 of the 200 laps in the third NASCAR Cup Series event of the 2020 season. He grabbed the top spot on Lap 133, gave it up briefly during a cycle of green-flag pit stops midway through the final run and regained it for the final time on Lap 167 when Brad Keselowski gave up the lead to come to pit road.

After Ryan Blaney — running second at the time — was forced to pit with three laps left because of a corded right rear tire, Bowman crossed the finish line 8.904 seconds ahead of runner-up Kyle Busch, who made a solid run forward from his 17th starting position.

“How about that, California?” an exultant Bowman shouted after exiting his car. “I grew up quarter-midget racing maybe 20 minutes from here in Pomona Valley. Went there every week, met a lot of great friends and I know a lot of you guys were here. I promised my buddy, Aaron, that we would get matching 88 tattoos if I won, and I think I have to go get a tattoo now, but that will be a good time.

“It’s been a lot of fun. Thanks to (crew chief) Greg (Ives) and all the guys. He made great calls all day. We were up front when it counted.”

Bowman looks for better things to come after winning at Auto Club — the antithesis of the aftermath of his first career victory at Chicagoland Speedway in June of last year.

“The first one, it was a really enjoyable experience and then we sucked for six months,” Bowman said. “We started this year so strong. I feel like I have a lot on my side that is much better. My life is a lot more organized than it was back then. Greg and all the guys are just on point.

“We’ve unloaded the last two weeks — I don’t think we’ve had to make a change in the race car from how it came off the truck. That makes my job a heck of a lot easier. I’m just so proud of this team. We put a lot of effort into this new car, and it’s obviously worked out really well.”

Blaney led 54 laps, handily winning Stage 2 after finishing second to Bowman in Stage 1. But after Bowman pulled out to a five-second lead in the closing laps, Blaney came to pit road on Lap 197 to change the shredded tire and finished 19th, one lap down.

Busch inherited the second position after Blaney’s issue and finished 1.013 seconds ahead of brother Kurt Busch, who rallied from a pit-road snafu (missing his stall under the first caution on Lap 63) to run third.

Kyle Busch was pleased with his team’s effort, but he leaves Fontana still searching for the speed that carried him to the championship last year.

“Yeah, we have a lot of work to do,” Busch said. “Guys did a great job here, though, just trying to work on it and trying to make everything that we could out of it all day long, all weekend long. The Interstate Batteries Camry wasn’t a second-place car, but thankfully we got a good finish out of here — we tried to get some points.

“Guys are doing all they can, I know, and all everybody at TRD (Toyota Racing Development). So I appreciate all the hard work. We’ve just got to get a little bit better. We finished the end of last year so strong, I don’t know what we’re missing here, but, obviously, it’s a little bit of something here or there, maybe a little bit of something in a few different areas. But overall, good car today.”

Chase Elliott came home fourth and Keselowski fifth. Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, Aric Almirola, Kevin Harvick and Erik Jones completed the top 10 in order.

Johnson, who is retiring from full-time Cup racing at the end of the season, led three times for 10 laps but faded in the final run to finish seventh. Pole-winner Clint Bowyer pounded the Turn 2 wall with a flat tire on Lap 93, the result of a valve stem cut during a green-flag pit stop four laps earlier, and ended up 23rd.

Martin Truex Jr. started last (38th) after his car failed pre-qualifying inspection three times, but the 2017 series champion drove through the field to the second position. A green-flag pit stop on Lap 160, however, proved his undoing.

Truex’s rear-tire changer developed a cramp in his arm, and Truex never recovered from the resulting slow stop. He finished 14th.

Tyler Reddick was the top-finishing Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender with an 11th-place run. Ross Chastain came home 17th in his second race as a substitute for injured Ryan Newman.

Posted on by Staff Report

Which channels have NASCAR programming this week? We answer that and give the weekly NASCAR television listings here in the NASCAR TV schedule.

Note: All times are ET.

MORE: Get TrackPass today | How to find NBCSN | Get the NBC Sports App | How to find FS1 | Get FOX Sports App

Monday, March 2
1 a.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Auto Club 400 (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
4 a.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: Production Alliance Group 300 (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
9:30 a.m., Unrivaled: Earnhardt vs. Gordon (re-air), FS2/FOX Sports App
10:30 a.m., NASCAR Cup Series: Auto Club 400 (re-air), FS2/FOX Sports App
5 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

Tuesday, March 3
5 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App
7 p.m., Beyond the Wheel: NASCAR stories and traditions (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App

Wednesday,  March 4
5 p.m., Dale Jr. Download, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

On MRN
1 p.m., NASCAR Coast to Coast

Thursday, March 5
5 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

Friday, March 6
2:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series first practice, FS1/FOX Sports App (Canada: TSN App)
3:30 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series first practice, FS1/FOX Sports App (Canada: TSN App)
4:30 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Weekend Edition, FS1/FOX Sports App
5 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series final practice, FS1/FOX Sports App (Canada: TSN App)
5:30 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series final practice, FS1/FOX Sports App (Canada: TSN App)
6:30 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Weekend Edition, FS1/FOX Sports App
7 p.m., ARCA Menards Series: General Tire 150 at Phoenix, FS1/FOX Sports App

On MRN
3:30 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series first practice
5:30 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series final practice
7 p.m., ARCA Menards Series General Tire 150

Saturday, March 7
1 a.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series first practice (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
2 a.m., NASCAR Cup Series first practice (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
3 a.m., ARCA Menards Series: General Tire 150 at Phoenix (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
5 a.m., NASCAR Presents: This Racing Life (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
5:30 a.m., NASCAR Presents: Neil Bonnett (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
11:30 a.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series first practice (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
12:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series final practice (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
1 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying, FS1/FOX Sports App (Canada: TSN App)
2 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Weekend Edition, FS1/FOX Sports App
2:30 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series qualifying, FS1/FOX Sports App (Canada: TSN2)
4 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: LS Tractor 200, FS1/FOX Sports App (Canada: TSN2)

On MRN
2:30 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series qualifying
3:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: LS Tractor 200

Sunday, March 8
5:30 a.m., NASCAR Presents: Davey Lives On (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
6 a.m., NASCAR Presents: This Racing Life (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
6:30 a.m., NASCAR Presents: Neil Bonnett (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
7 a.m., NASCAR Cup Series qualifying (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
8 a.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: LS Tractor 200 (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
2 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: Cup Series at Phoenix, FS1/FOX Sports App
3 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: Cup Series at Phoenix, FOX/FOX Sports App
3:30 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: FanShield 500, FOX/FOX Sports App (Canada: TSN 1, 3)
8:30 p.m., ARCA Menards Series: General Tire 150 at Phoenix (re-air), FS2/FOX Sports App
10:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series: LS Tractor 200 (re-air), FS2/FOX Sports App

On MRN
2:30 p.m., NASCAR Cup Series: FanShield 500