Larson Tangles with Teammate En Route to Fontana Victory
Due to COVID-19 restrictions in the state of California, the NASCAR Cup Series had not raced at Auto Club Speedway in over two years. As a result, the 2-mile oval track created quite the challenge for drivers this past weekend due to a bumpy backstretch, rough seams in the track, and windy conditions. All of this, coupled with the new Goodyear tire, created an entertaining race with several on-track battles, lead changes, and cautions.
LAP 1: Rookie Austin Cindric won the pole position after a wild qualifying session that saw 4 out of 10 cars spin during their lap. Erik Jones in the #43 joined Cindric on the front row to lead the field to the green flag. Jones was able to pass Cindric before the 1st lap was complete.
LAP 10: Jones lost the lead to the #8 of Tyler Reddick, who passed the #43 on the high line against the wall.
CAUTION – LAP 15: The first yellow flag of the day came out for Kyle Busch in the #18 Toyota Camry. Busch had been struggling with the handling of his car since the beginning of the race and spun in Turn 2 after hitting a seam on the track with the left-rear tire. This caution was used as the competition caution to allow teams to check tire wear.
LAP 23: Following the restart, Chase Elliott in the #9 got past Tyler Reddick to take away the top spot. The two swapped the position several times before Elliott pulled away.
CAUTION – LAP 37: Two laps after scraping the wall in Turn 2 while leading, Chase Elliott spun in Turn 2 like Kyle Busch. Elliott had to pit for repairs and went two laps down, while Tyler Reddick regained the lead.
CAUTION – LAP 52: Two accidents on the track happened simultaneously that brought out the third yellow of the day. First, the #19 of Martin Truex Jr scraped the wall, like Chase Elliott did, and lost speed. This caused the #2 of Austin Cindric to clip the left rear of Truex as he tried to take evasive action. Meanwhile, the #77 of Josh Bilicki spun in Turn 2 and needed a tow back to the pits.
STAGE 1 END – LAP 65: Tyler Reddick won the stage despite struggling with radio issues and a problem with his seat that was causing numbness in his left leg. Reddick collected the playoff point while Erik Jones, William Byron, Chase Briscoe, and Kyle Larson made up the rest of the Top 5, each earning points as well.
CAUTION – LAP 90: The #20 of Christopher Bell brought out the caution after spinning in Turn 4. Bell slid through the infield just as his engine overheated and expired, which ended his day.
CAUTION – LAP 110: The caution came out again for the #17 of Chris Buescher, who spun in Turn 2 and backed into the wall. Buescher was out of the race following this incident.
CAUTION – LAP 115: After the restart, the caution came out again when the #6 of Brad Keselowski got loose and spun on the front stretch. Keselowski slid through the grass, where he got stuck and required a tow back to the pits, putting him two laps down.
STAGE 2 END – LAP 130: Tyler Reddick picked up the second stage win and another playoff point. Behind him, Erik Jones, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, and Kyle Larson completed the Top 5.
CAUTION – LAP 151: Tyler Reddick had a flat left-rear and began to slow down on the high line while leading. William Byron got loose underneath Reddick and slid up the track into the side of the #8 resulting in severe damage. Byron was out of the race while Reddick continued racing, but 2 laps down due to repairs.
CAUTION – LAP 157: A lap after the restart, Brad Keselowski tangled with Bubba Wallace in the #23 and they collected Harrison Burton and Austin Cindric. Burton was out of the race while the others continued racing with damage. Kyle Larson in the #5 Chevrolet took over the lead following the caution.
CAUTION – LAP 171: The caution came out for another single-car spin – this time, it was Ross Chastain in the #1 Chevrolet that got loose and spun in Turn 4.
LAP 180: After making up his two laps with the help of wave-arounds on cautions and fast pitstops, Chase Elliott was in third place for the restart. While Larson in P1 tried to hold off Joey Logano in P2, Elliott got a run and went to the high line to pass both Larson and Logano. Larson quickly turned right to block his teammate and pushed Elliott into the wall. Regarding the incident, Larson said, “I had no clue he was there.”
CAUTION – LAP 191: The final caution of the day came out for the #9 of Elliott, who spun in the exit of Turn 2, exactly where he had spun earlier in the day.
CHECKERED FLAG – LAP 200: Larson survived the 5-lap shootout to reach the checkered flag, holding off a charging Daniel Suarez. This was Larson’s first win of the 2022 season.
RESULTS:
- Kyle Larson
- Austin Dillon
- Erik Jones
- Daniel Suarez
- Joey Logano
- Aric Almirola
- Kevin Harvick
- Kurt Busch
- Daniel Hemric
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr
- Cole Custer
- Austin Cindric
- Martin Truex Jr
- Kyle Busch
- Denny Hamlin
- Chase Briscoe
- Ty Dillon
- Ryan Blaney
- Bubba Wallace
- Todd Gilliland
- Garrett Smithley
- BJ Mcleod
- Justin Haley
- Tyler Reddick
- Alex Bowman
- Chase Elliott
- Brad Keelowski
- Corey LaJoie
- Ross Chastain
- Josh Bilicki
- Michael McDowell
- Cody Ware
- Harrison Burton
- William Byron
- Chris Buescher
- Christopher Bell
