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NASCAR: Five Predictions For The Auto Club 400 At Fontana

By Michael Guadalupe

Mar 20, 2016; Fontana, CA, USA; Sprint Cup Series driver Austin Dillon (3) races during the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 20, 2016; Fontana, CA, USA; Sprint Cup Series driver Austin Dillon (3) races during the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports /
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RCR pulled of a surprise victory last weekend at Phoenix with Ryan Newman, but don’t look for this organization to be back in Victory Lane any time soon. Mandatory Credit: Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports
RCR pulled of a surprise victory last weekend at Phoenix with Ryan Newman, but don’t look for this organization to be back in Victory Lane any time soon. Mandatory Credit: Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports /

RCR Returns to Irrelevancy

Ryan Newman won the race at Phoenix and everyone at Richard Childress Racing rejoiced that they were once again in Victory Lane.

And this organization should be happy that they won; it was something that was way overdue and extremely important for NASCAR as a sport. It’s now another organization that will be able to compete in the playoffs.

However Ryan Newman’s win was because of a bold decision to stay out and a little bit of luck. It’s a unique scenario that more than likely won’t play out for RCR again.

At Fontana this Sunday RCR will once again return to irrelevancy. Newman is the best driver on this roster, as both Austin Dillon and Paul Menard are lagging behind when compared to other drivers in the sport, and he took a chance to win last weekend.

Simply put, RCR cannot out-race the other teams in NASCAR. Both Dillon and Menard finished outside of the top 10 the last time NASCAR was at Fontana and they will fall outside of the top 10 again this Sunday.

If you were thinking that Newman’s win at Phoenix was going to be a resurgence of RCR, think again. This team doesn’t have the drivers to compete with the other teams in NASCAR and will more than likely not win another race this season.

A smart call to stay out at Phoenix won RCR a race last Sunday, but if this group doesn’t improve the organization as a whole they won’t be able to keep up with NASCAR other top groups.

Look for the RCR cars to under-perform on Sunday and fall back into irrelevancy.

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