NASCAR: Looking back at the last five Fontana races

The NASCAR Cup Series travels to Auto Club Speedway. What do the last five races at the track tell us about this year’s edition?

On Sunday, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California for the Auto Club 400. Who will win this year’s race at the two-mile oval? Let’s look at the last five Cup Series races at the track to see what we can expect from this year’s edition.

2013

Kyle Busch led 125 laps on his way to victory lane. The end of the race was marred by a Joey Logano/Denny Hamlin wreck that resulted in a back injury that caused Hamlin to miss four races. Logano ended up third in the race, while Hamlin finished 25th. Other notable finishers: Kurt Busch finished fifth and Paul Menard ended up eighth.

2014

Kyle Busch won his second straight race at Auto Club and Kyle Larson finished second. Kurt Busch was third. Paul Menard was in the top 10 again. It was another strong race for the Gibbs cars, with Matt Kenseth in fourth. Denny Hamlin didn’t race because of a sinus issue.

2015

Despite some controversy at the end involving debris cautions, Brad Keselowski won for Team Penske at the track that Roger Penske built. Kurt Busch and Paul Menard had top five finishes.

2016

Jimmie Johnson won and Kevin Harvick finished second for the second year in a row. Hamlin, Logano, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rounded out the top five. Paul Menard and Kurt Busch didn’t fare as well as they had in past seasons, finishing 15th and 30th, respectively.

2017

Kyle Larson sat on the pole, led 110 laps, and won. He’s pretty good at two-mile tracks! Brad Keselowski finished second. Here’s where all the drivers mentioned above finished: Joey Logano (fifth), Kyle Busch (eighth), Kevin Harvick (13th), Denny Hamlin (14th), Jimmie Johnson (21st), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (22nd), Kurt Busch (24th), and Paul Menard (28th). It was a race for new names at the front, with Clint Bowyer and Martin Truex Jr. finishing in the top five.