NASCAR: Winners and losers from the 2018 Auto Club 400
By Mike Knapp
The NASCAR Cup Series ended its west coast swing at the Auto Club 400 on Sunday. Who heads back east as winners? Who came out on the losing end?
The 2018 NASCAR Cup Series west coast swing is complete. Who are the winners and losers from the Auto Club 400 in Fontana?
More than a few NASCAR Cup drivers and teams saw swings in momentum at the Auto Club 400 on Sunday at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Which drivers head to Martinsville with positive vibes? Which drivers are just happy to be leaving the left coast?
Winners
Martin Truex, Jr.: It really was only a matter of time before Truex, Jr. and his Furniture Row Racing team found their way into Victory Lane. Since an 18th place finish at Daytona, Truex Jr. has two poles and four top 5 finishes. He led a race-high 125 laps and captured all seven playoff points. His margin of victory was 11.685 seconds.
Kyle Larson: Four of Larson’s five NASCAR Cup Series wins have come on the 2-mile ovals, Auto Club Speedway and Michigan International Speedway. It was no surprise, then, that he ran at the front on Sunday. It’s been an up-and-down season for the No. 42 team. Does this finish help kick-start their season?
Kyle Busch: No one would be surprised if Busch is starting to feel a little bit of frustration. Sure, he’s running up front, but at the end of the day, he is still behind other cars. On Sunday, he led 62 laps but came home third. That means in his last three races, Busch has finished second, second and third. Martinsville might offer a cure, though. In 2017, he was second in the spring race and then came back to win during the playoffs in the fall.
Erik Jones: After finishing 36th at Daytona and 11th at Atlanta, Jones has three straight top 10 finishes. On Sunday, he started a season-high fourth while finishing a season-high seventh. In his last four races, he has also climbed from 30th to 13th in the championship standings.
Losers
Kevin Harvick: Harvick’s stretch of dominance came to an end with a huge thud on Sunday — literally. After contact with Kyle Larson on lap 39, Harvick went hard into the SAFER barrier along the backstretch. While he was able to continue, he finished nine laps off the lead in 35th place.
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Chase Elliott: After starting and finishing third at Phoenix, Elliott’s yo-yo season continued at Auto Club Speedway. He qualified 31st and finished the day in 16th place. He was the lowest finisher among the four Hendrick Motorsports drivers. He has only led four laps this year and is 21st in points.
Daniel Suarez: While the rest of Suarez’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammates are having spectacular seasons, as is the case with Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin, or solid seasons, as is the case with Erik Jones, Suarez is still lagging behind in his sophomore season. His 23rd place finish is his third finish of 20th or worse this season. Last year, he finished on the lead lap 26 times, but he has only done it once in 2018.
Trevor Bayne: Overall, it just hasn’t been a great season for Roush Fenway Racing. Bayne, however, may be feeling the worst of it. His crash on lap 108 Sunday left him in last place and marked his second DNF of the season. He also hasn’t finished better than 20th since his 13th place effort at Daytona.
Next: 5 teams that should join the Truck Series
The NASCAR Cup Series moves 2,400 miles east to Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia this week to the first short track stop of the season. Cars will get wrecked and tempers will flare. Who will be left standing?