Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California once again proved to be a menace to racing slicks during Sunday’s 400-mile Nascar event. Twelve cautions slowed the field for 59 out of 200 laps, the product of many spinouts and other incidents during the race.
Eventual race winner and 2021 Nascar Cup Series Champion Kyle Larson was forced to surrender his 13th-place starting position due to an electrical issue with his No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Larson started at the back of the field since his team had to replace the No. 5’s ignition.
Polesitter Austin Cindric showed the way to the green flag in his No. 2 Daytona 500-winning Ford Mustang. However, he found himself relegated to second place as the No. 43 Camaro of Erik Jones shot past him to lead the first lap. Meanwhile, the No. 8 Camaro driven by Tyler Reddick and the No. 9 of Chase Elliott quickly charged to the front, trading the lead back and forth after Elliott got a little bit of the wall. Elliott lost control and spun out. Reddick took the Stage 1 win.
In Stage 2, Reddick once again showed the way to the green-checkered flag.
Reddick’s domination didn’t last long into Stage 3 – the No. 8 cut a rear tire and dashed his hopes of winning. The No. 22 Ford Mustang of Joey Logano entered the picture and headed for the front of the field, followed closely by Larson. A late-race caution was caused by Brad Keselowski in the No. 6 Ford spinning across the nose of the No. 23 Toyota Camry of Bubba Wallace. Cindric’s No. 2 was swept into the incident.
Elliott won the race off pit road for the restart, but Larson quickly assumed the lead when the green flag dropped. Elliott mounted a charge against his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, but Larson threw his No. 5 across the track and pinched Elliott into the wall. Elliott eventually spun a second time, expressing obvious displeasure at Larson’s actions.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know he was there.”- Larson https://t.co/C6xwGVgTK6 pic.twitter.com/jcBjEwzdVS
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 28, 2022
The No. 99 Camaro of Daniel Suarez nabbed the lead toward the end of the race, but Larson got a huge run off of Turn 4 and executed a perfect pass. Larson led the field to the checkered flag, earning another Chevrolet Nascar victory at Fontana.
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Comments
So Glad that #5 took it to the Fords and Toyotas. Just he almost wrecked when he didn’t know #9 was outside of him. Just great that CHEVY is winning
Some growing pains with new car. Speed at this track doesn’t transfer well to TV imho.
I bet in a year or two Nascar will turn Electricfied! Not that they really want to but gas prices made them..
1.5 mile tracks are just a snooze fest.
Fontana is a 2-mile track but we get your message….