NASCAR at California: Kyle Larson wins Auto Club four hundred to end string of runner-ups
Published on Mar. 26, two thousand seventeen | Updated on Mar. 27, 2017
The wait is over. Kyle Larson is eventually in victory lane.
After three straight second-place finishes, Larson won Sunday’s Auto Club four hundred after surviving four late restarts that lightly could have cost him. Brad Keselowski finished 2nd, followed by Clint Bowyer, Martin Truex Jr. and Joey Logano.
“I was staying as peaceful as I could be, but also frustrated at the same time,” Larson said of the late cautions. “It seems like every time I get to the lead at the end of one of these things, the caution comes out and I’ve got to fight people off on restarts.”
It’s Larson’s 2nd career win and very first since he won at Michigan last August.
“This is just amazing,” Larson said. “We have been so good all year long, three seconds in a row. I’ve been watching all the TV [everyone telling,] ‘He doesn’t know how to win.’ But we knew how to win today, so that was good.”
Oh, boy, did Larson earn it.
With Larson leading with seven laps to go, he determined to pit while the race was under caution. He had to restart fourth with five to go, but shortly passed drivers on older tires to regain the lead. Larson even survived another caution with two laps that witnessed him shortly in 2nd place behind
As the race winner, Larson receives forty points and five playoff points. He also earned ten points by winning Stage 1.
Larson ended up sweeping the weekend as he won Saturday’s Xfinity Series race, too.
No NASCAR driver has been better this season than Larson. He sits atop the NASCAR standings, twenty nine points ahead of Pursue Elliott who’s in 2nd. Larson has four top-five finishes in five races. The only race he finished outside of the top five was the Daytona 500, which he was leading on the final lap until he ran out of gas.
Here are the total results.
- Kyle Larson
- Brad Keselowski
- Clint Bowyer
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Joey Logano
- Jamie McMurray
- Daniel Suarez
- Kyle Busch
- Ryan Blaney
- Pursue Elliott
- Austin Dillon
- Erik Jones
- Kevin Harvick
- Denny Hamlin
- Ryan Newman
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- AJ Allmendinger
- Ty Dillon
- Aric Almirola
- Kasey Kahne
- Jimmie Johnson
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Trevor Bayne
- Kurt Busch
- Chris Buescher
- Danica Patrick
- Landon Cassill
- Paul Menard
- Matt DiBenedetto
- Corey LaJoie
- David Ragan
- Cole Whitt
- Michael McDowell
- Reed Sorenson
- Timmy Hill
- Matt Kenseth
- Gray Gaulding
- Derrike Cope
- Jeffrey Earnhardt
Race notes
— It was another mediocre day for Dale Earnhardt Jr.
He was coerced to begin from the rear after a cut was found in his right-front tire. Earnhardt qualified 18th, but NASCAR requires all drivers to commence on the same tires they used for qualifying. If they have to substitute bruised tires, then they’re coerced to commence from the rear.
Earnhardt ended up ending 16th, which means five races into the two thousand seventeen season, he’s yet to finish in the top Ten. He’s finished 37th, 30th, 16th, 14th and now 16th since returning to NASCAR after a serious concussion
— Truex ran strong all afternoon but his team had trouble switching a tire and came out pit road late. Other than that mishap, he was neck-and-neck with Larson all day and even won Stage Two.
— It was a good day for Joey Logano who finished fifth despite difficult circumstances. Logano was compelled to commence from the rear because he was incapable to pass inspection for qualifying.
— Keselowski’s second-place finish is surprising, too. He fought off a pair of early wrecks to finish 2nd.
— Matt Kenseth’s car got liberate on Lap one hundred eighty five of the Auto Club four hundred on Sunday, which caused him to spin out and hit the wall enormously hard. Kenseth instantly radioed in to say he was OK, albeit you could tell in his voice that he was truly shaken up. See the movie here.
The race was made up of three stages. Stage one ended on Lap 60, Stage two on Lap one hundred twenty and the final stage ended the race at Lap 200.
Larson won Stage one after going back and forward with Martin Truex Jr. The pair led fifty five of the 60-lap stage with Larson leading forty three laps and Truex leading 12.
Top ten Stage one finishers are below.
Martin Truex Jr. 9
Pursue Elliott 8
Jamie McMurray 7
The pair did a switcheroo in Stage Two. Truex won the stage, while Larson came in 2nd. Truex led fifty five of sixty laps after he took the lead on pit road on Lap 64.
Top ten Stage two finishers are below.
Martin Truex Jr.Ten
Pursue Elliott 8
Jamie McMurray Five
Brad Keselowski 1
Drivers will head to Virginia next weekend for the STP five hundred at Martinsville Speedway.