March 20, 2016
- Superman (Johnson) wins at Auto Club: #48-Jimmie Johnson, running a Superman paint scheme, won the Auto Club 400 Sprint Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway for his 2nd win of the season, 6th win at Auto Club Speedway (the most of any driver) and 77th career win, which allows him to pass Dale Earnhardt (76 wins) for 7th all time. #4-Kevin Harvick led the most laps 142 of 205 laps. The race ended in NASCAR Overtime when #18-Busch had a tire go down with two laps left in the race. Harvick led the race when the caution came out. All the leaders made pit stops for new tires, Harvick came out 2nd and #11-Hamlin came out with the lead. Johnson came out 3rd but took the lead on the first overtime lap and kept the lead to win the race.
#4-Harvick finished 2nd, followed by #11-Hamlin, #22-Logano, #17-Stenhouse Jr., #24-Elliott (best career finish), #19-Edwards, #47-Allmendinger, #2-Keselowski and #1-McMurray.
#88-Batman (Earnhardt Jr.), was never a factor but was able to finish 11th. The pole winner, #3-Austin Dillon ended up with a 24th.
There were two hard wrecks. The first was on lap 46 when #42-Larson had a rear tire go down, causing his car to slap the outside wall, which then shot the car across the track, with no brakes, hard into the SAFER wall on the inside wall. Larson was OK.
On lap 120, #10-Patrick was running 19th when she passed #5-Kahne. Kahne came down after the pass, but misjudged and clipped the #10 rear end, causing it to spin and slam the outside wall. Patrick was OK, but not happy.
There were 26 lead changes among 8 drivers and 6 cautions for 33 yellow flag laps.
The average speed was 137.213mph.
See unofficial race results, awards, laps led, cautions and more [NOTE: money/winnings are no longer reported] at:
Unofficial Race Results page (pdf)
Lap Summary Report (pdf)
Penalty Report (pdf)
Pit Stop Times (pdf)
See OFFICIAL race results & points standings on the Official Auto Club Race & Points Report (pdf).(3-20-2016) - Race Fast Facts – Auto Club:
#48-Jimmie Johnson won the 20th Annual Auto Club 400, his 77th victory in 512 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.
This is his second victory and third top-10 finish in 2016.
This is his sixth victory and 16th top-10 finish in 22 races at Auto Club Speedway.
#4-Kevin Harvick (second) posted his 11th top-10 finish in 23 races at Auto Club Speedway. It is his fifth top-10 finish in 2016.
#11-Denny Hamlin (third) posted his fifth top-10 finish in 15 races at Auto Club Speedway.
#24-Chase Elliott (sixth) was the highest finishing rookie.
#4-Kevin Harvick leads the point standings by 11 points over Jimmie Johnson.
(NASCAR Integrated Sports Marketing)(3-20-2016) - 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Points (not CHASE) Standings:
[after Auto Club, race 5 of 36]
1) #4-Harvick [1 win], 195
2) #48-Johnson [2 wins], 184, -11
3) #19-Edwards, 171, -24
4) #11-Hamlin [1 win], 170, -25
5) #18-Busch, 170, -25
6) #22-Logano, 165, -30
7) #41-Busch, 148, -47
8) #88-Earnhardt Jr., 145, -50
9) #2-Keselowski [1 win], 142, -53
10) #3-Dillon, 139, -56
See the Unofficial Drivers Points Standings page (pdf) and
Unofficial Owners Points Standings page (pdf) - 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup CHASE Standings:
[after Auto Club, race 5 of 36, 16 drivers for the Chase]
Set by most wins, then by points standing
1) #48-Johnson [2 wins], 2nd in drivers pts
2) #11-Hamlin [1 win], 4th
3) #4-Harvick [1 win], 2nd
4) #2-Keselowski [1 win], 9th
no wins, in by drivers points standings
5) #19-Edwards, 171 points
6) #18-Busch, 170
7) #22-Logano, 165
8) #41-Busch, 148
9) #88-Earnhardt Jr., 145
10) #3-Dillon, 139
11) #78-Truex, Jr., 127
12) #1-McMurray, 125
13) #43-Almirola, 120
14) #17-Stenhouse Jr., 119
15) #20-Kenseth, 113
16) #24-Elliott, 110
(3-20-2016) - Race Coverage of the Auto Club 400 Sprint Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway is scheduled for Sunday, March 20, 2016.
Television (TV): FOX at 3:30 pm/et; Pre-Race show at 3:00 pm/et; green flag approx. 3:47pm/et
Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius XM Satellite NASCAR Radio 90
Scheduled Race Re-Airs: Monday, March 21 at 3:00am/et and 8:30am/et on FS1; and 12:00pm/et on FS2 - Auto Club Pre-Race Schedule for Sunday, March 20: (eastern time)
1:30:00 pm: NSCS Driver/Crew Chief Meeting
3:00:00 pm: NSCS Drivers Introductions
3:30:15 pm: God Bless America by American Idol Top Five finalists
3:31:15 pm: Presentation of Colors: California Army National Guard Color Guard
3:31:35 pm: Invocation by Jeff Hamilton, Official Chaplain of Auto Club Speedway
3:32:15 pm: National Anthem by Jon Foreman of SwitchFoot
3:33:45 pm: Fly-by: 2 F-16’s from the 16th Weapons Squadron at Nellis AFB, NV
3:38:45 pm: Command to Start Engines by actor Eric Dane of TNT’s “The Last Ship”
3:47:00 pm: Green Flag for the Auto Club 400
eastern time (NASCAR.com)
TV = FOX, Radio = MRN / SiriusXM90 - Auto Club Race Notes & Facts:
� There have been 26 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Auto Club Speedway, the track hosted one NSCS race a season from 1997-2003, then two races per season from 2004-2010. In 2011 Auto Club Speedway returned to a single race season.
� Hendrick Motorsports leads the series in wins at Auto Club Speedway with nine, followed by Roush Fenway Racing with seven and Stewart Haas Racing, Joe Gibbs Racing and Team Penske each have two.
� Only three car numbers have produced three or more Auto Club Speedway NSCS wins: #48-Jimmie Johnson (2002, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010), #17-Matt Kenseth (2006, 2007 and 2009), #24-Jeff Gordon (1997, 1999 and 2004)
� There have been four green-white-checkered finishes at Auto Club Speedway: 2005 (250/254), 2006 (250/251), 2014 (200/206), 2015 (200/209).
� Since the advent of electronic scoring (1993) the closest margin of victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Auto Club Speedway was the (3/27/2011) race won by Kevin Harvick with a MOV of 0.144 second over Jimmie Johnson.
� The NASCAR Sprint Cup race at ACS has only been postponed to another date due to weather once – the 2008 February race – Scheduled date: 2/24/08; Actual Date: 2/25/08.
� Four of the last five races at Auto Club Speedway that have not ended under caution have had a margin of victory that is less than a second.
(NASCAR) - Haas F1 Team Earns Points in Debut Race: the Haas F1 Team, owned by NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team owner Gene Haas [Stewart-Haas Racing #4, #10, #14, #41], made history before and after the 32nd Australian Grand Prix Sunday in Melbourne. The organization’s debut in Round 1 of the 2016 FIA Formula One World Championship marked the first time an American team had competed in Formula One since 1986. And after ending a 30-year drought for an American squad in Formula One, Haas F1 Team ended another drought for an organization’s maiden F1 race. After starting 19th, Haas F1 Team driver Romain Grosjean finished an impressive sixth, earning the team eight points in the constructor standings.(full post at haasf1team.com)(3-20-2016)
- Wounded veterans enjoy day at Auto Club Speedway: Bringing veterans together for an adventure brought Temecula-based Wishes For Warriors to Auto Club Speedway on Saturday for the NASCAR Xfinity Series TreatMyClot.com 300. The group, founded two years ago by former Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Bryan Marshall, is a nonprofit organization specializing in outdoor experiences for wounded veterans. “We get these men and women back out there,” Marshall said. “Ninety nine percent of what we do is outdoors, and there’s no gimmicks.” Marshall, 32, was joined by nine veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan on Saturday for a meet-and-greet with several series drivers before escaping to an on-track suite to watch the race. “We try to do as many epic, awesome things for these guys as we can. To let them know that we care, and to re-fire that spark in them,” said Marshall, a resident of Temecula. It was the first NASCAR experience offered by Wishes For Warriors, which has previously provided hunting and fishing trips, white-water rafting and even skydiving excursions for veterans.(Press Enterprise)(3-20-2016)
- Kyle Busch fighting tire issues: Adam Stevens, crew chief for #18-Kyle Busch, said his team hasn’t resolved a left rear tire wear issue that surfaced during Saturday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice sessions at Auto Club Speedway. “I don’t know what it was,” Stevens said. “We tried multiple things to remedy it and it’s getting better, but it’s not like it’s gone. We still have some concerns after final practice.” Goodyear officials said the problem was traced to air pressures and camber settings, but Stevens said his #18 Joe Gibbs Racing team was not “out of the box on any one of those things compared to every car that we’re capable of looking at and past history.” JGR fields four Sprint Cup entries and has a technical alliance with Furniture Row Racing. “But we’re the only ones that seem to be having a problem,” he said. “I don’t know what to do to fix it because everybody else is quite similar.” The wear improved in the final practice, according to Stevens, “but you (still) saw excessive wear,” he said. “When it gets hot and gets slick and slows down, a lot of those problems tend to go away,” he said. “I don’t know that anything that we’ve done has made it any better, other than just the normal rubbering in of the track and the lap times falling off to be honest.” Stevens said his team didn’t see the wear issues here last season, but a similar problem did surface at Atlanta earlier this year.(NASCAR.com)(3-20-2016)
- Bees force NASCAR to abandon flag stand UPDATE: There was a lot of buzz Friday at Auto Club Speedway. Literally. A swarm of bees invaded NASCAR’s flag stand Friday afternoon at the 2-mile oval, meaning Xfinity Series practice got underway with no green flag and no flag man. FOX Sports cameras zoomed in on a collection of bees – dozens, at least – clinging to a ledge in the flag stand. Obviously, NASCAR decided it was better to not have a flag man for practice than to expose any officials to needless stings (drivers can still hear about the track conditions from their team radio communications). After practice, a beekeeper arrived and sprayed some sort of liquid at the swarm — many of which fell in a bucket. But NASCAR spokesman Tom Bryant said there were remnants of “less than happy bees in the flag stand area” before Sprint Cup Series qualifying, which meant the flag man had to stand on an elevated platform near the start/finish line in order to wave the green. “We anticipate no problems with this situation tomorrow or at any other point in the weekend,” Bryant said.(USA Today)(3-19-2016)
UPDATE: When NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice started on Saturday morning at Auto Club Speedway, there was a flag man on his usual perch atop the flag stand at the start/finish line. That was noteworthy only because an infestation of bees had driven the flag man from his usual station on Friday, forcing Sprint Cup qualifying to be flagged on a temporary platform behind the grandstand fence. Bees are an important part of the ecology, and in California, invading swarms must be relocated rather than killed. Accordingly, the speedway called in a beekeeper who immobilized the unwelcome visitors with a spray and collected and removed the swarm. So when Sprint Cup practice began at 8:00am/pt on Saturday morning, the flag man was back in his usual spot – with no bees in sight.(NASCAR Wire Service)(3-20-2016) - NASCAR defends letting Auto Club XFINITY race ‘play out’: Kyle Busch thought NASCAR should have thrown the caution flag. ustin Dillon called it a “great decision.” And NASCAR officials said they saw no reason to throw the yellow on the final lap of Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series TreatMyClot.com 300 by Janssen at Auto Club Speedway. Because Busch had taken the white flag at the start/finish line, if NASCAR had thrown the caution flag, the field would have been frozen at that point. According to the rulebook, under such circumstances each vehicle is required to complete the lap without assistance while maintaining a reasonable speed based on track conditions. Vehicles aren’t permitted to pass and must maintain their position; reasonable speed and track conditions are a NASCAR judgment determination. NASCAR officials said they saw no reason to throw the caution at that point, and that Busch was continuing to race; they saw nothing that posed a safety risk to others. It was their decision, an official said, to “let it play out.”(NASCAR.com)(3-20-2016)
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