Auto Club 400
Auto Club Speedway
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race #5 of 36
Sunday, March 17, 2019
Scheduled Green Flag (approx): 3:47pm/et
Laps/Stages: 200 laps total. Stages end on laps: 60/120/200
TELEVISION / RADIO / STREAMING
Television Coverage: Time 3:30pm/et, Fox and FOX Sports GO streaming (available with participating TV provider login)
Radio Coverage (over the air and streaming): Motor Racing Network (MRN) / SiriusXM Satellite NASCAR (available with subscription)
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
On track schedule
Practices:
Friday, March 15, 1:05-1:55pm/et, Coverage: NASCAR.com streaming;
Saturday, March 16, 12:05-12:55pm/et, TV-FS1;
Saturday, March 16, 3:30-4:20pm/et, TV-FS1;
Qualifying: Friday, March 15 at 5:40pm/et, TV-FS1.
Complete Event Schedule (times local to the track)
Thursday, March 14
7:00 PM 9:00 PM MENCS HAULERS ENTER (EQUIPMENT UNLOAD)
Friday, March 15
7:00 AM-4:30 PM MENCS GARAGE OPEN
9:00 AM MENCS ROOKIE MEETING, SPOTTER MEETING, & RANDOM DRAWING
10:05 AM-10:55 AM MENCS 1ST PRACTICE
2:40 PM (5:40 PM/PM) MENCS QUALIFYING (MULTI-VEHICLE / THREE ROUNDS)
Saturday, March 16
7:30 AM-4:00 PM MENCS GARAGE OPEN
9:05 AM-9:55 AM MENCS 2ND PRACTICE
12:30 PM-1:20 PM MENCS FINAL PRACTICE
Sunday, March 17
7:00 AM MENCS GARAGE OPENS
10:30 AM MENCS DRIVER / CREW CHIEF MEETING
11:50 AM MENCS DRIVER INTRODUCTIONS
12:30 PM (3:30 PM/ET) MENCS RACE (STAGES 60/120/200 LAPS = 400 MILES )
MENCS = Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
SCHEDULE SUBJECT TO CHANGE
Links to race, practice, qualifying results (in pdf): (will be added as available)
Race Results
Drivers Points
Owners Points
Cumlative Race Report
Penalty Report
Pitstalls
Practice 3 Speeds
Practice 2 Speeds
Starting Lineup
Qualifying Results
Qualifying Order
Practice 1 Speeds
Crew Rosters
Latest / Final Entry List
Preliminary Entry List
Kyle Busch overcomes speeding penalty to snag 200th NASCAR victory: Let the debate begin. Recovering from a pit road speeding penalty with the help of a timely caution, Kyle Busch collected his 200th NASCAR national series victory with a dominating win in Sunday’s Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway.[More](3-17-2019)
#18-Kyle Busch won the Auto Club 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway. The win is his 2nd win of 2019, 4th win at Auto Club and 53rd career win.
#22-Logano finished 2nd followed by #2-Keselowski, #4-Harvick, #12-Blaney, #1-Busch, #11-Hamlin, #78-Truex, Jr., #10-Almirola, and pole sitter #3-Dillon..
#18-Busch also won both stages of the race.
There were 18 lead changes among 9 drivers and 4 cautions for 22 yellow flag laps.
The average speed of the race was: 143.113mph.
See race details at:
Race Results (pdf)
Drivers Points Standings
Owners Points Standings
Cumulative Report
Penalty Report
Race Fast Facts – Auto Club
Kyle Busch won the 23rd Annual Auto Club 400, his 53rd victory in 504 Monster Energy Cup Series races.
This is his second victory and fifth top-10 finish in 2019.
This is his fourth victory and 15th top-10 finish in 22 races at Auto Club Speedway.
Joey Logano (second) posted his seventh top-10 finish in 14 races at Auto Club Speedway. It is his fourth top-10 finish in 2019.
Brad Keselowski (third) posted his fifth top-10 finish in 12 races at Auto Club Speedway.
Ryan Preece (23rd) was the highest finishing rookie.
Kyle Busch leads the point standings by 15 points over Joey Logano.
(NASCAR Integrated Sports Marketing)(3-17-2019)
2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Standings after Auto Club:
#18-Busch [2 wins], 237 PTS
#22-Logano [1 win]
#11-Hamlin [1 win]
#2-Keselowski [1 win]
#4-Harvick, 213, -24
#10-Almirola, 174, -63
#78-Truex Jr, 169, -68
#42-Larson, 163, -74
#1-Busch, 160, -77
#12-Blaney, 155, -82
#17-Stenhouse Jr, 146, -91
#9Elliott, 135, -102
#20-Jones, 133, -104
#48-Johnson, 121, -116
#14-Bowyer, 119, -118
#88-Bowman, 110, -127
See the Drivers Points Standings and Owners Points Standings.
Cars to the rear: #36-Tifft (engine change), #34-McDowell (failed inspection 2 times)
Pit Stall Selections: The selections of pit stalls for the Auto Club 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway have been made.
Pole winner #3-Dillon chose pit stall 1.
Outside pole sitter #4-Harvick too the 2nd stall
#10-Almirola, starts 3rd and chose the stall 12A, with an opening in front of it.
The final available pit stall was taken by #9-Elliott, who starts 8th.
See all pit choices on Pit Stall chart.(3-17-2019)
QUALIFYING INFO, PRACTICE SPEED and ENTRIES
Happy Hour (final) practice for the Auto Club 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway is over, after 50 scheduled minutes, the top five, slowest and notes:
#2-Keselowski 176.648
#8-Hemric 176.548
#41-Suarez 176.293
#10-Almirola 176.168
#12-Blaney 176.130
Slowest: #27-Sorenson 164.009 & #66-Gase 158.541.
Most laps run: #48-Johnson, 50 laps.
Best 10 consecutive lap avg (of 28 drivers): #8-Hemric 174.940mph.
See the fastest speeds, best 10 consecutive lap average, laps run on the Happy Hour Practice speeds page (pdf).(3-16-2019)
First Saturday practice for the Auto Club 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway is over, after 50 scheduled minutes, the top five, slowest and notes:
#4-Harvick 175.867
#18-Busch 175.773
#2-Keselowski 175.644
#19-Truex, Jr. 175.550
#8-Hemric 175.409
Slowest: #52-McLeod 163.864 & #66-Gase 156.938
Most laps run: #18-Busch & #8-Hemric, 37 laps.
Best 10 consecutive lap avg (of 20 drivers): #2-Keselowski 173.219
See the fastest speeds, best 10 consecutive lap average, laps run on the Second Practice speeds page (pdf).(3-16-2019)
Austin Dillon claims Fontana pole, as clock wins final qualifying round: Austin Dillon didn’t make it to the Start / Finish line in time to turn a lap in the final session of knockout qualifying at Auto Club Speedway. And yet the driver of the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet won the pole for Sunday’s Auto Club 400 at the two-mile track (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)—because no one else made it to the stripe in the final round, either.[More](3-15-2019)
#3-Austin Dillon won the Busch pole for the Auto Club 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway with speed of 180.081mph for his 1st pole of 2019, 1st at Auto Club and 4th of his career. Dillon’s pole winning speed was posted during the second round of qualifying. No drivers made a lap in the final round after all sitting on pit road until it was too late to get around the track before time expired.
#4-Harvick will start 2nd followed by #10-Almirola, #18-Busch, #22-Logano, #11-Hamlin, #6-Nemwan, #9-Elliott, #14-Bowyer, #12-Blaney, #48-Johnson, #17-Stenhouse, Jr.
#3-Dillon was quickest in the first round with a speed of 179.951mph, and fastest in the second round at 180.081mph.
Driver(s) who will miss the race: none as 38 were entered for 40 spots
See round-by-round qualifying results on the Qualifying results page (pdf) and the complete starting lineup on the Starting Lineup page (pdf).(3-15-2019)
Auto Club Speedway – Qualifying Fast Facts:
Austin Dillon won the Pole Award for the 23rd Annual Auto Club 400 with a lap of 39.982 seconds, 180.081 mph.
This is his fourth pole in 198 NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series races.
This is his first pole and third top-10 start in 2019.
This is his second pole in six races at Auto Club Speedway.
Kevin Harvick (second) posted his fourth top-10 start of 2019 and his 11th in 26 races at Auto Club Speedway.
Aric Almirola (third) posted his second top-10 start at Auto Club Speedway. It is his third in five races this season.
Daniel Hemric (17th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
(NASCAR Statistics)(3-15-2019)
First practice for the Auto Club 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway is over, after 50 scheduled minutes, the top-five, slowest and ant notes:
#48-Johnson 179.386
#3-Dillon 179.350
#37-Buescher 178.975
#11-Hamlin 178.767
#2-Keselowski 178.399
Slowest: #66-Gase 165.677 & #52-McLeod 165.236mph
Most laps run: #38-Ragan & #22-Logano, 8 laps.
No drivers ran 10 consecutive laps
See the fastest speeds, best 10 consecutive lap average, laps run on the First Practice speeds (pdf).(3-15-2019)
Entry List for the Auto Club 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway is posted, 38 teams/drivers [for 40 spots] are listed.
Some of the drivers entered include: #15-Chastain, #27-Sorenson, #66-Gase, #52-McLeod, #77-Smithley.
Since only 38 cars are entered, all drivers will make the race.
See the full entry list on the Entry List (pdf)
March 2018: see the Auto Club 400 Race Info page
Race Festivities/Officials:
Grand Marshal: Mötley Crüe
Command to start engines: Mötley Crüe
Honorary Starter/Wave Green Flag: TBA
Honorary Pace Car Driver: WWE’s Rey Mysterio
Color Guard: California Army National Guard Color Guard
Invocation: Billy Mauldin, MRO
National Anthem: Adrienne Houghton
Flyover: 2 F-18s, VFA-22 Fighting Redcocks, Lemoore, CA.
Sunday Fontana Notebook: Despite win No. 200, Kyle Busch still rues the ones that got away; In Kyle Busch’s shadow, Kurt Busch posts solid result; Brad Keselowski overcomes early brush with the wall to run third.(More)(3-17-2019)
Saturday Auto Club Notebook: Kyle Busch vs. Kyle Larson: different approaches, and both are effective; Kevin Harvick put last year’s Fontana accident out of mind; Brad Keselowski tops speed chart in Happy Hour.[More](3-16-2019)
Auto Club Weekend Preview: [More](3-14-2019)
Auto Club News and Notes: [More]
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Race Weather
Race Day Forecast
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Aaron Studwell @RaceWeather
Tire: Goodyear Eagle Speedway Radials
Set limits: Cup:
3 sets for practice, 1 set for qualifying and 11 sets for race;
Xfinity: 8 sets for the event
Tire Codes:
Left-side — D-4834;
Right-side — D-4838
Tire Circumference:
Left-side — 2,227 mm (87.68 in.);
Right-side — 2,251 mm (88.62 in.)
Minimum Recommended Inflation:
Left Front — 19 psi; Left Rear — 19 psi;
Right Front — 45 psi; Right Rear — 42 psi
Storyline – Racing at Fontana puts emphasis on “air” and “wear”: The worn surface at Auto Club Speedway puts a premium on grip and stability needed for corner entry. Teams are particularly hard on their left-side tires as they challenge the air pressure recommendation to try to maximize grip, and that will be more so this season as the NASCAR rules package puts more downforce on the Cup cars this season. High wear also makes tire management come into play at Auto Club, which is also a multi-zone tread tire track. Goodyear held a tire test at this track in January in preparation for this race.
“Fontana presents multiple challenges for teams as far as tires are concerned,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing. “First, with NASCAR’s new rules package and more downforce on the Cup cars, observing our minimum recommended air pressures becomes even more important. Teams are always looking to add grip at Fontana, and one way they do that is by dropping the air pressures, particularly in the left side tires. While we have made some updates to our constructions over the past several seasons, low air can still cause problems. Going low on air causes the sidewall of the tire to over-deflect early in a run and weaken its structure, creating a potential problem later. Secondly at Fontana, you have a track surface that wears tires heavily. The fall-off is around three seconds a lap over the course of a fuel run, so tire management will come into play all day. Tire wear generally does two things for the fans — enhance the quality of the racing by creating more passing, and bring the pit crews more into play and emphasize the team aspect of our sport as teams take four tires every chance they get.”
Notes – Goodyear updates constructions on both sides for Fontana: Teams in both the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series will run the same tire set-up at Auto Club Speedway this week . . . while teams in both of these series ran this left-side tire code at Darlington last year, this is the first time they have run this right-side tire code . . . compared to what was run at Auto Club last year, both this left-side and right-side tire feature construction updates to bring these tires in line with what is run at other speedways . . . this right-side is a multi-zone tread tire, featuring two distinct tread compounds on the same tire — one for heat and wear resistance on the inboard two inches of the tread (Endurance Zone) and one for grip on the outboard 10 inches (Traction Zone) . . . this tire set-up came out of a Goodyear test at Auto Club on January 9-10 . . . drivers participating in that test were Joey Logano, Daniel Suarez and Martin Truex Jr. . . . as on all NASCAR ovals greater than one mile in length, teams are required to run liners in all four tire positions at Auto Club . . . air pressure in those inner liners should be 12-25 psi greater than that of the outer tire.