2017 Auto Club 400

2017 Auto Club 400
Race details
Race 5 of 36 in the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Track map of the speedway at Auto Club Speedway AKA California Speedway
Track map of the speedway at Auto Club Speedway AKA California Speedway
Date March 26, 2017 (2017-03-26)
Location Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California
Course Permanent racing facility
2 mi (3.22 km)
Distance 202 laps, 404 mi (646.4 km)
Scheduled Distance 200 laps, 400 mi (640 km)
Average speed 136.359 miles per hour (219.449 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Chip Ganassi Racing
Time 38.493
Most laps led
Driver Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing
Laps 110
Winner
No. 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing
Television in the United States
Network Fox
Announcers Mike Joy, Jeff Gordon and Darrell Waltrip
Nielsen Ratings 2.9/6 (Overnight)
3.2/6 (Final)
5.2 million viewers
Radio in the United States
Radio MRN
Booth Announcers Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace
Turn Announcers Dan Hubbard (1 & 2) and Kurt Becker (3 & 4)

The 2017 Auto Club 400 is a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race that was held on March 26, 2017, at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Contested over 202 laps, extended from 200 laps due to overtime, on the two-mile (3.2 km) D-shaped oval, it is the fifth race of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.

Report

Background

Auto Club Speedway, the track where the race was held.

Auto Club Speedway (formerly California Speedway) is a 2 miles (3.2 km), low-banked, D-shaped oval superspeedway in Fontana, California which has hosted NASCAR racing annually since 1997. It is also used for open wheel racing events. The racetrack is located near the former locations of Ontario Motor Speedway and Riverside International Raceway. The track is owned and operated by International Speedway Corporation and is the only track owned by ISC to have naming rights sold. The speedway is served by the nearby Interstate 10 and Interstate 15 freeways as well as a Metrolink station located behind the backstretch.

Entry list

No. Driver Team Manufacturer
1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford
3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford
10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
13 Ty Dillon (R) Germain Racing Chevrolet
14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
15 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Toyota
17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford
18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
19 Daniel Suárez (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
21 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford
22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford
23 Gray Gaulding (R) BK Racing Toyota
24 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
32 Matt DiBenedetto Go Fas Racing Ford
33 Jeffrey Earnhardt Circle Sport – The Motorsports Group Chevrolet
34 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford
37 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet
38 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford
41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford
47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet
48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
51 Timmy Hill (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet
55 Derrike Cope Premium Motorsports Chevrolet
72 Cole Whitt Tri-Star Motorsports Chevrolet
77 Erik Jones (R) Furniture Row Racing Toyota
78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota
83 Corey LaJoie (R) BK Racing Toyota
88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet
Official entry list

First practice

Kyle Larson was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 38.081 seconds and a speed of 189.071 mph (304.280 km/h).

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 38.081 189.071
2 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 38.204 188.462
3 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 38.228 188.344
Official first practice results

Qualifying

Kyle Larson scored the pole for the race with a time of 38.493 and a speed of 187.047 mph (301.023 km/h). “It was an interesting qualifying for us,” Larson said. “I ran the bottom in Turns 3 and 4. I knew everybody was running the top in 3 and 4 and my plan was to go up there in the second round, but thought I maybe got through 1 and 2 okay enough to run the bottom. I knew the third round I was going to have to move up. Our Target Chevy was really good, really balanced up there. I was surprised."

Qualifying results

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer R1 R2 R3
1 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 38.551 38.679 38.493
2 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 38.552 38.519 38.507
3 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 38.454 38.847 38.606
4 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 38.775 38.818 38.630
5 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 38.735 38.948 38.684
6 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 38.646 38.570 38.702
7 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 38.245 38.549 38.710
8 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 38.818 38.628 38.768
9 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 38.487 38.668 38.835
10 19 Daniel Suárez (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 38.890 38.799 38.958
11 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 38.937 38.860 38.980
12 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 38.805 38.910 39.139
13 24 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 39.923 38.954
14 77 Erik Jones (R) Furniture Row Racing Toyota 39.311 38.973
15 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 38.878 39.005
16 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 38.923 39.050
17 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 38.855 39.152
18 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 38.829 39.180
19 21 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 39.141 39.207
20 37 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 39.130 39.286
21 13 Ty Dillon (R) Germain Racing Chevrolet 38.935 39.322
22 10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 38.901 39.341
23 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 39.217 0.000
24 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 39.240 0.000
25 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 39.408
26 34 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 39.409
27 38 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 39.640
28 72 Cole Whitt TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 39.708
29 15 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Toyota 40.028
30 83 Corey LaJoie (R) BK Racing Toyota 40.039
31 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 40.948
32 33 Jeffrey Earnhardt Circle Sport – The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 41.128
33 55 Derrike Cope Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 41.455
34 51 Timmy Hill (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 41.783
35 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 0.000
36 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 0.000
37 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 0.000
38 32 Matt DiBenedetto Go Fas Racing Ford 0.000
39 23 Gray Gaulding (R) BK Racing Toyota 0.000
Official qualifying results

Practice (post-qualifying)

Second practice

Erik Jones was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 38.451 seconds and a speed of 187.251 mph (301.351 km/h).

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 77 Erik Jones (R) Furniture Row Racing Toyota 38.451 187.251
2 24 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 38.535 186.843
3 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 38.558 186.732
Official second practice results

Final practice

Chase Elliott was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 38.404 seconds and a speed of 187.480 mph (301.720 km/h).

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 24 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 38.404 187.480
2 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 38.425 187.378
3 21 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 38.489 187.066
Official final practice results

Race

First stage

Kyle Larson led the field to the green flag at 3:50 p.m. On the initial start, Denny Hamlin spun his tires and forced Brad Keselowski to check up. He backed into Ryan Newman – and Kevin Harvick, who was lined up behind Newman – and was turned up the track, damaging the left-rear quarter panel in the process. Keselowski kept going, but got loose exiting Turn 4, with help from Jimmie Johnson, and spun through the frontstretch grass, bringing out the first caution of the race on the third lap.

The race restarted on the eighth lap. Harvick made an unscheduled stop for damage on lap 23. A cycle of green flag stops started on lap 30 and resulted in Martin Truex Jr. cycling to the lead. Larson took it back exiting Turn 4 on lap 49, won the first stage and the second caution flew for the completion of the stage on lap 60. Truex exited pit road first. Ryan Blaney (removing equipment from the pit box) and Austin Dillon (speeding) restarted the race from the tail end of the field for pit road infractions.

Second stage

The race restarted on lap 68. The second stage was only broken up by green flag stops on lap 91, which resulted in Truex retaining the lead. It ended with him winning the stage and the third caution flew on lap 120 for its completion.

Final stage

Kyle Larson won the race from the pole position.

The race restarted with 73 laps to go. Larson powered by Truex on the bottom in Turn 1 to retake the lead on the restart. For most of the stage, it was a repeat of the second stage. It was broken up with 49 to go when cars started pitting under green, Larson and Truex pitted together with 45 to go and Larson regained it with 37 to go. During the cycle, Kyle Busch led for a few laps, followed by Ty Dillon and Johnson was turned by Truex on pit road. Gray Gaulding suffered a right-front tire blowout and slammed the wall in Turn 1, bringing out the fourth caution with 20 to go. Truex, who entered pit road under the caution second, left seventh after he "stopped too deep in the box."

The race restarted with 16 to go. Exiting Turn 2 on the restart, Truex hooked the left-rear corner of Matt Kenseth, then sent him spinning down the track and into the inside retaining wall, bringing out the fifth caution.

The race restarted with 11 to go. Two laps later, Corey LaJoie spun out in Turn 2, bringing out the sixth caution. Hamlin, taking the lead as a result, Truex and Jamie McMurray elected to stay out under the caution, while everyone else hit pit road.

The race restarted with five to go. Larson quickly took second from Truex on the backstretch and had a run on Hamlin, but found himself boxed in by Truex to his left and the outside wall to his right. He made the pass for the lead exiting Turn 2 with three to go seconds before the seventh caution flew for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spinning out in Turn 2.

Overtime

The race restarted in overtime with two to go and Larson drove on to score the victory.

Post-race

Driver comments

In victory lane, Larson said of the final two restarts that he was "staying as calm as [he] could," but he was "frustrated" as well. "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," he added. "Our Target Chevy was amazing all day. We were able to lead a lot of laps today. Truex was better than us that second stage by quite a bit. We were able to get the jump on him the following restart and led pretty much the rest of the distance. I had to fight them off there after the green flag stops (before the final caution), and that was a lot of fun. This is just amazing. We've been so good all year long, three seconds in a row. I've been watching all the TV like 'He doesn't know how to win,' but we knew how to win today, so that was good."

"Great perseverance from this team," Keselowski said on pit road after rallying from a Lap 3 spin to finish runner-up. "I got out of the car and looked at the damage. It's torn to pieces. I feel lucky to finish second and curious what we could have done if we weren't torn up. Great day for us to persevere, despite adversity. You'll have that in a 36-race season, so proud of team for that."

Clint Bowyer, who earned his first top-five finish since the 2015 Irwin Tools Night Race with a third-place finish, said his team is "getting closer. This is a good track for me. I wanted to win that damn thing, but to come home with a wild finish and everything that it was, we’ll take it.”

Truex, who finished fourth after electing not to pit under the penultimate caution, said it was "not the situation we wanted to be in, but we thought more guys would stay out there. I think we only ran a few laps. It was definitely a disadvantage at the end and just really tight. Holding on for fourth was good for points.”

Race results

Stage results

Stage 1 Laps: 60

Pos No Driver Team Manufacturer Points
1 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 10
2 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 9
3 24 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 8
4 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 7
5 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 6
6 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 5
7 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 4
8 77 Erik Jones (R) Furniture Row Racing Toyota 3
9 21 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 2
10 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 1
Official stage one results

Stage 2 Laps: 60

Pos No Driver Team Manufacturer Points
1 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 10
2 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 9
3 24 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 8
4 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 7
5 77 Erik Jones (R) Furniture Row Racing Toyota 6
6 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 5
7 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 4
8 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 3
9 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 2
10 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 1
Official stage two results

Final stage results

Stage 3 Laps: 82

Pos Grid No Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points
1 1 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 202 59
2 3 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 202 36
3 17 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 202 46
4 4 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 202 52
5 35 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 202 39
6 8 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 202 43
7 10 19 Daniel Suárez (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 202 30
8 9 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 202 39
9 19 21 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 202 30
10 13 24 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 202 43
11 11 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 202 26
12 14 77 Erik Jones (R) Furniture Row Racing Toyota 202 34
13 7 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 202 24
14 2 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 202 26
15 5 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 202 22
16 18 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 202 21
17 24 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 202 20
18 21 13 Ty Dillon (R) Germain Racing Chevrolet 202 19
19 31 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 202 18
20 12 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 202 17
21 37 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 202 16
22 16 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 202 15
23 36 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 202 14
24 15 41 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 201 13
25 20 37 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 201 12
26 22 10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 200 11
27 26 34 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 200 10
28 23 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 200 9
29 38 32 Matt DiBenedetto Fas Lane Racing Ford 200 8
30 30 83 Corey LaJoie (R) BK Racing Toyota 200 7
31 27 38 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 199 6
32 28 72 Cole Whitt TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 199 5
33 25 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 198 4
34 29 15 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Toyota 197 3
35 34 51 Timmy Hill (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 193 0
36 6 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 184 1
37 39 23 Gray Gaulding (R) BK Racing Toyota 173 1
38 33 55 Derrike Cope Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 117 1
39 32 33 Jeffrey Earnhardt Circle Sport – The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 99 1
Official race results

Race statistics

  • Lead changes: 8 among different drivers
  • Cautions/Laps: 7 for 29
  • Red flags: 0
  • Time of race: 2 hours, 57 minutes and 46 seconds
  • Average speed: 136.359 miles per hour (219.449 km/h)

Media

Television

The race was the 17th race Fox Sports covered at the Auto Club Speedway. Mike Joy, three-time Auto Club winner Jeff Gordon and Darrell Waltrip had call in the booth for the race. Jamie Little, Vince Welch and Matt Yocum will handle the pit road duties for the television side.

Fox
Booth announcers Pit reporters
Lap-by-lap: Mike Joy
Color-commentator: Jeff Gordon
Color commentator: Darrell Waltrip
Jamie Little
Vince Welch
Matt Yocum

Radio

MRN had the radio call for the race which was also simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and 2001 race winner Rusty Wallace called the race from the booth when the field was racing down the front stretch. Dan Hubbard called race from a billboard outside turn 2 when the field was racing through turns 1 and 2. Kurt Becker called the race from a billboard outside turn 3 when the field was racing through turns 3 and 4. Alex Hayden, Winston Kelley and Steve Post worked pit road for MRN.

MRN
Booth announcers Turn announcers Pit reporters
Lead announcer: Joe Moore
Announcer: Jeff Striegle
Announcer: Rusty Wallace
Turns 1 & 2: Dan Hubbard
Turns 3 & 4: Kurt Becker
Alex Hayden
Winston Kelley
Steve Post

Standings after the race


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