NASCAR
Kyle Larson wins NASCAR Auto Club four hundred at Fontana
By Louis Brewster, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Posted: 03/26/17, 7:17 PM PDT | Updated: on 03/26/2017
FONTANA >> Sunday afternoon was a bad news, good news day for Kyle Larson at the NASCAR Auto Club 400.
The bad news? He failed to equal the Monster Energy Cup Series record with a fourth consecutive second-place finish.
However, he and team possessor Chip Ganassi were sporting broad smiles at the end of the day at Auto Club Speedway after he raced to victory in the fifth event of the two thousand seventeen season. The points leader, twenty nine ahead of Pursue Elliott, finished 0.779 seconds ahead of Brad Keselowski.
“It’s good to be Kyle Larson right now,” he said. In his last seven Cup starts, dating back to last season, Larson has posted finishes of 3-2-12-2-2-2-1.
It was Larson’s very first Cup win since last summer when he took the checkered flag at Michigan International Speedway, which Fontana was modeled after.
Larson and Keselowski were also the winners of the very first NASCAR stages ever at Fontana. Larson led the field after the 60th-lap initial stage over Keselowski, and the pair traded places after the 120th-lap 2nd segment.
Being out front near the end of a race is nothing fresh to the 24-year-old Los Gatos driver. He’s has had the lead in all five races, but eventually closed the deal at the two-mile superspeedway celebrating its 20th anniversary.
It was a successful weekend for Larson, who also took the checkered flag Saturday in the 300-mile Xfinity race.
Clint Bowyer, making his California debut for car holder Tony Stewart, came in third followed by Martin Truex Jr. and Joey Logano, who commenced in the back of the 39-car field after not making qualifying.
“It was a battle, but this place is a lot of joy,” said Logano. “The track is so broad and tires mean so much. How crazy is it that we’re pitting with half-a-lap on our tires and we’re putting four more on. That’s pretty cool.”
Larson teammate Jamie McMurray was sixth with rookie Daniel Suarez, Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney and Elliott rounding out the top Ten.
Jimmie Johnson, the defending Cup champ and race winner, finished 21st after also commencing in the back of the field. He moved up steadily but was involved in an early incident that sent him to the rear once again before moving back up.
Larson led seven times for one hundred ten laps, including the final six. There were a total of eight leaders but only Larson and Truex led more than twice and for one hundred eighty three laps.
“I was staying as tranquil as I could be, but also frustrated at the same time,” Larson said after climbing out of his No. Forty two Target Chevrolet. “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.
“I made a mistake early in the race and lost a lot of track position sliding through my (pit) box, but they had awesome pit stops all day long. Fine pit stops there at the end especially and our restarts were good. I spun my tires a duo of them and had to haul race Denny (Hamlin) and Kyle (Busch) into Turn 1, but we had a good last restart, got some clean air and came on to the win.”
There was a rash of yellow flags at the end of the 200-lap race. For the fourth consecutive year, the event extended into overtime but Larson, who was runner-up here in his two thousand fourteen rookie season, pulled away after the last caution period with two laps to go.
“I knew my pit squad was truly good, so I actually ran a little bit slower down pit road by one light just to be safe,” Larson said of his last pit stop. “I didn’t want to speed, I didn’t want to do anything stupid and we were able to get the leap there off pit road and line up on the outside, which was awesome.” Team proprietor Chip Ganassi was ecstatic about a NASCAR win at a track he’s raced in open-wheel as well.
“I thought that race was never going to be over there at the end. I thought we were having a pretty clean day there ’til the end,” he said. “You know, it’s just a culmination of a lot of hard work. Everybody said, ‘What is it this year?  Why are your cars good?  Why this, why that?’
“I keep telling in this business, it doesn’t take much. It doesn’t take much to be good. It doesn’t take much to be bad. Just made some petite switches over the winter in our organization. We attempted to look at places that need improvements and we make improvements.
“I think obviously a lot of it’s down to Kyle. I think he’s embarking to mature in the series and learning what the cars will accept and what the cars won’t accept in terms of putting a weekend together, putting together practice, putting together qualifying, put together race practice, a race, pit stop after pit stop after pit stop, keeping your head in the game. I couldn’t be more satisfied for him.”
Keselowski’s high finish was a testament to the work of his Team Penske pit squad. He was involved in pair of incidents but recovered each time.
“I don’t know if we had anything for Kyle and those guys,” said Keselowski. “We were ripped up pretty bad. To get that kind of finish is respectable. 
“Certainly we want to win. I felt like we had a shot to do just that. It just didn’t come together. That’s the way it goes sometimes when you have a 36-race season. You’re going to have some adversity and days that don’t go your way.
“That’s the way it was for us. But we made the most of it, so I’m proud of my guys.”
Kyle Larson wins NASCAR Auto Club four hundred at Fontana
NASCAR
Kyle Larson wins NASCAR Auto Club four hundred at Fontana
By Louis Brewster, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Posted: 03/26/17, 7:17 PM PDT | Updated: on 03/26/2017
FONTANA >> Sunday afternoon was a bad news, good news day for Kyle Larson at the NASCAR Auto Club 400.
The bad news? He failed to equal the Monster Energy Cup Series record with a fourth consecutive second-place finish.
However, he and team holder Chip Ganassi were sporting broad smiles at the end of the day at Auto Club Speedway after he raced to victory in the fifth event of the two thousand seventeen season. The points leader, twenty nine ahead of Pursue Elliott, finished 0.779 seconds ahead of Brad Keselowski.
“It’s fine to be Kyle Larson right now,” he said. In his last seven Cup starts, dating back to last season, Larson has posted finishes of 3-2-12-2-2-2-1.
It was Larson’s very first Cup win since last summer when he took the checkered flag at Michigan International Speedway, which Fontana was modeled after.
Larson and Keselowski were also the winners of the very first NASCAR stages ever at Fontana. Larson led the field after the 60th-lap initial stage over Keselowski, and the pair traded places after the 120th-lap 2nd segment.
Being out front near the end of a race is nothing fresh to the 24-year-old Los Gatos driver. He’s has had the lead in all five races, but eventually closed the deal at the two-mile superspeedway celebrating its 20th anniversary.
It was a successful weekend for Larson, who also took the checkered flag Saturday in the 300-mile Xfinity race.
Clint Bowyer, making his California debut for car possessor Tony Stewart, came in third followed by Martin Truex Jr. and Joey Logano, who commenced in the back of the 39-car field after not making qualifying.
“It was a battle, but this place is a lot of joy,” said Logano. “The track is so broad and tires mean so much. How crazy is it that we’re pitting with half-a-lap on our tires and we’re putting four more on. That’s pretty cool.”
Larson teammate Jamie McMurray was sixth with rookie Daniel Suarez, Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney and Elliott rounding out the top Ten.
Jimmie Johnson, the defending Cup champ and race winner, finished 21st after also commencing in the back of the field. He moved up steadily but was involved in an early incident that sent him to the rear once again before moving back up.
Larson led seven times for one hundred ten laps, including the final six. There were a total of eight leaders but only Larson and Truex led more than twice and for one hundred eighty three laps.
“I was staying as quiet as I could be, but also frustrated at the same time,” Larson said after climbing out of his No. Forty two Target Chevrolet. “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.
“I made a mistake early in the race and lost a lot of track position sliding through my (pit) box, but they had awesome pit stops all day long. Fine pit stops there at the end especially and our restarts were good. I spun my tires a duo of them and had to haul race Denny (Hamlin) and Kyle (Busch) into Turn 1, but we had a good last restart, got some clean air and came on to the win.”
There was a rash of yellow flags at the end of the 200-lap race. For the fourth consecutive year, the event extended into overtime but Larson, who was runner-up here in his two thousand fourteen rookie season, pulled away after the last caution period with two laps to go.
“I knew my pit squad was indeed good, so I actually ran a little bit slower down pit road by one light just to be safe,” Larson said of his last pit stop. “I didn’t want to speed, I didn’t want to do anything stupid and we were able to get the leap there off pit road and line up on the outside, which was awesome.” Team proprietor Chip Ganassi was ecstatic about a NASCAR win at a track he’s raced in open-wheel as well.
“I thought that race was never going to be over there at the end. I thought we were having a pretty clean day there ’til the end,” he said. “You know, it’s just a culmination of a lot of hard work. Everybody said, ‘What is it this year?  Why are your cars good?  Why this, why that?’
“I keep telling in this business, it doesn’t take much. It doesn’t take much to be good. It doesn’t take much to be bad. Just made some petite switches over the winter in our organization. We attempted to look at places that need improvements and we make improvements.
“I think obviously a lot of it’s down to Kyle. I think he’s beginning to mature in the series and learning what the cars will accept and what the cars won’t accept in terms of putting a weekend together, putting together practice, putting together qualifying, put together race practice, a race, pit stop after pit stop after pit stop, keeping your head in the game. I couldn’t be more satisfied for him.”
Keselowski’s high finish was a testament to the work of his Team Penske pit team. He was involved in pair of incidents but recovered each time.
“I don’t know if we had anything for Kyle and those guys,” said Keselowski. “We were ripped up pretty bad. To get that kind of finish is respectable. 
“Certainly we want to win. I felt like we had a shot to do just that. It just didn’t come together. That’s the way it goes sometimes when you have a 36-race season. You’re going to have some adversity and days that don’t go your way.
“That’s the way it was for us. But we made the most of it, so I’m proud of my guys.”
Kyle Larson wins NASCAR Auto Club four hundred at Fontana
NASCAR
Kyle Larson wins NASCAR Auto Club four hundred at Fontana
By Louis Brewster, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Posted: 03/26/17, 7:17 PM PDT | Updated: on 03/26/2017
FONTANA >> Sunday afternoon was a bad news, good news day for Kyle Larson at the NASCAR Auto Club 400.
The bad news? He failed to equal the Monster Energy Cup Series record with a fourth consecutive second-place finish.
However, he and team possessor Chip Ganassi were sporting broad smiles at the end of the day at Auto Club Speedway after he raced to victory in the fifth event of the two thousand seventeen season. The points leader, twenty nine ahead of Pursue Elliott, finished 0.779 seconds ahead of Brad Keselowski.
“It’s excellent to be Kyle Larson right now,” he said. In his last seven Cup starts, dating back to last season, Larson has posted finishes of 3-2-12-2-2-2-1.
It was Larson’s very first Cup win since last summer when he took the checkered flag at Michigan International Speedway, which Fontana was modeled after.
Larson and Keselowski were also the winners of the very first NASCAR stages ever at Fontana. Larson led the field after the 60th-lap initial stage over Keselowski, and the pair traded places after the 120th-lap 2nd segment.
Being out front near the end of a race is nothing fresh to the 24-year-old Los Gatos driver. He’s has had the lead in all five races, but ultimately closed the deal at the two-mile superspeedway celebrating its 20th anniversary.
It was a successful weekend for Larson, who also took the checkered flag Saturday in the 300-mile Xfinity race.
Clint Bowyer, making his California debut for car possessor Tony Stewart, came in third followed by Martin Truex Jr. and Joey Logano, who began in the back of the 39-car field after not making qualifying.
“It was a battle, but this place is a lot of joy,” said Logano. “The track is so broad and tires mean so much. How crazy is it that we’re pitting with half-a-lap on our tires and we’re putting four more on. That’s pretty cool.”
Larson teammate Jamie McMurray was sixth with rookie Daniel Suarez, Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney and Elliott rounding out the top Ten.
Jimmie Johnson, the defending Cup champ and race winner, finished 21st after also kicking off in the back of the field. He moved up steadily but was involved in an early incident that sent him to the rear once again before moving back up.
Larson led seven times for one hundred ten laps, including the final six. There were a total of eight leaders but only Larson and Truex led more than twice and for one hundred eighty three laps.
“I was staying as silent as I could be, but also frustrated at the same time,” Larson said after climbing out of his No. Forty two Target Chevrolet. “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.
“I made a mistake early in the race and lost a lot of track position sliding through my (pit) box, but they had awesome pit stops all day long. Fine pit stops there at the end especially and our restarts were good. I spun my tires a duo of them and had to haul race Denny (Hamlin) and Kyle (Busch) into Turn 1, but we had a good last restart, got some clean air and came on to the win.”
There was a rash of yellow flags at the end of the 200-lap race. For the fourth consecutive year, the event extended into overtime but Larson, who was runner-up here in his two thousand fourteen rookie season, pulled away after the last caution period with two laps to go.
“I knew my pit squad was indeed good, so I actually ran a little bit slower down pit road by one light just to be safe,” Larson said of his last pit stop. “I didn’t want to speed, I didn’t want to do anything stupid and we were able to get the leap there off pit road and line up on the outside, which was awesome.” Team possessor Chip Ganassi was ecstatic about a NASCAR win at a track he’s raced in open-wheel as well.
“I thought that race was never going to be over there at the end. I thought we were having a pretty clean day there ’til the end,” he said. “You know, it’s just a culmination of a lot of hard work. Everybody said, ‘What is it this year?  Why are your cars good?  Why this, why that?’
“I keep telling in this business, it doesn’t take much. It doesn’t take much to be good. It doesn’t take much to be bad. Just made some petite switches over the winter in our organization. We attempted to look at places that need improvements and we make improvements.
“I think obviously a lot of it’s down to Kyle. I think he’s embarking to mature in the series and learning what the cars will accept and what the cars won’t accept in terms of putting a weekend together, putting together practice, putting together qualifying, put together race practice, a race, pit stop after pit stop after pit stop, keeping your head in the game. I couldn’t be more satisfied for him.”
Keselowski’s high finish was a testament to the work of his Team Penske pit squad. He was involved in pair of incidents but recovered each time.
“I don’t know if we had anything for Kyle and those guys,” said Keselowski. “We were ripped up pretty bad. To get that kind of finish is respectable. 
“Certainly we want to win. I felt like we had a shot to do just that. It just didn’t come together. That’s the way it goes sometimes when you have a 36-race season. You’re going to have some adversity and days that don’t go your way.
“That’s the way it was for us. But we made the most of it, so I’m proud of my guys.”
