# 2023 Pala Casino 400

The 2023 Pala Casino 400 was a NASCAR Cup Series race that was held on February 26, 2023, at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. It was contested over 200 laps on the two-mile (3.2 km) D-shaped oval and it was the second race of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season. Kyle Busch won the race, earning his first win with Richard Childress Racing. It was the final race on the 2 mile oval, as the track has since closed for reconstruction into a 0.5 mile short track.

## Report
### Background

Auto Club Speedway (previously California Speedway) was a two-mile (3.2 km), low-banked, D-shaped oval superspeedway in Fontana, California which hosted NASCAR racing annually from 1997 to 2023. It was also used for open wheel racing events. The racetrack was located near the former locations of Ontario Motor Speedway and Riverside International Raceway. The track was owned and operated by International Speedway Corporation and was the only track owned by ISC to have its naming rights sold. The speedway was served by the nearby Interstate 10 and Interstate 15 freeways as well as a Metrolink station located behind the backstretch.

#### Entry list

* (R) denotes rookie driver.
* (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
| No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer |
| 1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet |
| 2 | Austin Cindric | Team Penske | Ford |
| 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet |
| 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford |
| 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing | Ford |
| 7 | Corey LaJoie | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 8 | Kyle Busch | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet |
| 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford |
| 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
| 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford |
| 14 | Chase Briscoe | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford |
| 15 | J. J. Yeley | Rick Ware Racing | Ford |
| 16 | A. J. Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet |
| 17 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing | Ford |
| 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
| 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
| 21 | Harrison Burton | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford |
| 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford |
| 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | Toyota |
| 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 31 | Justin Haley | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet |
| 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford |
| 38 | Todd Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford |
| 41 | Ryan Preece | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford |
| 42 | Noah Gragson (R) | Legacy Motor Club | Chevrolet |
| 43 | Erik Jones | Legacy Motor Club | Chevrolet |
| 45 | Tyler Reddick | 23XI Racing | Toyota |
| 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet |
| 48 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 51 | Cody Ware | Rick Ware Racing | Ford |
| 54 | Ty Gibbs (R) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
| 77 | Ty Dillon | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 78 | B. J. McLeod | Live Fast Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 99 | Daniel Suárez | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet |
| Official entry list ||||

## Practice

Practice was cancelled due to inclement weather.

## Qualifying

Qualifying was cancelled due to inclement weather. Christopher Bell was awarded the pole for the race as a result of NASCAR's "pandemic formula" with a score of 4.250.

### Pandemic Formula

Since the August 2020 Daytona Grand Prix, NASCAR has used a formula to determine the starting field for races when qualifying was not held, as was the case for most of the 2020 season and 2021 season, and if inclement weather prevents qualification rounds to be held. Currently, it is used to determine qualifying order and practice order (which is grouped into odd and even based on ranking), and if necessary, determines starting fields in case of cancellations.
The formula is based on the 2023 owner points standings and the results of the previous race on the schedule. The finishing order from the driver counts as 25% of the score, and the entrant (as in car number) finish counts as 25% of the score. 35% of the score is based on the current owner points standings (counting the final result of the race and the top ten bonus points from qualifying races and the top ten drivers on Lap 65 and 130), and 15% of the order is based on the driver's fastest lap ranking from the race. If a driver did not participate, they are scored 41st place in driver finish and fastest lap. If a team used a driver ineligible for Cup Series points, the points earned by the driver will still be awarded to the car owner for purposes of this formula.

### Starting Lineup

| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Score |
| 1 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 4.250 |
| 2 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 5.450 |
| 3 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 6.150 |
| 4 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 6.350 |
| 5 | 17 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing | Ford | 7.650 |
| 6 | 16 | A. J. Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 8.100 |
| 7 | 99 | Daniel Suárez | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 8.600 |
| 8 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 8.850 |
| 9 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 9.450 |
| 10 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 14.200 |
| 11 | 51 | Cody Ware | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 14.300 |
| 12 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 15.150 |
| 13 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 16.300 |
| 14 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 16.700 |
| 15 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 19.300 |
| 16 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing | Ford | 19.950 |
| 17 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 20.600 |
| 18 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 21.000 |
| 19 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Team Penske | Ford | 21.650 |
| 20 | 42 | Noah Gragson (R) | Legacy Motor Club | Chevrolet | 22.500 |
| 21 | 8 | Kyle Busch | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 22.550 |
| 22 | 15 | J. J. Yeley | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 24.150 |
| 23 | 54 | Ty Gibbs (R) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 24.400 |
| 24 | 21 | Harrison Burton | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 25.350 |
| 25 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 26.350 |
| 26 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 26.400 |
| 27 | 41 | Ryan Preece | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 28.300 |
| 28 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 29.700 |
| 29 | 31 | Justin Haley | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 30.950 |
| 30 | 78 | B. J. McLeod | Live Fast Motorsports | Chevrolet | 31.100 |
| 31 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 31.200 |
| 32 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 32.150 |
| 33 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 32.700 |
| 34 | 43 | Erik Jones | Legacy Motor Club | Chevrolet | 34.200 |
| 35 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 36.600 |
| 36 | 77 | Ty Dillon | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 40.000 |
| Official starting lineup ||||||

## Race
### Race results
#### Stage Results

Stage One Laps: 65
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
| 1 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 2 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 9 |
| 3 | 99 | Daniel Suárez | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 7 |
| 5 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 6 |
| 6 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 5 |
| 7 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 4 |
| 8 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 3 |
| 9 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 2 |
| 10 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 1 |
| Official stage one results ||||||
Stage Two Laps: 65
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
| 1 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 2 | 8 | Kyle Busch | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 9 |
| 3 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 8 |
| 4 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 7 |
| 5 | 99 | Daniel Suárez | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 6 |
| 6 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 5 |
| 7 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 4 |
| 8 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 3 |
| 9 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing | Ford | 2 |
| 10 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 1 |
| Official stage two results ||||||

### Final Stage Results

Stage Three Laps: 70
| Pos | Grid | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Points |
| 1 | 21 | 8 | Kyle Busch | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 200 | 49 |
| 2 | 33 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 200 | 40 |
| 3 | 8 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 200 | 54 |
| 4 | 7 | 99 | Daniel Suárez | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 200 | 47 |
| 5 | 10 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 200 | 42 |
| 6 | 13 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 200 | 42 |
| 7 | 16 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing | Ford | 200 | 32 |
| 8 | 4 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 200 | 39 |
| 9 | 28 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 200 | 28 |
| 10 | 3 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 200 | 39 |
| 11 | 14 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 200 | 28 |
| 12 | 2 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 200 | 25 |
| 13 | 5 | 17 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing | Ford | 200 | 24 |
| 14 | 12 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 200 | 24 |
| 15 | 24 | 21 | Harrison Burton | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 200 | 22 |
| 16 | 23 | 54 | Ty Gibbs (R) | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 200 | 21 |
| 17 | 25 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 200 | 20 |
| 18 | 26 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 200 | 19 |
| 19 | 34 | 43 | Erik Jones | Legacy Motor Club | Chevrolet | 200 | 18 |
| 20 | 31 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 200 | 17 |
| 21 | 29 | 31 | Justin Haley | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 199 | 16 |
| 22 | 20 | 42 | Noah Gragson (R) | Legacy Motor Club | Chevrolet | 199 | 15 |
| 23 | 22 | 15 | J. J. Yeley | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 199 | 14 |
| 24 | 30 | 78 | B. J. McLeod | Live Fast Motorsports | Chevrolet | 199 | 13 |
| 25 | 32 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 198 | 17 |
| 26 | 9 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 196 | 20 |
| 27 | 11 | 51 | Cody Ware | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 195 | 10 |
| 28 | 19 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Team Penske | Ford | 194 | 9 |
| 29 | 15 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 185 | 8 |
| 30 | 18 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 172 | 7 |
| 31 | 36 | 77 | Ty Dillon | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 140 | 6 |
| 32 | 1 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 88 | 5 |
| 33 | 27 | 41 | Ryan Preece | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 87 | 4 |
| 34 | 35 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 87 | 3 |
| 35 | 17 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 86 | 2 |
| 36 | 6 | 16 | A. J. Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 75 | 1 |
| Official race results ||||||||

### Race statistics

* Lead changes: 28 among 13 different drivers
* Cautions/Laps: 8 for 38 laps
* Red flags: 0
* Time of race: 3 hours, 8 minutes and 5 seconds
* Average speed: 127.603 miles per hour (205.357 km/h)

## Media
### Television

The race was the 22nd race Fox Sports covered at the Auto Club Speedway. Mike Joy, Clint Bowyer and three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, two-time Fontana winner and co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing Tony Stewart called the race in the booth for Fox. Jamie Little and Regan Smith handled the pit road duties, and Larry McReynolds provided insight from the Fox Sports studio in Charlotte.
Fox :
| Booth announcers | Pit reporters | In-race analyst |
| Lap-by-lap: Mike Joy Color-commentator: Clint Bowyer Color-commentator: Tony Stewart | Jamie Little Regan Smith | Larry McReynolds |

### Radio

MRN had the radio call for the race, which was also simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle, and 2018 NASCAR Cup Championship crew chief Todd Gordon called the race from the booth when the field raced their way down the front stretch. Dan Hubbard called the race from a billboard outside turn 2 when the field raced their way through turns 1 and 2, and Kyle Rickey called the race from a billboard outside turn 3 when the field raced their way through turns 3 and 4. Steve Post and Jason Toy had the pit road duties for MRN.
MRN :
| Booth announcers | Turn announcers | Pit reporters |
| Lead announcer: Alex Hayden Announcer: Jeff Striegle Announcer: Todd Gordon | Turns 1 & 2: Dan Hubbard Turns 3 & 4: Kyle Rickey | Steve Post Jason Toy |

## Standings after the race

| | Pos | Driver | Points |
| 5 | 1 | Ross Chastain | 92 |
| 1 | 2 | Joey Logano | 91 (–1) |
| 2 | 3 | Alex Bowman | 80 (–12) |
| 4 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | 79 (–13) |
| 7 | 5 | Daniel Suárez | 77 (–15) |
| 4 | 6 | Chris Buescher | 74 (–18) |
| 4 | 7 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 73 (–19) |
| 14 | 8 | Kyle Busch | 67 (–25) |
| 10 | 9 | Denny Hamlin | 64 (–28) |
| 1 | 10 | Brad Keselowski | 64 (–28) |
| 1 | 11 | Martin Truex Jr. | 60 (–32) |
| 5 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | 57 (–35) |
| 2 | 13 | Corey LaJoie | 51 (–41) |
| 15 | 14 | Chase Elliott | 49 (–43) |
| 11 | 15 | Christopher Bell | 49 (–43) |
| 5 | 16 | Michael McDowell | 40 (–52) |
| Official driver's standings ||||
| Pos | Manufacturer | Points |
| 1 | Chevrolet | 80 |
| 2 | Ford | 67 (–13) |
| 3 | Toyota | 65 (–15) |