# 2017 Auto Club 400

The 2017 Auto Club 400 was 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 (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

| 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

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

| | Pos | Driver | Points |
| | 1 | Kyle Larson | 243 |
| 1 | 2 | Chase Elliott | 214 (–29) |
| 1 | 3 | Martin Truex Jr. | 205 (–38) |
| 2 | 4 | Brad Keselowski | 179 (–64) |
| | 5 | Joey Logano | 174 (–69) |
| 2 | 6 | Jamie McMurray | 162 (–81) |
| 1 | 7 | Ryan Blaney | 157 (–86) |
| 7 | 8 | Clint Bowyer | 143 (–100) |
| 2 | 9 | Kevin Harvick | 137 (–106) |
| 3 | 10 | Kyle Busch | 136 (–107) |
| | 11 | Ryan Newman | 123 (–120) |
| 2 | 12 | Denny Hamlin | 123 (–120) |
| 3 | 13 | Kasey Kahne | 122 (–121) |
| 5 | 14 | Kurt Busch | 118 (–125) |
| 3 | 15 | Erik Jones | 116 (–127) |
| 4 | 16 | Trevor Bayne | 114 (–129) |
| Official driver's standings ||||
| | Pos | Manufacturer | Points |
| 1 | 1 | Chevrolet | 184 |
| 1 | 2 | Ford | 181 (–3) |
| | 3 | Toyota | 170 (–14) |
| Official manufacturers' standings ||||