2020 Auto Club 400

NASCAR Cup Series raceTemplate:SHORTDESC:NASCAR Cup Series race

The **2020 Auto Club 400** was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on March 1, 2020, at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Contested over 200 laps on the 2-mile (3.2 km)\* D-shaped oval, it was the third race of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season.

## Report

### Background

**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

* **(R)** denotes rookie driver.
* **(i)** denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.

## Practice

### First practice

Alex Bowman was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 40.125 seconds and a speed of 179.439 mph (288.779 km/h).

 2
 3

### Final practice

Alex Bowman was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 40.764 seconds and a speed of 176.626 mph (284.252 km/h).

 2
 3

## Qualifying

Clint Bowyer scored the pole for the race with a time of 40.086 and a speed of 179.614 mph (289.061 km/h).

## Race

### Stage 1

#### The Start

Clint Bowyer drove to the lead as Jimmie Johnson, Alex Bowman (88), Kurt Busch (1) fought for the 2nd spot early. Matt DiBenedetto (21) moved from his 12th place qualifying position to 5th as the race started under overcast skies after a brief sprinkle passed over the speedway. The cooler temperatures giving the race engines ideal conditions to produce speed.

With 20 laps down in Stage 1, Alex Bowman held the lead with Jimmie Johnson 2nd. Martin Truex Jr. had moved from the 38th and last starting position into 12th. Green flag pit stops began on Lap 27, more so for fresh tires than the need of Sunoco racing fuel. Tire fall-off is huge on this track and pit stops will be dictated by the decrease in lap speeds on old tires.

Intermittent raindrops were spotted on the Fox cameras 30 laps in, but the precipitation was not enough to hamper racing.

After pit stops cycled through it was Alex Bowman back out front, followed by Ryan Blaney (12), Jimmie Johnson, Aric Almirola, and Kurt Busch. With Alex Bowman holding onto the lead to the end of Stage 1.

On Stage ending pit stops, Kurt Busch missed his pit, had to go around again, and exited the pits outside of the top 20.

### Stage 2

Jimmie Johnson led the field to the restart, but it was Ryan Blaney (12) who quickly took over the top spot. Ryan Blaney, Jimmie Johnson, and Alex Bowman ran three-wide for 1st place for a lap until Blaney prevailed again.

Rookie of the year competitor Christopher Bell (95) became the first car out of the race as his engine expired on Lap 80. Green flag pit stops began 30 laps into Stage 2. Just as pit tire changes were concluding Clint Bowyer a tire go down bringing out the first non-Stage caution of the race. Inspection of the tire just installed during his pit stop showed Bowyer’s tire changer accidentally hit the valve stem for the inner liner, breaking it off.

With the laps winding down, restarts begin to get more competitive as drivers attempt to gain track position by mixing it up at the drop of the green. Ryan Blaney and Jimmie Johnson remain out front as the rest of the field goes three, four, and five wide jockeying for spots.

Ryan Blaney easily drove off to the Stage win with Bowman beating teammate Jimmie Johnson under the green and white checkered flag.

### The Final Stage

Jimmie Johnson and Alex Bowman lead the field off pit road from the Stage ending caution stops. Blaney runs 3rd, followed by Truex and Kevin Harvick(4).

Alex Bowman moved to the front and began to pull away from the field. If the race stays green, pit stops may determine the winner as the race has been run virtually without incident.

Green flag stops began with 41 laps to go and soon all of the competitors were coming in for what is likely their last fuel fill up and tire change. Martin Truex Jr.’s rear tire changer injured his hand during the stop and the team lost a lot of time completing the tire swap. Truex dropped to the rear of the lead lap while his crewman headed off to the infield care center.

After cycling everyone through pit road, Alex Bowman was back in the lead with Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson, and Chase Elliott the remainder of the top five. Alex Bowman’s crew told their driver that the right rear tire they took off of his car was worn down to the cords. A long run to the finish could present a problem for the #88 car.

Ryan Blaney drove to the pits with three laps to go, his right rear tire coming apart. Alex Bowman was able to keep his tires from blistering and he cruised to an easy victory of the Busch brothers. Kyle Busch in 2nd and Kurt Busch in 3rd. Jimmie Johnson finished 7th and Ryan Blaney 19th. The win was Alex Bowman’s 2nd on the Cup Series circuit.

#### Stage Results

**Stage One**
*Laps:* 60

**Stage Two**
*Laps:* 60

##### Final Stage Results

**Stage Three**
*Laps:* 80

### Race statistics

* Lead changes: 16 among 8 different drivers
* Cautions/Laps: 3 for 13
* Red flags: 0
* Time of race: 2 hours, 37 minutes and 7 seconds
* Average speed: 152.753 miles per hour (245.832 km/h)

## Media

### Television

The race was the 20th race Fox Sports covered at the Auto Club Speedway. Mike Joy and three-time Auto Club winner Jeff Gordon called the race in the booth for Fox. Jamie Little, Regan Smith, Vince Welch and Matt Yocum handled the pit road duties for the television side. Larry McReynolds and Jamie McMurray provided insight from the Fox Sports studio in Charlotte.

### Radio

MRN had the radio call for the race, which was also simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle and 2001 race winner Rusty Wallace 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 & Kyle Rickey called the race from a billboard outside turn 3 when the field raced their way through turns 3 and 4. Kim Coon, Steve Post and Dillon Welch had the pit road duties for MRN.

 **Lead announcer:** Alex Hayden**Announcer:** Jeff Striegle**Announcer:** Rusty Wallace | **Turns 1 & 2:** Dan Hubbard**Turns 3 & 4:** Kyle Rickey | Kim CoonSteve PostDillon Welch

## References

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