NASCAR Cup Series Recap: Fontana
With the Daytona 500 firmly in the rearview mirror, the NASCAR Cup Series crossed the country for the second race of the season at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana.
The Pala Casino 400 saw its share of lasts and firsts celebrated throughout the weekend. The event served as the last race on the two-mile surface at Auto Club and the last until at least 2025 while reconfiguration takes place.
But the event also marked the potential beginning of an era, as Kyle Busch dominated the final stage of the race to pick up his 61st-career victory, but more importantly, his first with Richard Childress racing in only his second race with the team.
Busch’s victory also came with a piece of NASCAR history, as this win gave him a victory in 19 consecutive NASCAR seasons, breaking his tie atop the list with Richard Petty.
Busch, however, had to overcome some adversity on his way to the win, and didn’t grab the lead for the first time until the 138th circuit of the 200-lap event.
Pole sitter Christopher Bell led the opening lap of the race, but was quickly passed by 2020 Fontana winner Alex Bowman entering turn 1 of the next circuit. Bowman led the race until the scheduled competition caution on lap 15.
Ross Chastain, Daytona 500 runner-up Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney all took turns leading the race through the next green flag run, which came to an end when Brad Keselowski spun from contact with Corey LaJoie on lap 42.
The ensuing pit stops proved to be a crucial moment in the race, as Busch was nabbed with a speeding penalty, putting him at the back of the field for the restart.
Chastain got back to the front and led through the entire next run, backing up his Stage 2 victory in the Daytona 500 by winning the first stage of this event and earning a valuable playoff point.
Stage 2 saw most of the race’s action in terms of on-track incidents. It started with A. J. Allmendinger’s crash on the backstretch on lap 75. Six laps later, LaJoie went for a spin himself, getting a nudge to the rear quarter panel from Tyler Reddick.
The biggest accident of the race occurred on the next restart, when the middle of the pack got stacked up while trying to anticipate the start. The bottleneck led to a pileup involving nine cars, with Bell being among the four cars that were forced to retire with crash damage.
Once Stage 2 finally got into a rhythm, it was all Chastain at the front, as he swept Stage 1 and Stage 2 in a race for the first time in his career.
Finishing second in the stage was Busch, as he had rebounded nearly all the way from his early speeding penalty. On the restart to begin Stage 3, Busch took the lead. The race’s final caution then flew with 60 laps to go for Ty Dillon’s stalled vehicle.
Chastain, who seemed to have the dominant car of the day, got the lead back on the restart, and battled with Busch over the next fuel run. The two leaders came onto pit road for the final round of green flag pit stops just about even, and it was Busch’s pit crew who ended up getting him out ahead for a lead he wouldn’t relinquish.
The win was one that Busch admitted was significant, as a driver who had achieved so much success at Joe Gibbs Racing proved to both himself and the doubters that he was still capable of getting the job done.
Kasey Kreider is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email kmk6865@psu.edu.
