Dillon Quenches Busch's Roll
Austin Dillon wins the TreatMyClot.com 300 at Auto Club Speedway after spoiling the Joe Gibbs Racing party in an exciting fuel mileage race. Dillon edges out Kyle Busch, who ran out of fuel and had a tire go down, to win in a wild finish that only Hollywood could have scripted. Darrell Wallace Jr. finished third, followed by Daniel Suarez, and Elliott Sadler. This is Dillon’s seventh career win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
The final lap had a lot of twists and turns for some drivers. Kyle Busch blew a tire as Daniel Suarez took over the lead on the backstretch. Busch would later retake the lead once again after Suarez ran out of fuel. However, Austin Dillon caught Busch coming off of turn four to win the race.
Kyle Busch declined talking to the media after the race. However, Kyle expressed his displeasure for NASCAR on the last lap on his radio.
Dillon was excited for this win. “Sometimes things just go your way, today it definitely did. Fun race. I hope the fans liked that last lap. That was exciting.”
Richard Childress was happy to be back in Victory Lane. “This is a perfect example of what you would call luck. Luck is when preparation meets opportunity. These guys were prepared today, and the opportunity was there. They capitalized, and that is what it takes to win.”
Daniel Suarez maintained his ten-point lead over Elliott Sadler in the Driver’s Standings.
The car of Darrell Wallace Jr. failed post-race inspection with post-race heights. The cars of Austin Dillon, Daniel Suarez, and Ryan Blaney will be taken back to the NASCAR R&D Center for further evaluation.
The TreatMyClot.com 300 was plagued with four cautions for a total of 16 laps. The race had 12 lead changes among eight different drivers. Kyle Busch led the most laps with a total of 133 laps led. The average speed was 143.008 mph. The time of the race was 2 hours, 5 minutes, and 52 seconds. The margin of victory was .741 seconds.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series will take a two-week hiatus before returning to the Texas Motor Speedway on April 8 for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300.
Suarez Edges Teammates For Pole
A cool speedway covered in the morning fog was a major factor in NASCAR Xfinity Series Qualifying for the TreatMyClot.com 300 at Auto Club Speedway. Daniel Suarez wins the pole with a speed of 179.955 mph.
Single-Car runs were used during the qualifying session. This is mandated by NASCAR so drivers do not wait until the last minute to get the draft. For the Xfinity Series, single-car runs will be used at tracks two miles and over.
As the first round of qualifying went green, the fog began to lift. Kyle Busch was P1 in this round with a speed of 180.158 mph. Joe Gibbs Racing continued to show their dominance in the Xfinity Series by qualifying 1-2-3. Erik Jones, Daniel Suarez, Ryan Blaney, and Austin Dillon round out the top-five. Kevin Harvick, Bubba Wallace Jr., and Brendan Gaughan were some of the notable drivers who did not advance to the second round. Carl Long and Morgan Shepard were sent home packing after the first round of qualifying.
In the second round of qualifying, the fog was burned off, and drivers were battling a warming track. The track was losing grip, but came no match for Joe Gibbs Racing. For the fourth consecutive week, Joe Gibbs Racing has qualified 1-2-3. Jones, Busch, Larson, and Sadler round out the top-five.
Can Joe Gibbs continue their dominance in the Xfinity Series? Find out at 4 pm Eastern time, only on Fox Sports 1 and Motor Racing Network.
TreatMyClot.com 300 Preview
The NASCAR Xfinity Series rolls into Southern California for the TreatMyClot.com 300 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Kyle Busch is looking to win his fourth race in a row, becoming the first winner of four races in a row in 33 years. A total of 42 cars have entered into the race, with only 40 positions available. Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney, Kevin Harvick, Austin Dillon, Kyle Larson, and Aric Almirola will perform double-duty this weekend by racing in the NASCAR Xfinity and Sprint Cup Series.
Auto Club Speedway is a two-mile D-shaped oval located in Fontana, California. The track is 75 feet wide with a 15 feet banking. All the turns are banked at 14 degrees. The frontstretch is banked at 11 degrees, and is 3100 feet in length. The backstretch is banked at three degrees, and is 2500 feet in length. The TreatMyClots.com 300 is 150 laps.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series has competed at Auto Club Speedway for 26 races. Erik Jones, driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, is the youngest NASCAR Xfinity Pole Sitter at Auto Club Speedway. Tony Stewart holds the qualifying record at Auto Club Speedway at 185.941 mph set in February 2005. Kevin Harvick is the defending race winner.
Last years race at Auto Club Speedway say 13 lead changes among eight drivers, three cautions for 12 laps, 17 drivers finish on the lead lap, and a margin of victory of 3.317 seconds.
Drivers are excited about returning to Auto Club Speedway.
Ryan Reed, driver of the No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford, alongside two crew members, are excited to be racing in front of a hometown crowd this weekend. “It’s cool that I share a history of attending races at Auto Club with members of my team,” said Reed, in a press release. “Memories of watching my dad race here growing up are really special to me and it really means a lot to him that I’m following in his footsteps. I know it would mean a lot to all of us if we could get a win here and I would love nothing more than to do that this weekend.”
In a press release, Elliott Sadler has set his expectations high. “It’s the last week of the West Coast swing and we have high expectations for this weekend. We have a nice top-10 streak going and our cars have a lot of speed. We’re going to keep working hard to get our OneMain Chevrolet into Victory Lane.”
Jeb Burton is hoping to repeat the success he had at Atlanta Motor Speedway at Auto Club. "I'm excited to race at Auto Club Speedway this weekend. We ran really well a few weeks ago in Atlanta. Hopefully, we can repeat that at another intermediate track this weekend. For the amount of time we have been together as a team, I am very proud of what we have done so far. We missed it a little last week, but I'm confident Drew (Blickensderfer) and the guys will get me a fast Ford Mustang this weekend. Drew has some good success here, so hopefully, we can add to that this weekend."
NASCAR Xfinity Series Points leader, Daniel Suarez, is excited about the challenges in Fontana. "I'm excited to race at Auto Club Speedway this weekend. We ran really well a few weeks ago in Atlanta. Hopefully, we can repeat that at another intermediate track this weekend. For the amount of time we have been together as a team, I am very proud of what we have done so far. We missed it a little last week, but I'm confident Drew (Blickensderfer) and the guys will get me a fast Ford Mustang this weekend. Drew has some good success here, so hopefully, we can add to that this weekend."
Going into the TreatMyClot.com 300, Daniel Suarez has an eight point lead over Elliott Sadler in the Driver Standings.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series will hit Auto Club Speedway for their first on-track activities at 3 pm Eastern on Fox Sports 1.
TV Schedule
Friday, March 18
3 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series practice, FS1
5:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series final practice, FS1
Saturday March 19
5:30 a.m., NASCAR Xfinity practice (re-air), FS1
Noon, NASCAR Xfinity Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, FS1
3:30 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: Xfinity, FS1
4 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series 300, FS1