Date: 2-26-2023.

Name of the race: Pala Casino 400.

Track: Auto Club Speedway.

Laps: 200.

Pole winner: Christopher Bell.

Outside Pole: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Stage 1 winner: Ross Chastain. 

Stage 2 winner: Ross Chastain.

Stage 3 winner (won the race): Kyle Busch.

Top 5: Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Ross Chastain, Daniel Suarez, and Kevin Harvick.

FYI: Fontana California, home of Auto Club Speedway, was set to host its final cup series race on its original 2-mile configuration as the second race of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Schedule. Some people were eager to see the track be reconfigured and downsized into a half-mile short track, something that many NASCAR fans wish the sport would return more to and re-trace its roots. Others are skeptical, and will mourn the loss of one of NASCAR’s only two mile tracks going forward. Currently there is no return date set for the location in its new configuration, which has some local fans up in arms, as racing recently just returned to the speedway last year in 2022 after a year long hiatus since the pandemic hit, leaving Fontana out of the 2021 cup schedule. In recent years, fan interest seems to have spiked in the track, with last year’s cup date hosting an exciting race with a dramatic finish between Hendrick teammates Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson, with Elliott getting the short end of the stick after Larson would slide up the racetrack unintentionally and put the Georgia native into the fence, with Larson going on to win the race. The Xfinity race the day previous as well as Cup qualifying got snowed out, so starting order was determined based on points rather than speed. As a result, Christopher Bell in the Joe Gibbs Racing #20 Toyota Camry, would roll off first with Ricky Stenhouse Jr, last week’s winner of the Daytona 500, lining up 2nd, and Joey Logano rolling off 3rd in his Ford Mustang. Kevin Harvick, a California native, would be making his final start at his home track, and would start the race rounding off the top 10, with Kyle Larson, last year’s winner and another Cali native, starting 15th. Due to last week’s wreckfest, some notable names would be starting towards the middle and the rear of the field. Kyle Busch making start number 2 for Richard Childress Racing in the #8 Chevy Camaro, would be starting 21st, with Hendrick teammates William Byron and Chase Elliott rolling off 32nd and 33rd respectively. The green flag dropped and the race was underway, and immediately the field would start fanning out, with drivers going three wide or more to catch some clean air and make some passes. This meant that restarts were wild with guys making bonsai passes to try and make their way towards the front of the pack. On lap 12, the defending winner, Kyle Larson, would pull off the track early and head back to the garage after a rapid loss of power, and the team would continue to work on the car later into the race, resulting in them being put 16 laps down by the end of the race. At lap 17, a competition caution was thrown, and drivers started to file into the pits. Tires were a huge concern today, as Fontana’s rough surface due to debris and sand made the track as rough as a million tiny razors, meaning that saving tires was more important than ever. Ross Chastain, driver of the #1 Camaro for Trackhouse Racing, made it out of the pits first and was positioned in the lead on the restart, while Martin Truex Jr would be penalized for losing a tire shortly coming out of the pits. The green flew once again and it was pretty apparent that Chastain was insanely fast, but Joey Logano had a better restart, and would eventually pass the Melon Man for the lead, with his teammate Ryan Blaney in tow, who would also claim the lead soon after. On lap 42, Brad Keselowski spun and brought out another yellow, with many of the leaders pitting. Kyle Busch was clocked for speeding entering the pits and was sent to the tail end of the lead pack as a result, but it wouldn’t take long for ole’ Rowdy to regain some ground. Meanwhile, Chase Elliott was rapidly climbing the scoring pylon, after starting 33rd, he would find himself running top 10 for most of the day. Chastain, Blaney and Suarez would finish 1-2-3 for the first stage on lap 65. Soon after the start of stage 2, AJ Allmendinger would spin and bring out the yellow yet again. While most of the leaders pitted for fresh tires, Austin Dillon in the iconic RCR #3, Rookie Noah Gragson, and driver of the #41 Mustang Ryan Preece would stay out, and fight like dogs to keep their lead positions after the restart, but on a track where tires matter most, it was easy for the leaders to retake them soon after. Soon after the restart and an incident involving Tyler Reddick and Corey Lajoie, a massive stack up occurred when the leaders would miss shifts off the restart, “accordianing” into one another, and causing a chain reaction that would lead to a 10 car wreck and spin into the infield grass. Chastain would hang on from a challenging Joey Logano to win stage 2. The final stage began with Kevin Harvick in first and old adversary Kyle Busch in second, with the Melon Man Chastain in 3rd. Ross would retain the lead for a while with Kyle Busch reeling him in slowly, and Chase Elliott closing in on the top three. Through a cycle of green flag pits, Busch would come out on top and keep the lead, pulling away from Elliott, now in second place by over four seconds, and Logano in 3rd. Busch would go on to lead the remaining laps and earn career victory number 61, and win number 1 for RCR, silencing the doubters in his move to the team and reaffirming his position as truly one of the greatest race car drivers of all time. Is Rowdy the key to getting RCR back to its former glory? Richard Childress sure seems to think so, as he stated last year that he “sees a fire in his eyes, and a desire to win, much like Dale Earnhardt”. Only time will tell just how much winning Rowdy and the boys at RCR will do, as we are off to Las Vegas for race number three on the Cup series schedule!

Fun fact about the driver who won: Kyle Busch's love of racing began at age six where he drove a makeshift go kart around the cul-de-sac in his neighborhood in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

Fun fact about Auto Club Speedway: Ricky Lundgren was killed during qualifying for a motorcycle competition at Auto Club Speedway. 

Fun fact about California: The state flower is the California poppy.

Next race: Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon (3-5-2023).