Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series - Full Race - Auto Club 400

Scot, as we rise today, Lord, we do so to acknowledge your presence in our lives and, Father, as we do so, we remember the men and women of our armed forces, as well as the first responders who protect the freedom we enjoy today. Here at home and around this world we ask you to be with them and their families, take care of these pilots. Team officials today wish everyone a great day, a safe day of racing and may your peace and presence be with us all your days. Holy Name, we pray amen here to perform our national anthem, please welcome the Emmy Award-winning actress, singer and co-host of the real Adrienne Houghton oh say can you see in the first light of dawn what with so much pride we salute in the last glow of twilight whose wide The bright stripes and stars across the dangerous fight or the walls we watched flowed so bravely and the red glow of the Rockets, the bombs exploding in the air gave proof during the night our flag was still there, oh, that star-covered banner still? the free and oh the rain just outside Fontana lies Los Angeles, the unmistakable entertainment capital of the world, but lately the freeways and highways that zigzag from this area have been leading to the hometowns of the world's best drivers.

Traveling south on Interstate Five to San Diego and then turning into the desert, you will arrive in El Cajon, home of seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson, head north on the five divisions to the 99 and as you enter the city of Bakersfield, home of champion Kevin Harvick, continue north. a couple hundred miles we came to a small town called Elk Grove, former stomping ground of Kyle Larson, take 80 west towards the Pacific Ocean until you reach the town called Vallejo, a hero of Kyle Larson was born there, his name is Jeff Gordon , the cars, the culture, the champions all wrapped up in one state this is California so from California to Charlotte it was a busy week in the Queen City this week the NASCAR Hall of Fame announced the newest nominees for the class of 2020 these are the six men who could find themselves in the Hall next year what achievement good luck to all these drivers certainly well deserved for each of them they are guys it's almost

race

time and then we all love racing in the state of California the stars come out, we have already seen them on the grid that the sun shines Hollywood in the background of this whole

race

, of course, Kevin Harvick in the front row next to Austin Dillon, great race, let's go to the track so that the command start the engines.

California and now for the most famous words in motorsports on Netflix, the land based on the life of rock and roll legends Motley Crue, please welcome Vince Neil Nikki Sixx Tommy Lee Mick Mars Colson Baker aka Machine Gun Kelly and Douglas stand alone in Southern California, the epicenter of American car and music culture, we're ready to race just east of Los Angeles, in the shadow of the still snow-covered Cucamonga Peak, and we're ready to roll on one of the widest racing circuits ever built in the United States. Hello everyone, Mike Joy has joined. by Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Gordon fresh off their trip to the racetrack and that's what we want to talk about, you know how big the freeways are here and how wide they are, well they're no wider than the Auto Club Speedway Mike, look this.

The racetrack is very clever, it's 50 feet wide here on the frontstretch, but as it goes down into the first turn, it goes down the back, 54 feet wide, an interstate alena interstate about 12 feet wide , so you can see here on the K on the corners, 70 feet wide on On the curves we have ten cars there if we needed how wide is Interstate 10 at its widest point in California 770 feet Jeff, this track has a old soul, well, it has an old surface much like Atlanta, but it's very, very abrasive down there. Yeah, if only this track could talk, Mike goes back to 1997.

Darrell and I were racing that first race here, but if you look at these seams, this track has a lot of different lanes, but it's separated by these seams that over time they have separated. Now it is

full

of this filler, even on the track along the course, it has a lot of cracks, so these drivers go down to turns 1 and 2 in this initial start and on the restarts we are going to look for grip and I. I think you'll see these guys when this race is over their hands will be sore, probably even a few blisters.

Well, it's a fun place to watch a race. They will be deployed on reboots. They will look for a lane. Larry McReynolds, how? Does that challenge crew chief Mike? This race track challenges everything about that race car. It is a rough surface. It even has bumps on the straight. Look here, going down the back. How cars go up and down. Now, what will the team leaders look at? Those left side tires lower the air pressure because this is more grill, but what it does hurts the durability of that tire before racing, the only thing I have to do with my driver after a pit stop with new tires.

The pressures are absolutely low, you have to be careful with these tires in the first part of a race because you will have a problem in the race tonight, the sun sets on NASCAR's West Coast Swing in the Golden State, home of some of the NASCAR's biggest stars. but today our Carolinian sits on the pole, another North Carolina driver joining his Connecticut teammates in Michigan, all looking to the winter to follow the owner of his now built last year. A guy from Jersey dominated this race winning both stages and the checkered flag, but everyone will be there today.

Chasing this speedster from Sin City, looking for a big round number and a career personal best, oh yeah, hey, let's swing with everyone, it's time to change, travel in a way that sets as a record, it's very fun to have warm weather and absolutely The crazy time change never really bothered me when the sun rises, it rises when the sun sets, you're asleep. I'm a back and forth guy for the West Coast Swing. I don't like staying out here. I like being at home. As much as I can, it's some long flights, but it's worth it when you're helpful.

Southern California will be ready to compete in the green jersey. Welcome to the Auto Club 400 at the Fox Romano Club track in Fontana, California, these two big and fast ones. -mile speed plant has the field on its back and in front is the toyota camry xse e pace car with a special guest driver who is WWE legend Rey Mysterio behind Daniel Suarez's steering wheel gesture and adding a little fun here WWE Smackdown moves to Fox on Friday nights starting October 4, so while the masked man leads the field, a Chevy and a Ford share the front row Austin Dillon and Kevin Harvick are four Toyota Row 2 with Eric Almirola and Kyle Busch, the rest of your starting grid will scroll across the bottom of the screen as the field moves into a slightly different formation instead of two-by-two, we're going to do a five-way fan-style salute. short track, unless it looks like a reboot, a kind of preview of what is rebooted with more luck.

It's not fighting for position, that's great. Auto Club Speedway puts on a show for these fans before they get the green flag and when the 41 passes by the grandstand, you'll see Daniels Amigos, a movement focused on a band led by Coca-Cola to interact with the Latinos. NASCAR fans and share a little Daniels culture with all the fans. Daniel is sharing the Fox Visor Cam with you today. Oh, there will be some phenomenal pictures and from this great view, Mike, I don't care who the biggest racing fan is. The world has never seen that one before Haslett has an amazing look, what an amazing look, it's stunning, I love this makes my heart beat good, can you guys just drop the green?

That's something I love, that good job, well done, what do you say? I think we can talk to Eric, see, he's right in the middle of this crowd. Hey Eric Alyssa DW got me buddy you got time to talk. Yeah, he reminded us a little bit of a reboot, but hey man, you're off to a great start. We already achieved three top tens this year. Very, very consistent. How is the car today? You have a chance to win this. Very good speed. It's just a matter of making sure we can maintain it throughout the race. That has been the most important thing we have achieved.

I focused on everything yesterday at practice and I'm really focusing on today. You know, doing speed is one thing, but doing it for 13 or 20 laps of a race is the most important thing, so today Barbara Jehan Ford Mustang is at the forefront of all the madness. This is going to happen, come here, she's fine, friend, good luck, we'll be watching her and we'll put her in victory circle. Thank you all, Eric. We've been talking about racing movies all weekend, so in honor of Herbie the Love Bug's 50th anniversary. We'll start with our VW Vince Welch, thanks a lot mate, hey, a bit of a nervous situation surrounding our pole winner Austin Dillon, he got sick last night, it was even worse this morning, I spent some time at the medical center today to get a couple bags of Still I'm worried that they have a driver waiting and that's yesterday's Xfinity Series winner, Cole Custer.

Custer was even sitting in the seat with an Austin helmet on, he was even wearing Austin's driver suit as he sits here in the pit box, they even changed the left side belts on the car to better fit Cole Custer Austin then got in the car didn't like it so they switched back to Austin's belt Austin says and assures the team that I'm not getting out of this thing Matt Yocum Vince after the Penske 3, the car to watch out for could be Denny Hamlin in the 11 starts in row 3. Now Hamlin's crew chief, Chris Gebhardt, found the great balance between handling and speed in the last two races and in the final practice, they believe that this track will come to them.

Why it's the hottest we've seen all weekend. It's going to be slippery, so handling is going to be very important and they feel like it's going to get to them too because there's no breeze to disturb the race car in turns three and four. Jamie, good. Ryan Blaney had his big race of the season at Phoenix last week, leading 94 laps and coming home third, his best finish by far. They feel like they've carried that momentum here to California. His crew chief, Jeremy Bolin, told me that he is happy. the car they chose to bring here and the speed he has shown so far, but he is very excited about the changes they made this morning, he knows it will be hot and slippery and they feel that will work in their favor.

Mack, yeah, let's take a look at our race analysis for this race today we're going to do 200 laps in 400 miles the stage is a little interesting 60 60 and 80 to pit road with the checkered flag it's been a picture this year 55 miles per hour fuel window 42 to 46 laps grip level no grip is a 1 and Matt Tiffin that 36 car is going behind due to an engine change Mike thanks Larry I think one is generous, everyone ready Rey Mysterio is going to make the sharp left turn towards pit road and we are ready to race in the Golden State oh yeah the final race our West Coast Swing guys are all ready to rock and roll here today is a story there are five of those we talked in a turn to pick how after last week Kevin Harvick was very careful not to even come close to beating Austin Dillon at the starting line and incurring a penalty, we talked about how wide he is, we forgot to include the apron they wear, which in turn three alarm Teddy, hey, the first one is bleeding. lap coming from sixth place, he made a pretty aggressive move with teammate Kyle Busch, coming out of a turn to get to the outside of Kyle, he dragged Kyle back, but he didn't stop there, he kept that momentum going into turn four and took the lead.

Mison, they were chopping and dicing Mike, I like it, wow, what's up? What happened? She's falling like a rock. Weight with this aerodynamic package in horsepower that you simply can't get back if you have to overhaul. I have a feeling and you loosened up a little. maybe I had to brake the throttle, I lost that momentum, yeah these engines don't pick up as fast as these guys would like, but this package is pretty competitive. Harvick has fallen to seventh place as Hamlin drops out of the runoff against Dillon Almirola and Stenhouse. The Roush Fenway cars qualified in the top ten this week and our pole winner Austin Dillon has shown great short run speed all year, it's just the long run speed, it's the handling in these quarters , but today so far it seems that it will go. to last a lot longer than him, you know, the fast Fords are coming around the outside, here come Almirola and Stenhouse three after you three bucks told me you packed that thing

full

of downforce this week to see if that wasthe problem right now.

Pretty good, yeah, and I'd say who else looks pretty good, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Working with Aric Almirola giving him a good push in the corner. New leader Almirola. I think he's our third different leader. The fourth different leader we have had in two laps. I know we talked to Eric at the opening here, but I'm telling you the tan car. He's been on such an impressive bike, very consistent racing near the front all the time, he could be a winner today and we wonder what happened to Kevin Harvick. Vince okay and Jeff indicated that maybe he got loose a little bit and Kevin confirmed it and I know guys it was just a couple of laps later but Harvick already let his breath out, he really had to catch that thing, he got loose A LOT in that corner the first time Aric Almirola led Daniel Suárez here in the move that Daniel made big moves directly towards them.

At the start we saw a wide receiver who lost a spot there to Jimmie Johnson, but he went to the top lane on the initial start and passed probably five or six cars. He has gained 11 positions since the start. I think Mike with this aerodynamic package and horsepower we can have when you have them all in front of you that's when you need to capitalize now this is something we're going to see a lot, see how those two cars put themselves next to each other they're going to stall and there's that move from Kyle Busch's 18th that's going to take advantage of that stall, those two cars stalled and he'll pass them both, maybe even go behind his teammate Denny Hamlin. into turn one and he does it Rowdy Bush wastes no time challenging second but that high line Jeff has always been good coming out of turn two you really know that once the tires start to lose some grip you can't Run in the bottom lane and get out of the corner as best you can from above now that these cars have that figure spoiler and a little less horsepower.

I think the top slot in the middle of the top slot is going to be even more advantageous. I have the 1118 back here pushing each other giving each other a good push hoping to turn, trying to catch up with that ten car that is there now, it will be a push whoever has the launch from the top of the track. Hamlin goes up to cover the spot. Busch closes at Stenhouse. and Dillon continue in the draft fourth and fifth now Mike, one thing we talk about, we can't wait, count is short-term cars, long-term, you know, and what makes the difference and what do you want in Right now, obviously, my role is pretty good. short term car we'll see if it holds up or not, but I think the long term car for everyone because this is going to be green for a long time, it usually happens in sixth place, here comes Harvick against Blaney coming back and here's Jimmie.

Johnson is right behind the bimini, well this is it really, the sun is out and the track is hotter than it has been all weekend. I've been dealing with the victory, without having to deal with the wind today. I think what they're going to face is just a grab. It goes a long way on these tires, as you heard right there. Kevin Harvick eased off the gas. Jimmie Johnson goes out. Johnson climbed out of it and almost knocked over those four cars, he must be hanging on to that thing, yeah. I think he must be loose and I think you want to start your car loose so it gets to you long term, so we'll keep an eye on all four cars to see if that gets to them, what do you got Vince?

There is certainly hope, but at this point Kevin says that he is too loose and in fact he is holding on. You know, they felt like they had a good car this weekend, not a great car, and Rodney Childers, the crew chief, told me they made minor changes. For today, but right now Kevin Harvick needs it, he has to keep this under him. Watch Daniel Suarez looking back from Kevin Harvick. The car behind Suarez is William Byron, who jumped 10 positions from the start of the race from 22nd to 12th, yeah, you know. Mike, I think the Hendrick cars are a little better each week, they were pretty good last week, Jimmie Johnson ran well, but I think today they're all running pretty well when we talk about how Jimmie Johnson's Ben Stokes is successful here, a part of that.

William Byers' crew chief for accommodation and control, so he'll probably help that young driver gain some valuable experience here this weekend. Chad and Jimmy earned their first win here as team chief drivers. I wouldn't be surprised if Chad didn't get his first win here with that young William firing behind the wheel nine laps in California, plus the motley team that was the grand marshals, they played to boost my heart in the grandstand as the cars came to the relay of the green flag, that's what he's doing. Monster Energy, official sponsor of NASCAR. Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Auto Club 400 is sponsored by Monster Energy, official sponsor of NASCAR, the new leader is Kyle Busch, who in turn three took the lead from his teammate Denny Hamlin putting Gibbs Toyota's one-two with Aric Almirola third in his strong Austin.

Dillon, the first Chevy, in fourth place and Ricky Stenhouse, the first five in 13 laps, left Mike clean, that makes the difference. He saw the 18th car on the backstretch, spread out the 11th a little bit, comes out to the front and gets all that clean air. can go somewhere Siemens fighting for 6th place, yes, Joey Logano using that side draft, gets to teammate Ryan Blaney's side panel at 12 and is able to stop him and make that pass alone, let's back up a few turns. and seeing Austin Dillon and Ricky Stenhouse next to each other and that green car you know.

At the St. Patrick's Day cowboy steak event, you can absolutely see all three of them in the 17 next to each other, they stall and that opens the door for Kyle Busch's 18 to take advantage of those two getting the momentum, use the draft and open three. Hand it over to both Larry Mac and Jeff, let's use our Ford aerodynamic tracks and we can show you exactly what's going on. Remember that these cars have a large 8 inch spoiler on the rear and that really affects drag. Now you see the second. the car approaches the car and that represents the 17 in three, look how the rear spores turn red and it really puts a lot of resistance on those two cars there and that allowed that car over there that represents Kyle Busch to just explode because Those two cars stopped each other by throwing air over those rear spoilers and hurt each other at the speed of the straight, so from fourth on the grid Kyle Busch now his leader Denny Hamlin from sixth is second Aric Almirola restarted right in third Olson Austin is in fourth place, well we knew that.

Kyle Busch would be a factor today, no doubt, he was fast and in practice, he's been on a good streak, he's coming off a win last week and he's very motivated to get that win today. One thing I noticed about the 18 he has against the wall. in 1 and 2, a much higher line, you see the yeast in a lane maybe down and that's where Kyle really separates it from turn 2 and that's what made the difference, the 11 car runs a little lower in 3 and 4, it seems. to help him, but and 1 and 2, that 18 car has he realized that he gets a big run in turn 2 and you'll see Kyle Busch really navigate, who talked about the seams that he'll run between them. things and find a perfect place to cross right there at the entrance, you see their crossings, that seam goes between the lanes or between those seams in a lane and then at the X of that corner find the perfect place to cross so that no No it alters the tires on the grip, yes you can see it, you see Kyle in the car, you see him, his body moves up and down, up and down, it's quite difficult to get down the back immediately and into turn three , but in turn one and two up high where the cows run now it's pretty good as long as you're careful with those seams, although you can see Joey Logano, he's picking that top lane on top of that final scene and Ricky's 17 Stenhouse Jr.

Behind him there is a good flow of air on the straightaway that goes right into his rear bumper, but he has to find that clean air in a different lane when he comes to the turn. A story of two comings and goings. Second-stringer Kevin Harvick is back. to 11, just ahead of Martin Truex in 19, who went from 27 to 12, he is the one who moved the most. Kurt Busch, along with him, came from 21 to 13, talked to Martin on pit road, oh, when he got out of the safety truck. He said how are you going to be, he said we're going to be zeroes or heroes, we threw everything we had at him, he's going to be very good or not so good, but it looks like he's going to be pretty good, and it's not Matt, he's coming. and if you look at the 19 car trying to work from the bottom, they've really done a great job this year bouncing back from bad Friday and having a solid performance right now, it's tied up in the center of the one and two and trying to get through the center and then he jumps free at the start, but overall he is very satisfied with that 19 car from the beginning and he is passing by someone who has not been satisfied from the beginning since the fall of the green Kevin Harvick on that outside, it seems that car has been tight. on top of him to look for some major adjustments from Rodney Rodney Childers on the first pit stop, yes, after failing to lead a lap at his favorite track Phoenix Kevin Harvick has lost 10 spots from the start of this one after 19 laps Kyle Busch his leader over teammate Denny Hamlin, is here and available today at your local Chevy dealer the all-new Silverado the strongest and most advanced Silverado of all time 23 of 200 complete laps 23 of 60 in stage number one The Cowboys They are in front for two seconds.

We have already shown an animation about when two cars stall. Here is a perfect example. See Suarez's 41 next to a 12 and March 19 in junior arts does a great job of recognizing that and take advantage of this great career. The two spoilers or the two cars in front of them punch a hole in the air with great acceleration and Truex jumps from 11th to ninth and on the move, yeah that car really looks good, looks good as Kyle Busch has to catch it, but you can see it. Pretty good and although the rules are different this year, it's a winning car from last year.

I wonder how much that influences his boss, Larry, what do you think? Remember that the fuel window is approximately 42 to 46 turns, but it is not a fuel window. Here it is a tire window. I'm already seeing two seconds of abandonment. This first stage has 60 laps. I think we are very close to seeing green flag stops last year. Our first caution didn't occur on lap 39. Truex, who won. In the first stage, you won the race. He arrived on lap 27 for the green flag stop. We are near that window. Now, guys, we've already seen Harvick and Blaney drop out of the top 10 due to lead changes during the first 20 laps. record for Auto Club Speedway Jamie any different strategy on this stage 26 laps we have some cars that want to go down to the pits on the 14th on the wall I'm ready to get there sooner he has his hands full, I knew he would but he's trying so hard not to start to yell miss early and said we're going to be fine and then yells they just don't have speed especially on the straights boy you're holding back that's interesting now he's eighth and Blaney we said he fell out of the top 10 now he came to the pits on lap 26 Jamie yes and as I mentioned this some were going to split it here and Blaney one of them a little tight especially in the corners air pressure adjustment a track bar adjustment four tires these The guys have ten sets of tires in the pits and they want to use them all like at the prom with Blaney Fig.

Now that he wasn't in contact with the leader, he has to do a lap here because he was so far back, that's something I would do. I have to think if he was going to make a pit stop Kevin Harvick comes Daniel Suarez right in front of him Ricky Stenhouse is also here comes Kyle Larson and Brad Keselowski who have not left the top 15 today no, we are alone Surprisingly, Keselowski had a great car In practice, we thought it would be a factor. The day so far is not so good at the moment. Our leader, Kyle Busch, loves it.

All these cars that came to the pits caught the poor things. Yes. Kevin Harvick of course documented how he fell but he fell from the start of the race it's too loose it's going to be a four tire change I'm going to put some tape on the front also a chassis adjustment for the four from Harvick, he said after about 20 laps the slack was gone but it was too much at the beginning Austin Dillon now with Jimmy Johnson on pit road Logano Truex Kurt Busch bernard henrik and more men on Tanner Andrews cavity change in side tires Jimmie Johnson's car is pretty solid, his only complaint was a little tight from the center of the corner at the exit, pinch at three and our pole winner Austin Dillon there on the right side of the screen a little free and one and two good and three and four made a track bar adjustment and air pressure also haunt Elliott in this time along with Denny Hamlin and aric almirola Mike.

I just saw a turn down 42 40on Kyle Busch, the next closest car to him was 43 80 Mike Josh Shifflet was already on. the wrench in the rear window made the adjustment on Denny Hamlin's number 11 car the car was tight at the start especially there in turn two is far away meanwhile aric almirola's 10 at work is being completed on the left side he just told your team that I can't be more flexible, it's difficult. Erik challenged DiBenedetto Ryan Preece and Dillon in pit lane and you know, what he was going to say is that Kyle Busch loves this right now because he has a lot of these cars on a lap back like this.

The race continues with those newer tires going to start eating into his lead, so he can only stay there for so long. There are eight leading lap cars that have not stopped yet. There's Mike, but I decide I can't express how impressed I am. with that car's lap times of 18 at this point in a race of 4230 last time by 43 18 per second do you want to bring him in no, I wouldn't benefit from him coming in, I'd fall short, but he's coming in now when Denny Hamlin came in in pits. of the second Kyle had a lead of two points and two seconds over him, this will hand the lead to William Byron Matt Brain has a great race so far in Kyle Busch's 18, you can easily see it in his pit without chassis adjustments in solid 18 on the right side wah cam and Geoff Cordero is going to work on the left lugs and it's far away, great stop and a great team that does it every week so I'm hoping for a yellow flag and still on track William Byron Michael McDowell Corey Lajoie Matt Tifft David Ragan Landon Cassill and Ross Chastain Hey my man Chad Knaus you got your boy leading right now and remember he got Jimmie Johnson his first win here it's been a long time ago but I know Chad I'd think that's a really great deal if I could. get William Byron his first win here tell us what Chad Knaus is thinking up there in that box with this pit strategy for William Byron he's thinking I love this Byron has now led the most laps of all for the Hendrick cars in 2019 look at that Look at Chad I just said they are like a straight face they don't think about anything and a lot of those laps led have come from the pit strategy in keeping William Byron on the track to lead those laps you see some debris right in the front of Michael McDowell's car, this track is notoriously and everything else, Larry, you know one thing is gained by staying on the track.

So, if the yellow flag comes now, all those drivers who just made green flag pit stops will come again because if you've run about three or four laps here and the yellow flag comes, that's four more tires, so there's an advantage in stand there and keep running, you can see that now Kyle Busch has that grip with these new new tires, now he can go back to the bottom, hug that white line, maybe even use the apron a little lower and turn three and four . accelerates hard as he passes Michael McDowell that second place suggests William Byron is ahead of Kyle Busch now Byron McDowell Lajoie Tift Reagan and Landon Cassill haven't pitted yet let's use our Fox ghost car to show William Byron Warren Tires who comes this time, but here's the difference between new and old tires, Denny Hamlin and in the corner, that's where the difference is.

Wow, that's it, Mike has a lot of grip, but when you put those new tires on William Byron and BJ McCloud. In the pit lane, Jamie is under control and now his driver is there just waiting for a warning, maybe luck favors them, but not that much. The car really was good. They have made a lot of progress over the weekend which they had high hopes for. Today they are tight, although it is not a big deal, and he stops at the start, they have to push him so that Kyle Busch can take the lead again and in the sequence of pit stops, Kyle Busch gains a point two seconds over Denny Hamlin, he is the NASCAR man.

Cup Series Auto Club 400 is sponsored by Coca-Cola and features Vanilla Orange Coca-Cola. Yes, you heard that right. 38 of 200 laps were completed at Auto Club Speedway. Let's take a look at how the Coca-Cola driver family is doing with Denny Hamlin in the second four. seconds behind leader Joey Logano Austin Dillon in the top five Daniel Suarez in the top ten and Larson Newman and Wallace sixth place Jimmie Johnson Martin Truex truth in motion, keep moving up to sixth place, well, California doesn't dream like that with Clint Boyer, What kind of nightmare are you having with Jamie? Well, things may have gotten worse.

He's trying to stay positive, but this is what he just reported on the radio. Yeah, definitely not, not a good sound when you feel like there's no

energy

and you're just starting out. smelling burning oil is usually just a matter of time, we've had very few engine failures among the top teams this year and you know, I'm a little surprised because, especially when we get here to this two mile track here at Auto Club, I mean. long straightaways with so much acceleration time that you'd think it would be pretty tough on that powertrain, well, sorry about the valve timing, the valvetrain, but yeah, I mean we're way below 550 horsepower, so that's way below what max Power has increased 750 800 so we can't change our p.m.

They were spinning, so something scared us when it happened to the engine leader, Kyle Busch, up three and a half. You know, we still have one driver who hasn't made a pit stop, Michael McDowell in 14th place, trying to run out of this load of fuel and tires. stay on the lead lap, he just passed Kurt Busch, but he's 21 seconds off the lead and here come some of those cars with new tires behind him because he's not three and a half seconds off in speed, but in each of these laps, but we gave him some love, I'll say that for Larson in the middle, one of those guys from California comes over, we talked a lot about Kyle Larson, oh man, I really felt like this is a track where he shines and I think It just goes to show you.

I know those Chevys have still had issues even in 2019 and they include Larson's 42 even though he led some laps this year. Vince, you've got more on the 42, yeah, and you know I talked to crew chief Chad Johnston this morning and he said that although our speed on the charts and on the best 10 lap average and happy hour weren't very good. Pao was very happy with the car yesterday and felt they were going to be solid today; They were going to have to make a lot of changes. He does what you said, he runs well here, so we are very far from the finish line, obviously it will be interesting to see if Larson ends up becoming a player for the victory, but they really weren't as alarmed as you thought.

It was when you looked at the speed chart from yesterday's practice and to me, when I look at Larson's talent, he loves high-powered cars and he can really use the throttle to control that slide in the corners. That's not exactly what this package is. what this work car looks like it may have had something going on here when you see mike he dressed well he went up seven places on the pit stop cycle but he brushed the wall oh yeah yeah right behind oh yeah I think what i think He lost some of his downforce from the cars in the seventh team, maybe Stenhouse in front of him, where he lost some downforce and hit the wall. 43 complete laps, the first stage is 60 laps. 13 rounds ago in stage one, two-division champion Lamont Peterson takes on former 140-pound champion Sergey Lapine Yets in a 12-round welterweight headline showdown next Sunday at 6 p.m.

Eastern 3 Pacific only on fs1 and today's Fox Sports app sample kit is track performance data from Ford Matt Kenseth who will be doing some short track racing this year. We saw it yesterday on social networks. He has the most wins here for a four driver with three and wine. He went from 31st to doing it in the spring race of 2006. I think if you look at the worst starting position at almost any track, let's go to Matt Kids, his name always comes up. I would also say that if you look at a common thread here in this track.

It takes some of the most talented drivers to do it here. These are big, long corners with very little grip, which is why some of the best have done it here. Stenhouse in 12th is trailing Keselowski and we see damage to both the right front and right rear. number two fenders, one of the most favored cars here today and Mike, you saw Kurt Busch's first car back there, how Lucy was coming out of the corner behind that car coming out, I think that made me one of a lot of these guys . They are struggling with their Lasky maybe he got loose and went into the fence I think I have seen with several cars they look very loose and it is hotter today Mike is heading in this heat there is no wind blowing this is a totally race track different and what these guys have seen for two days, 11 laps from the end of stage 1, Kyle Busch with a two and a half second lead, that's Kyle Busch knowing his surroundings, he's looking in the mirror and he knows that Denny Hamlin, his teammate, is making good lap times.

Behind him I'm in that gap now it seems to have stabilized at two and a half seconds and he was around a tenth to try to be quicker in the last few laps. Hamlin has caught all six. Hamlin's car is such a good car for long runs. says the change they made at that last stop, but it's still a little too tight on entry, although just that fine tuning at the end of the stage turned so the car was into the wall, went into a pit lane, or just slowed down the speed to arrive. an entrance to pit road without impeding traffic that was the case that tire looks down ty Dillon something that car has Mike went up high an inch reached pit road you will see it all as we go side by side approaching the end of stage one, six to go in stage number one, Kyle Busch leading Denny Hamlin who closed it to within one point eight seconds.

Now we saw Ty Dillon, he cut a tire that drifted near the wall waiting for a space to get down to pit road, apparently he did. He didn't hit the wall, but there he is right in front of the leader, just when everything is going perfectly and without problems. Something like this happens. Well, at a very good time, we are reaching the first stage, so there was no caution. Now the first driver entered the pits. on that green flag cycle Oh, Austin Dillon's day may be over and I had nothing to do with him feeling bad this morning, what a great race, it was having a great race, well yeah, it doesn't feel good, ha been hanging in the The top five running a big race car looked pretty good, pretty bad, looked pretty bad getting to the front, fortunately from our church jr.

The Austin Dillon 3 sensed something was wrong, I guess, that the engine stops, allowing the 19 trucks to go smoothly out. Mike, what makes these engines here is that the sustained rpm from the middle spins forward and down into turn one. you're on the accelerator, the engine hits certain revs and it just sits there and just goes through these incredible strong fires that look like a tire. I don't think it's an engine problem they had. I think he touched the wall. and he cut that tire, that's where the smoke is coming from, but those sustained rpm's are very difficult for this engine, any organ in any rpm range?

Well, it's under power coming down pit road. He has the farthest pit as his first option if he is the pole center for today's race is not an engine, so let's see what happens here with number three. We are under yellow flag for the first time today yes, yes Austin Dillon, it's just the right rear, it's not an engine problem, but they're going to pay special attention. on the right rear and you can also see the right front taking out the fender there. Austin Dillon, by the way, who we noticed before the race started, was sick and had to take a couple of IV bags this morning, hasn't said anything about not feeling Well, Mike and the leader will pit with just four laps to the end of the first stage and a lot of people come with him, not Denny Hamlin's 11, he stays out, you know what the fuck? and on the 11th, Denny Hamlin stayed on the track while the 10th of aric almirola his car on the free side says that you will certainly have it at this stop was the same complaint he had the first race today meanwhile Kyle Busch is on the free side and just has absolutely no grip at the start Vince Although the tires and fuel will be poor, Logano says he needs to be a little freer to start, but then the car stiffens up as the race goes on, so NASCAR says they will go back to green before the stage and Larry, can you explain this strategy?

We, well, if we just run one lap again, he has 26 laps on his tires, he will definitely get run over. This is a move by Chris Gabe Hart to hope they don't go back to green, so he could get those stage points and those playoff points that are also up for grabs if you win this stage, butDoes it look like that will be the case? He'll fall back quickly, so Hamlin Stenhouse and Boyer are the lead lap drivers who didn't pit and Clint Boyer, who says he only has seven cylinders, will be right in front if we restart right.

No, yeah, I don't think he really has a choice, they'll have some problems if he doesn't. it came back green and then it gained some valuable points that it otherwise wouldn't have gotten and I think they feel like maybe they can go in and check and maybe it has a disconnected plug wire or something, the sign is one to go Jamie DW, that's exactly what Clint Boyer said a spark plug wire may be, guys, we're not sure, but exactly what they were saying, Jeff, they wanted to stay out, let's get some valuable points on the stage in case we lose that engine today, we'll have something to show for our Today's efforts get the cars into the pits now that the field has one to go Ricky Stenhouse out there with Denny Hamlin will restart on the front row here Stenhouse, whoo, I like that, well, no, you're what night evaluations are and I love it when engineers get involved and talk about data and all that's great but that computer doesn't drive this car a human is a Troy and you know you hired that race driver to do that work and sometimes, especially in the heat of race time, I have to let them do that Chris Butcher gets the free pass on this the first caution of the day for a slashed tire for Austin Dillon full in the field and a big crowd in the stands here as we watch Goodyear's aerial coverage, everything we learn about making tires for The grueling demands of NASCAR inspire what we put into yours.

Official Goodyear tire of NASCAR. Well, this should be fun. I think the biggest challenge here will be Kyle Busch with Joey Logano behind him and you know how good Joey and Kyle are. these restarts and they may be trying to keep the guys from blowing tires on the front row, it will be a problem for them, but I would say 18 will be against that wall going somewhere 23 cars on the lead lap Brad Keselowski made a stop long to address that body damage on the right side, but here we are approaching the Geico restart zone, there will be one lap left in stage one.

Hamlin Stenhouse in front. Road here wonderfully clear. Oh, the accident problem became a big problem. Ricky Stenhouse, oh, that's not going to be like that. make his day better than what he was having there before that restart, caution waves and we'll finish stage one under yellow. Which worked out pretty well for Denny Hamlin. See 17 here in kind of caught in the middle. with you Oh honey four wide behind him just loosens up a little probably has right sides on that seam picks up 20 from Erik Jones turning it around a little damage to the left front on 24 William Byron while picking up 17 lightly ridden with Alex Bowman, boy, for what it could have been, they all passed there with great luck, the 19 trucks and 40 of the two from Larson.

You see Larson on 42 against the wall with significant damage. He already arrived at the pits. This is where the damage comes. front left William Byron's 24th just fixed the rear bumper 17th now watch it go up I think he's making a little contact with Ryan Newman's six Stenhouse is in the same position as Larson Stage one finishes Kyle Busch ahead of Joey Logano Denny Hamlin Kevin Harvick and Daniel Suarez last good one went to break, we were analyzing the 24 William Byron and the damage he had perhaps done when making contact with the 17 of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. but after taking a closer look at what an incredible job he first misses the rear bumper of Ricky Stenhouse Jr.'s 17. then it goes up, looks like it slides up and maybe makes some contact with Ryan Newman's six, but William Byron's driving isn't that surprising - Miska recovered any damage, so there are cars that were involved and suffered some damage in that accident on the way back. 60 when we finished the first stage, I think the 19 car may have quite a bit of damage to the right rear, it looks like the 42 maybe crashed into it and we've seen how critical that area of ​​the car is for grip and downforce on the curves.

So that's an area that they're going to want to work on and really get back to where they were if possible. Vince well, in our poll, winner Austin Dillon is still in pit lane. I had that right rear end lowered and the rubber actually that right rear end was wrapped around the rear casing so they had to come in and fix that problem but overall from a body standpoint they don't think that be as bad as they had initially anticipated, so polesitter Austin Dillon often pulls away, thank you. Vince's pit road remains closed Kyle Busch Tour stage one winner hmm, many days of damage in ninth place Martin Truex here at Auto Club Speedway Monster Energy brought the action bar Rico and Padilla and his show crew from Smoke roaming on the pavement in the fan zone made a lot of noise, destroyed some tires and excited the fans.

They gave Monster a lot of credit for the great action they give these fans when they come onto this track, so 22 cars on the lead lap, two of which four, three of which. now Clinton Clint Boyer Ricky Stenhouse and Kyle Larson pitted before the pits opened so they will restart at the back and Austin Dillon on that list, well we certainly know Denny Hamlin's 11 will come and those who stayed out, What do they do? If you're 18 or 22, yeah guys, if you're close to the front we'll only run half a lap, maybe if you get outside the top 10 again you can become Jamie, so the plan for Clint Boyer is him. already came in once you saw them looking under the hood they're going to take it down this time he has to put it out Tony Stewart since the boss just got in on the plan they're going to change a spark plug and a wire and let's see if that helps their problems here , so the fights continue for the 14 in the west here guys right pit road is open a couple of Gibbs cars three of the Gibbs cars leading the charge there Denny Hamlin Erik Jones Martin Truex with a little damage Kurt Busch on Matt sat out for those valuable playoff points, another adjustment for Denny Hamlin (you can see the key in the back window).

He said the handling was about 50% better in this race, but he still needs some more tuning on this Toyota at a two-mile speedway, where aerodynamics is very important, it's a disaster on the right rear of Martin Truex's car. and that's a critical area, my company's network behind that right rear tire is very critical and won everything here a year ago. Ryan Preece gets the free pass, come on. Get back to the front with our leader, yeah things on pit road aren't going well for these guys, but the guy things are going well with, let's call Kyle Busch, hey Kyle Busch, this is Jeff, the guys at the Fox Sports booth.

He's doing quite well for me, he's doing very well for you. There's a lot of action out there, but it seems like things are going pretty well for you. I'm curious to know that some guys really struggle with track conditions and handling. Today things seem to be going well for you. How are you? They found him. I think maybe that threw them up a little. Our car was pretty well balanced yesterday. He's feeling pretty good today. but it would be nice to keep the view as it is great, see what happened until the end, well we all know what the results were last week, so it could be the same today, but two more stages to go, good luck, thanks for talking to us, you have something Kyle Busch is your leader at the end of stage one Auto Club Speedway built on reclaimed land this was a former steel plant that built Liberty ships here for World War II, so the substrate underneath of the asphalt here is very very bumpy we have seen it today and fortunately we have excellent historical images to show you of this later stretch on your name Speedway boy how technology and suspension of cars advances today, I actually think it is Foothill Boulevard that traces Route 66 on the day this is what it looks like from Daniel Suarez's point of view this is the soft front on straight six as we prepare to begin the second stage, let's talk to Shannon spoke and the guys in the studio Hey guys, you were at this race last year.

Yes, this track has some bumps on all sides, the bumps in the turn three injury look like what was in that video, which is why none of us at the pre-race show picked Kyle Busch to win this race. Are you surprised by what we have? I've seen it so far. No, I'm not surprised. I was hoping he would compete, but I thought the abrasive track might beat him. Yesterday he had to recover, so a delayed pit stop today he is ready and sailing, he is in the face. yes, he is currently leading the most laps Mike, thanks Shannon Full 67 Kyle Busch Joey Logano will be on the front row for this restart Bush is chosen outside with his Toyota Logano is Ford inside Harvick and Almirola two Fords inside traveled to that Suarez the first Chevrolet and having a good race here today Jimmie Johnson this all time track winner has all the records here had a good bounce last week in Phoenix with his number 48 and challenging for a spot in the top five here should look how suits those 4 cars and they were very loose, maybe they tightened it up if I knew it could be a pretty impressive factor to see him back in the top four ready to restart 41 right now, a bit in the rush hour 18am.

Some Jameer on the high side, Mike, 70 feet wide and they still have to use the platform, so all that's paved is that you're going to climb fine. I noticed that in addition to the driver's arms and hands working today, the spotters are working very hard. Today, look at Kyle Busch, he's going to gently try to get a little draft up to 22 at Logano, but Logano, his car looks pretty hot, Officer G, he's got that sprint speed that we talked about and you know, I think. A lot of these teams, as Amirola covers a second past Kyle Busch, we saw Kyle fade a little bit in the early start and then come back.

He has that long sprint speed. I'm curious to see what these other adjustments will be. do it for them Erik Jones is on the move it's the first car with new tires he took at the end of the stage Jones restarted from 11th to 8th he was next to each other a moment ago he just jumped in line Daniel Hamrick took the final point of stage in stage 1 look at his kiss number 8 at the top of the screen and I think some of the air coming out of that car Kurt Busch may have had a little to do with it, but it looked like it was very tight coming out of the bottom of the track trying to stay open and he ran out of a grip that was from our Liberty National in Morecambe that was a kiss and a slap. 12 successions fit well Joey Logano on that 22 trying to hold off Kyle Busch right now for the lead as they go side by side and Joey said I need to be freer on the restarts because last time I got sucked in, that was the adjustment they made.

He could see that he fell back to second place behind Kyle, but they definitely feel that he had a better restart than the previous time. Wow Almirola had a big turn coming out of turn two and something went flying to the right. It could have just been a piece of debris flying around, but it was a bit of a strange movement when he came up. to the top and Daniel Hamrick has had to come to the pits to repair that bodywork damage as we watch this battle for fourth place. Harvick looks a little more racey, it seems like he's more comfortable, he's more confident in the race car, so some good adjustments there.

He pits again to take the lead in the 18th car, Mike after five or six, it seems like he gets a little better than the other guys. You heard Joey say it was a little tight and they'd loosen it up a little bit, but I don't think it was enough and look right behind him, his teammate Ryan Blaney, so obviously some adjustments for these guys, 18 by Kyle Busch They probably didn't need much tuning, their car was really good. I'm looking for these guys from 20 to 12, some of these others, some more adjustments than might be there with that 18 car.

Ryan Blaney is up five spots since the restart. Jamie with the progress they made during practice and confidence coming into this race, and they have you guys. Been making adjustments mainly on air pressure, last stop right rear air pressure said the front was a little more positive but definitely turned better for the 12, Matt and what an awesome run by Jimmie Johnson in 48, currently in 6th place on their most productive tracks trying for a 7th win Jimmy said the car was too loose after they did that air pressure adjustment dance at the last stop, they reversed the 20 on the pad and we saw that Kevin Harvick car 4. fell from the front row to outside the top 10 at the start of the race was too loose, they made an adjustment to the track bar at that first stop and since thenIt's been really good, in fact, there's the leader, Kyle Busch.

Joey Logano 2.6 seconds and now he's starting to grow a little. I think right now Brad Keselowski's 2 is probably the best car besides Kyle Busch, if he could get away from teammate Joey Logano. I'd like to see what he could do. Doing it in some clean air doesn't make you feel good because something Keselowski was the guy we thought would be a real factor today. They have a chance to win this race. He struggled early on, but now they are recovering and taking a good step forward here, I think you're right Jeff, I think he could challenge for 18 if he can get there.

Now we saw that damage on the left side of Erik Jones' car in fifth place and we thought about where he got it and this. Do you see the number 20 in the middle of your screen? Do you know what less than 17 is? Yes, the 17th is. Stenhouse gets loose here and appears to make that contact right in front of that left back. I think that really helped the currency go a lot faster since then. then there it slowed down a bit Cowboys cheerleader Joey Logano now three back the first strong the first Chevrolet is Kurt Busch in eighth now the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Auto Club 400 is sponsored by the Ford Fan Hall are you the biggest NASCAR fan? go to 4.com, bar NASCAR and for credit at a bank, the official credit card of NASCAR, perfect for racing fans, green flag pit stops, let's start with a bottle of fresh matte water for Denny Hamlin , the car much better, especially dad, in three out of four.

I still need help now to cut fourth and one for Vince. Wrenches in the rear left window. There is the adjustment. Four tires for Kevin Harvick, just a little tight in turn two. Denny Hamlin's exit has never really recovered from entering the pits on lap 57. a fourth in the stage or rather encircle the 2 of Brad Keselowski and you saw him make a move and pass by his teammate Joey Logano to that you can understand when Brad was, that's the car and he said throw Attell, it's much better for the tires. no change Matt Kevin, mentor, called the 14 on Johnson on pit road.

He really didn't want any big adjustments. He said the car is pretty decent. I just don't know why I'm not making more space on the racetrack antennas as well. Joey Logano's 22 taking off too tight, as we previously reported, four tires and a couple of rounds up on the track, so who hasn't stopped Kyle Busch and Matt DiBenedetto, no, but you just heard Adam Stevens tell Kyle Busch, bring it to me. I think he knows Brad Keselowski just arrived, as did Logano's 22. He can't stay there long before those new tires eat away at his leader. You have to be impressed with the work they've done on those two. car to turn it around because it was struggling at the beginning of this race, but now maybe the past is calling to the racetrack at fifty-five miles per hour plus a 4.99 mile per hour tolerance while the Bush cow brings it , is running through history. gets it in the box anchored by the veteran of this group over the wall, TJ Ford has been with this group for many years around the house on the left side of the car, basically it could use a little more rear grip, especially for the corner exit, but it's not bad at all, it's far away Matt DiBenedetto would have taken the lead, but the driver from California comes with two of his crew and his sponsor is also from California, so Kyle Busch starts in turn number one , your key to Laos, the start/finish line is now much more difficult.

It has to be counted this year because the momentum and speed when leaving the pits are very different this year, but to me it seems like another excellent job to enter the pits and exit at 18, yes, if I had to bet. I bet he made time eighteen days because he's the best in and out of pit road and that team is on it man tear point Darrell before the pit stops Kyle had a three point four second lead over Brad Keselowski, it's four seconds now, yeah, heh, heh. he just has a knack, he just has that racing sense, he knows exactly where he is, what he needs to do and how he needs to do it, and any execution, that's what I like.

Bubba Wallace will make a quick exit pass. number 43 from Richard Petty Motorsports, but gosh, this I have to say, people are always, you know, giving us a hard time talking about Kyle Busch and how great he is, but listen, I've been doing this for a long time. time. I've been in this sport for 60 years and I've never seen anyone who can get away and do the things he can do with this race car and make it look pretty easy, I agree, Darrell will talk more about that as the

series

goes on. late, but first, here's Larry with today's driving team sponsored by Duracell, yes, Mike 2019 is Kyle Busch's 15th full time. season in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is his 12th year to be with Joe Gibbs Racing in his fifth season with crew chief Adam Stevens their first year together was 2015 the year Kyle was injured at Daytona an Xfinity Series race remember he missed the first 11 Cup Races, they came back to win five races and the championship together Adam and Kyle won 23 Cup races together including Phoenix last week and speaking of Duracell, trust Tony Hirschman, your spotter, This is their eighth season together.

Wow, and I think that's what I think Richard Petty did that a lot of the guys that were cool in my technological era said that they were with the same team and they drove the same number of car, they had the same crew chief, Jeff, you know this is a trick cannon that he hit Rick with, all those. years Hendrick Motorsports that consistency pays off in the long run when you find the right group of people that work well together and have chemistry and you can keep them together the results will show and it's not just about the track it's about the pits. road also here are the fastest pit stops in the last Xfinity sponsored cycle last week twelve point seven seconds Kyle Busch, you know he is going for his 200th victory in the three NASCAR national

series

, it is a very important number for him , I don't feel it. should be compared to Richard Petty's 200 Cup Series wins, the appropriate number is 52, that's how many Cup Series wins Kyle has if you go back in time and it's impossible to compare the arrows that the NASA Carr had the national series since 1953 that it is now. cup what is now Xfinity and the Modifieds, its drivers like Ray Hendrick who have 700 victories in what were then the three national series, but here is Kyle's total with 199 and about to reach a number that will be very important for him and his fans. 98 laps complete and Kyle with a 4.8 second lead welcome back to the Auto Club 400 at Fox Kyle Busch leads Brad Keselowski by 4.6 seconds Ryan Blaney Erik Jones Joey Logano two Toyotas three four in the top five Kurt Busch is the first 8th place Chevrolet has had Chevy's only top five finishes so far this year Jamie at Kurt Busch have really made some nice adjustments to this car.

I spoke to their crew chief Matt McCall this morning and he said they were going to have to approach today differently than in practice. Kurt stepped back a few moments ago and said this car is definitely more competitive than yesterday, still a little tight, but he said he's still learning and figuring out where he needs to drive this car with this new aero package, but he's doing a good job. keeping in the top ten what you know Jazzy Jeff Curtis, he works on that car and I talked to Cole Pearn about Jazzy and he said when it came to studying Sims and data and all that technical stuff, Jazzy was one of the best he ever had acquaintance.

I worked and there is an ace that worked with Martin Truex and Cole Pearn at Furniture Row Racing last year and when that team closed he moved to Chip Ganassi Racing, he is from Fairfax Virginia and now you know everything, someone who probably has his hands full at the moment. This is a car that was in front. I think it was going to be a factor that it was Marc Church Jr.'s 19th. but that damage to the right rear has to be affecting his math greatly, certainly not what we saw a year ago where he swept every stage and took the win.

The Bayer bond and duct tape have certainly been his friends on several stops. on pit road to try to seal up as best they can that right rear corner where they took that damage on the restart, it just says the car is too loose and continues to build losers as the race goes on, they're going to try . to make more repairs next time they come to the pits, but I'll tell you he wasn't thrilled with some of the cars or some of the front runners on that restart, he blames them for ruining his race, in fact you said we had the car that They could have won, they took it from us, there's still a long way to go, although we're only just past the halfway mark and Brad Keselowski's team turned that car around, had Paul Wolfe take a car that really struggled at the start of the race and they've turned it into a contender and that's what I've seen about that 18 car all day.

He's strong in turn two. Run down the High Line. Gets a great shot down the backstretch. I think that's what Keselowski is missing. fits well. They were very loose at the start of the races, you guys noticed a big wedge adjustment on that second pit stop and the car has been a lot better for Keselowski and they were really encouraged, they were very pleased with where they were with this race car. careers. The finish was a happy hour yesterday and they are finally running as expected here at this stage of the race. With 14 laps left in the second stage, well, they hit the wall early and both ends of that car had to come to the pits. and make repairs, but whatever the latest adjustment, Keselowski is one of the two or three fastest cars on the track, now Keselowski and Logano have won for Team Penske as we look at our playoff-built RAM and focus on Ryan Blaney, we let the second most laps in four races this season, what do you have to do to make sure you make that round of 16?

Well, I think they just need to get results that match their performance. He's been leading laps. He's been running at the front. I only had little things, but either because of the way the strategy was developed or maybe you know some problem that has prevented him from getting not only the top five, but also some wins that I feel like with, maybe on his lawn if He doesn't win, can he point his way? Oh, I think he can get that kind of car that they have, that they have two great ones, he has two great teammates to lean on, this kid is going to win, he is going to win a race or two. year I can assure you he almost won last week running well today thanks Paulie it might fall into your lap but he's going to win something and that's art built for the playoffs sponsored by Ram Chase Elliott running 10th was faster than Kyle Busch does a lap like There was Ryan Blaney and right in front of Elliott, his Denny Hamlin, what's up with that strategy call they made going in for tires with three laps left before the end of the first stage and it took him a long time to get back on track. increase?

Yes, we heard him say that he likes the way cars feel. You know the balance of the car is better thanks to some of the adjustments, but we didn't see that initially on that restart. I thought those newer tires might help you, but now that I've gotten into long races, you're really starting to see the speed of 11, so one of the things that I think helps is "God, they know they're going to get the break here." in a few minutes and they'll just make up that gap." Upstairs, they will return to the race, as you saw.

Clint Boyer thought he had dropped a tire. He came to the pits to arrive. He'll show you what happened as Kyle Busch continues to lead by five and a half. There is a look up. and wow, or while he and Corey Lajoie get together. I'm surprised he wasn't a left rear tire. Look, maybe he hits the wall a little bit. I'm surprised it wasn't all good for him. They make a lot of contact here, boy. Boyer held on to that thing and held it off the wall. Boyer is already having a rough day that definitely won't make him any happier than he already was, but you know, I'm surprised he was a right-hander, he didn't hit the wall.

They made some pretty heavy contact on the left side, we thought it would have been a left rear, it might be good that he's lost about two laps along with David Ragan at the moment. Ricky Stenhouse is in the free pass position ahead of Ryan Preece and Ryan. Newman Jimmie Johnson has fallen out of the top ten now he is in 12th place and here is sixth place from the camera aboard Jimmy John with Kevin Harvick. We've seen where Erik Jones in those 20 really fast cars on restarts takes up a lot of spots. At the beginning we talked about that short run, long run, he has short run speed, now herecomes Kevin Harvick, who now seems to have some long run speed in that number four car, did you hear how he was accelerating into the corner? he was, you know, in and out, in and out, he was really accelerating and working hard behind the wheel.

Kevin Harvick is rarely seen completely off the gas. He likes us to half accelerate in the corner and then. Back all the way down the stretch, he was going to be wide open, but it sounded like he didn't know if it was for a 20 car or what, but this now tell me what it is when you have a loose race car. How you use that throttle, we heard you talk about it being pretty loose and you're just pushing the throttle to the edge of the rear grip while the car is already out, it needs you to ease off the throttle a little bit as it straightens out.

You can start applying the throttle or just keep it there on the edge. I think that's what's always maybe or always made him so good in Atlanta. He can use that throttle to his advantage and that's what makes him so good. that racetrack is okay on that Kevin Harvick 4 right when you guys were talking about making it spin and using the throttle to help it because he says that's really the problem right now the cars are pretty much the same but they just don't turns completely. as Matt and Erik would like Jones lost that spot to Harvick currently running in p7 the car remains on the tight side for almost his entire race his spotter Rick Carelli told him that the two Keselowski cars and also the 18 the Busch they are running In the bottom, you're going to have to try to run down the platform or bottom lane in three or four if we want to try to beat them at all because that's where they're gaining so much speed, someone who's beating Erik.

Jones, as he tries to run down that bottom, has a Kurt Busch car right behind him, three to go on stage two and right now he's chasing Elliott in the final stage point position, sorry, sorry, Mike , that white car really came out big right in the middle. from the corner near which the car is loose to go tell you what you're taking a good beating in that car here, yeah, you're running, you're running these corners as hard as you can, Newman slides right in front of our leader , that's Ryan, I'm not going to go around, do you know what that was about Ryan?

Newman has a warning, you will pass me, he is known for hitting that car very well, he is one of the three cars that, as we mentioned, are one lap down, so he wants to maintain that position. He just wanted to go to state. I think the cowboy says you want to stay on that lap. Go ahead, you can have it. Yes, Kyle has a six-second lead to play. Yes, he's not going to push. problem, I can assure you, so Brad Keselowski is not going to catch it listen to him accelerate around the corner this is one of these risk versus reward situations here he saw almost everything go out the window right there and Mike these engines are They have 550 horsepower, they don't have a huge amount of power like these guys are used to.

You have to stay in the picture for the third time in your career. Kyle Busch will see that green and white checkered flag twice as he sweeps stages one and two here he did it in Charlotte last year in the 600 and in 2017 at the Brickyard Kyle Busch his winner of stages 1 and 2 the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Auto Club 400 is sponsored by NASCAR's official sponsor Monster Energy and through bank credit, the official credit card of NASCAR, perfect for race fans and stage two, Kyle Busch wins both stages for the third time it happened in his career when he did it in Charlotte he went to Victory Lane when he did it in Indianapolis he finished deep in the field in the 30s so 50% on sweeping the stages and getting the win get expert analysis and opinions from the biggest names in NASCAR as they break down everything inside the car and on the track race until weeknight 6:00 ET on FS 1 and the Fox Sports app my favorite element of Race Up is radioactive on Tuesdays we get the best and not so best of all the in-car radios in Race Up.

Today there is our group of on-board cameras. Kevin Harvick. there in sixth place as we completed stage two Daniel Suárez in 11 Alex Bowman and 17 my children st. St. Patrick's Day, do you think it's a coincidence that the green car is dominating the race and I think it's the only green car there other than maybe a little bit of green in that Monster Energy car, maybe Johnson, what are you doing? I don't think so because Daniel Henrich's car is not his and he looks at what happened to him. The luck of the Irish works in strange ways.

My dad always said we were English Irish on a fifth of whiskey. I guess Jamie Ryan Blaney has a lot of different colors on his rug. he's very happy with the 12 said I don't need much just a little more free air pressure on those fronts they'll have some tape on a four tire stop Matt Adam Stevens reminding Kyle Busch to go a little easier on the box, slid it in the last two stops, said the car needs to be a little tighter at the beginning of the air pressure change and left, Vince, well, Brad Keselowski's 2, it's just too loose, which prohibits.

It kept him from keeping the throttle down in turn two, so they're going to make an air pressure adjustment. Guy Joey Logano's 22 on that stage was right on time because he said he thought he had a tire coming apart so obviously he needed new tires for Logano Kyle Busch was the first out of pit 19 and came out a little slow but again no There's no one behind him, so there's no rush for Martin Truex. breaking news 18 Karl's first pit lane, well, we've just seen, I think there's a car that has something for Kyle Busch at this stage of the pace, wait for the phone, Kyle Busch too fast on the exit of pit road.

Wow, we've seen this before you. We know we saw in Las Vegas where the 18 had to come from behind, but we want to talk to someone different at this stage and maybe the guy who has a chance to get this win, especially now, so let's talk to Brad Keselowski. Hey Brad, I'm Jeff Lee the guy, it's ready for the booth, you got a copy, well it's going pretty well, it seems like things are going a lot better for you now compared to the beginning of the run, some cool tweaks so car number 2 works as well as you do.

I was going to ask you what it's going to take to beat Kyle Busch right now. We're just hearing about a penalty they'll have for speeding off pit road, but what will it take to get us through, but beyond? maybe with the court position, oh now we can't hold on, them up here in the ring, yeah well you certainly got the court position, maybe you've adjusted, but it looks good, thanks for talking to us , have a great race, so Brad Keselowski will be our race leader. and Kyle Busch fans react to speeding penalty by going out too fast for Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin Brad Keselowski, who is their leader There are 75 laps left in Southern California to prepare for the final cautions, one of which was a continuation of one of the two lap warnings causes 55 and lap 60 and here we are with 74 to go now here is Kyle Busch on the left of the screen going directly into the area where he was caught speeding, that area is right there and It ends right there, right in the middle of the 88th pit box, yes, this pit road is in sections in section 12, time over distance of 55 miles per hour plus a tolerance, listen, I'm certainly not going to know it outright, are for you, now for him at all and then on the radio, many of the guys at the end of the sheets next to her will be back in the top ten here and a handful of them will be aware again late if there are any cars and any drivers they can get back up, there's a little pep talk for Kyle Busch, who dominated yesterday's Xfinity. race and of course a different pit crew yesterday they had a tire violation and finished second Nicole's Customer you want to see a show Mike right now to see a show well we are getting ready to see it one day and Harvick in restart Kyle Busch is going to restart, looks like he's 17th there with Denny Hamlin, his teammate Denny was also speeding up, he was speeding up in the last section at the end of the safety cars on pit road, 73 to go laps to go as they approach the Geico. reset zone turtle Wow you're still free from the chain point 3/4 off the bill thing here oh here you have it fixed it will be there though half a bag now about one for about two whatever you need Reba Wow, Did you see that movement along with the How Bush is aiming directly for that.

I watched him all the time. He stopped and went to the top lane to gain momentum at the top and when they got side by side in turn two, he just went all the way. It's amazing, just amazing. Here he comes, he sits back here, but why does he dive in? It's like he knew the outside lane was going to start to Domino and check and when he did, man, he passed four or five cars, yeah, that's about a presence. him, he's on the gas, here he's got great momentum Denny Hamlin jumps right in front of him, great move, he chases Elliott who gains six spots on pit road with a great stop, he's in third place and he's right behind him through Kyle Larson, the Chevrolet partner he will get. up there in the mix, there you go, your man Kyle Larson finally made it, now he pours up front here, Jeff looks pretty good, and I'll be very curious to see what happens as these guys take some clean air, you know, it's them.

We're sitting there third and fourth right now, the best track position they've had all day. Jamie Alan Gustafson, who makes the decisions, is the crew chief of the nine, told me this morning that his weakness was the straight line speed that they lacked, but he said. our car drives great so if we use the right brakes and make the right adjustments we might have a chance and two stops ago chase said his car is fine and he apologized he was late on the restart this restart the cowboys They just did it again, they moved on from the middle. to the top of the track in turn four I threaded the needle with the bottom okay I made that movie in turn four that's impossible but he did it but he did it look at this a little gap a little gap here I come here come in inside inside in the middle gets There I have it Wow, I mean, that's just confidence as a driver, obviously he's got a fast race bar, but I want to do those kind of moves cutting and cutting cool shots from our Toyota onboard camera, like Kyle says Busch now fought his way back. to 14th from 18th on restart, if this was a video game I would press restart because I don't think I would have made it to third place.

Joey Logano comes in after chasing Elliott Boyer on the apron and probably starts blowing a little smoke. heads to pit road Wow, Blaney comes to chase Elliott and also fights for fourth place, you know, Micah Oh, contacts a little drafty side between Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott, mixes up the center pretty well from Chevy, here guys, Larson in third and Kurt Busch 6 Elliott 7th, coming after him and our poleman Austin Dillon returning to the scene, you are recovering from a flat tire when he was in fifth place on lap 56 and he is back in the mix at eight, yeah.

It's going to show us that beating that poet may not have been a conventional way of doing it, but rather the kind of car that could have done it and, gee, it's going somewhere today. Clint Bowyer took his broken down car to the garage area, only taking cars out. of the race I could feel oh haze of smoke coming out of Chase Elliott from that contact. I don't think it's serious, but I do think it's just a little bit of fog since the car went through three for the last time since that little bit of contact in 12, you can see right there that the fender has wrinkled a little bit.

I don't think that's going to be a problem, so Brad Keselowski is in front, now Kevin Harvick in second, one second back, four boards in front, look, I know about Zara. Kathryn Zorro Jones 63 laps left Brad Keselowski there he is 2 seconds ahead of Kevin Harvick Joey Logano Ryan Blaney and Kurt Busch well it's time to take a look at the credit banks to watch Jeff, yes Mike we haven't seen a repeat winner yet this year, but I think while we're out west we're going to see that in a driver who finished in the top five in the last three races here at Auto Club Joey Logano, you know Jeff, when this race started, we didn't .

I don't even know if Brad Keselowski, that 2 car was going to be able to stay on the lead lap. Paul Wolfe charged towards the fence, he was there leading the race before there hasn't been one here since 2015 that comes to an end today. Don't know. Meet Larry, my boys got moves like Jagger or maybe he's like Zorro, maybe he's like Zorro in a race car, he's leaving his mark on this Fork, the great Kyle Busch, there's no denying it, well,This time last year, Kye Kevin Harvick already had three wins. We're still looking for his first win of 20 right now Kevin is second, crew chief Rodney Childers just made a wedge adjustment to free him up, that could be the adjustment that gets Harvick into the winner's circle for the first time this season, really scared.

I'll pick after last week because I honestly have no idea who's going to win this race, however I'll be keeping an eye on Kurt Busch, the only Chevy driver to have a top five finish this season, he won here in 2003 Let's see if we can. get that third top five of the year and that's our credit, one of the banks to watch out for, so Mike, can you think about winning this race that was a sign of peace? I tell you I went, you know, with Motley Crue and they were the granted grand marshal of this race and gentlemen start your engine that just inspired me inspired me about different music that I've heard over the years The sight of the CDs of Motley Crue lets you see how he's dying is a great Heights Neil face I don't have any I didn't I even know what car they were stopping in I just knew they were here okay Keselowski two point seven up Kevin Harvick this is for the place 11 Erik Jones Kyle Larson Daniel Suárez right with him doing that run up and down dr.

Feelgood is there, oh yeah, but remember I'm the guy who went to the Celine Dion concert in Las Vegas, oh right, we lost you because of you and they couldn't find me. Big battle here for 11. This is happening around ten and one. half a second off the leader, yeah, nice move by Daniel Suarez, it looks like Daniels, you know, he's very nice and consistent, he makes some good moves, he seems to have a quick draft on the race car side and here, off of Erik Jones , the Jones boy is on, he's down, he's back. to 11 and there goes a 41 from Miss Warias.

I don't know what happened to car 20. We thought they had something going on, but not so much here lately. We're going to move forward a couple of battles and go up about seven seconds back. Aric Almirola's leader who we spoke to today in the pace laps, look how his race is going, he was on the free side when he had some clean air in front, but you could hear a lot more problems with a tight plow when he was back in traffic there when you look at the 10 DW cars, you learned that when you went to Junior Johnson's what ignited your career is this also ignited it Eric's won last year at Talladega is working on his fourth consecutive top 10 finish this year that would tie the best of his career because of the way he has never had a top 10 here.

I thought about him, how bad you are when I drove to Virginia Johnson. He boosted my confidence. I thought he was a pretty good race car driver, but jr. Johnson made me believe that he was the best driver there was and that he had to perform. I didn't want to let Jr. Johnson down on my hero, the last American hero, he was my hero and when he talked about plowing, you hear them talk about plowing, only those front tires don't work, they don't turn the car like Eric really wants and you know that the The downside to this is that traffic probably had a lot to do with it, but that increases the front right and left air pressure and it almost never recovers looking at this race for eighth place, Elliott and our poleman Austin Dillon Vince, but he I have to give congratulations to Dillon, the Medical Center received IVs this morning, as mentioned on the radio, he is not feeling very well, but he is hanging in there and his team is certainly taking care of business in the box he came to next from receiving that right rear blow. and they fixed that car well enough to get back into the top ten, not to mention staying on the lead lap, but getting back into the top 10 and running at a good pace, as advice to Danny Stockman, the crew chief, and this team on the wall watching the battle for 14th place here thanks Vince Jimmie Johnson and Martin Truex did 14 seconds of bait wreck their car a little better Mike all that damage to the right rear these cars rely on Aero so much they rely on that right side of that car for the lateral force when you damage the right rear quarter panel that way, it damages the lateral force, which hurts the handling of the car, so they've done a pretty good job of fixing it on the tracks to get back to be among the top 15 with 55 laps. to go and for Ford is at the front of the field He wasn't meeting the famous people during the introductions he became a famous ragtag group you were going to have problems, he loved me and William, except he definitely doesn't know who they are.

For this race day we made big improvements to the car yesterday so I hope we are pretty decent, we are starting quite a bit back, it will all be a matter of track position, it will be very difficult to overtake but we will see what we can do and hopefully it will work out. ago all day we do our work a little slow here get ready baby very good ahead still lined up outside at the bottom born in korea a teenager in our votes will fill the tires are not your pedal free federal free whoo problem crash turn to see it turn check just when I get off inside ratified the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Auto Club 400 is sponsored by Hal I'm doing it right 51 laps left at Auto Club Speedway next Sunday the Monster Energy Series moves to fs1 as NASCAR's best battle on the shortest track from the historic Martinsville Speedway in southern Virginia before the race 12:30 Eastern race action at 2:00 everything happens on fs1 and the Fox Sports app obey BDW's favorite clip is The Short Track toughest you've ever raced in today's air coverage provided by Goodyear.

Everything we learn about building tires for the demanding demands of NASCAR inspires what we put in yours. Official Goodyear tire of NASCAR giving us these great views from the Goodyear blimp based near Carson. California, there's their leader Brad Keselowski 4.6 seconds ahead of his Penske teammate Joey Logano, yes, who recently passed Kevin Harvick for second third place, closing out the battle for third place, closing out Kevin Harvick for Stewart-Haas ahead of Ryan Blaney at 12th and Kurt Busch at number one. Last time, Blaney was the fastest on the track. Remember he had a great race last week.

I was late to the race and finished third, but he had a good race and that's what they need. I think that gives them confidence. I needed to come here today to have a good race today, when this track looks a lot like Atlanta and Ryan Blaney led a lot of laps, he was very fast until they had a problem late, Jamie, what's going on with that 12? Yes, they have been making good adjustments. but it looks like they didn't go far enough with the air pressure in the last round, their stops sang, it's very loose and it's all in the back of the car, it's off the track, so they'll add more tape.

And they'll add air pressure in those rear tires to help you out. Thanks Jamie now.the two drivers who were penalized Denny Hamlin restarted nineteen, he's in 11 Kyle Busch restarted in 18, he's in 6 Blainey with a run on Harvick this is for third place and what you heard on the radio there It's just a product of being in traffic and I have to be aggressive to make some of those moves to get to the front, but that has a big impact on the front tires. You know, guys, I've been trying to think about what Adam Stevens, Kyle Busch's crew chief.

He's thinking right now, he remembers when he was leading earlier under the green flag stops, he was the last car to come to the pits, so this is what I think they should do. You can't do what everyone else does if you do what everyone else does. otherwise he's sitting there eight and a half seconds behind the leader right now, so everyone's thinking about splitting this stage in half, so what's going to happen is there's about 35 or 40 left to get there , that's about half the stage, I think Adam Stephen. You need to pit short, you need to pit before that and try to take advantage of those new tires that are running further and that way you're not doing everything like everyone else, but I think I would pit short.

Before that, 35 to 40 to go, it's amazing to me how similar this race is playing out to yesterday's Xfinity race, where Kyle dominated that race and finished second when he lost that track position. Well, if I'm Kyle Busch, he's up there. to sixth place, I mean, he's had an incredible race back to the front, his pit crew and the way he gets to pit road, the way he gets out, not counting the speeding, he's going to gain a lot of time when let's get to pit road here, so I think. He still had a chance to win this race now that his teammate Denny Hamlin was also stopped for speeding and has also gained about eight places since the restart Matt Mike, his days seem to mirror each other.

You mentioned that they were both arrested for speeding. Herk, I'll talk. about his car being too tight and needing to turn more, that's exactly what Denny Hamlin says, he just turned right to the tight side for that number 11 and Chris Hart told him they're looking to depend on lap 167 .to window 172, which would be if he returns to radio traffic five to seven laps later than his teammate, Kyle Busch's 18th, he will soon find out with 45 laps remaining in Southern California. Welcome back to the Auto Club 400 at Fox Auto Club. Speedway right now as Team Penske Paradise Keselowski leads Logano by three and a half and Blaney, his other teammate, by almost four seconds.

Paul Menard, the first to the pits among the leading lap cars as they make what could be the final green flag stop of the The day Alex Bowman also pitted, Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney hit the pits. Jamie, Ryan Blaney was ready to come in, as I mentioned he was very loose, definitely in the back they want to go a little further with Joe's air pressure adjustment last time. It was in the front this time it will be in the rear a four tire stop for his teammates on the defense 22 that 22 Joey Logano is right and they are going to go up a couple of rounds on the track bar to try to free them up for the tires also Logano pitted from second place if it turns green they are already done on pit road for the day you see Austin Dillon's 3 on the right side of the screen it will be four tires for Dillon they also like a lot the way the car handles even though they had to do some repairs on the right rear, they made an adjustment there on the chassis and the right wreck, and the leader is Brad Keselowski and heavy.

Traffic on pit road circles around Matt Tifft and follows Jimmie Johnson to his pit. Vince and Keselowski said don't touch it if we were stopping on yellow, maybe we could make a little adjustment, but it's pretty good, one tick is tight and otherwise it just keeps going. There will be four tires for Brad Keselowski, so Kyle Busch returns to the lead. He and Chris Buescher haven't stopped yet, and neither Matt DiBenedetto nor Ricky Stenhouse are among the cars leading the lap. Matt and Denny Hamlin's 11 arrived a little early from the lab. window they were looking at they made an air pressure change on that 11 his teammate Kyle Busch his team on the wall so only four drivers have yet to stop among the leading lap cars Kyle Busch Chris Buescher Matt DiBenedetto Ricky Stenhouse what's it gonna be?

Really interesting here is before that sequence Kyle Busch was about 8.6 two seconds behind our leader Brad Keselowski now Brad and all those other leaders that were ahead of Kyle Busch are on new tires so how long are you out there? Larry, yes. I think Jeff, they already made their bed, they have to lie on it, now they have to run this as far as they can, which is probably another six to eight laps and this can bring the caution that Kyle Busch needs if he could throw. he's going to take everyone to pit road, but they have to get him out.

Bubba Wallace is in trouble now the yellow flag would fly if he throws debris on the track there is debris everywhere there is caution, let's talk about the luck of the Irish. I was worried because everyone got that speeding penalty, but I'll feel better now that the front tire on the '43 that just came in blew off, the whole piece took off the fender, something took off half the hood. I think it may officially be precaution. for the debris as Bubba Wallace has a loose tire on the left front here's a look close to our leader or our former leader Brad Keselowski now second and right here yeah and you see the debris start flying and by Of course, the pieces fit well everywhere.

Yes, that thing disintegrated now. I don't know if this will actually work in Kyle Busch's favor or not. I mean, yeah, he'll have a little newer tires on his car and we'll be back on green, but he'll lose about four or more. five different positions on the court since he is the only one stillover there. I think about those leaders, so Larry, the leaders that came in, they have three to four laps on their tires. Would they come back? Yes, I think you'll see the front here. Like the Penske cars, they might run out of Mike with those few laps, but I think a lot of them come to the pits and get four new tires.

This was the only chance Kyle Busch had. I'm like Jeff, I'm not sure it's going to happen. It works in his favor, but the only chance he had was to stay there as he did by catching the clovers and shillelaghs as a precaution. There's another guy who benefited from that car, he was left out along with Kyle Busch and the 11 it looks like Denny Hamlin is a lap down Kurt Busch will get the free pass on this yellow flag now that he was among the drivers who had stopped and there is a lot of cars down a lap and again everyone has three or four green flag laps on their tires a lot of times.

Those cars that are currently rated one lap down will likely stay out and ride the wave to get back on the lead lap. I think if I were to look at this situation, I'm Kyle Busch, I'm happy it happened the way it did. I did it because that gives me a chance to win this race 35 laps left here is the progressive summary of today's race so far Kyle Busch has won both stages and is currently the leader because he decided not to make a green flag pit stop like everyone else During the last five lap period due to those green flag stops, we now have seven cars on the lead lap for caution flags and 14 lead changes between six different leaders, hey Mike, I'm going to say that with just seven drivers on the lead lap, they are all going to come, they have to come get four new tires, absolutely those guys who are on the bottom lap will take the path from the right, he will take the lap later, they have to come to look for tires that stay on the same base for the leader before a quick pit stop, how about a quick word from Duracell?

This is a trusted brand. There are 35 laps to go and to Larry's point, with only seven cars on the lead lap, why would you sit out? Everyone else who is pinned on the down turn would probably catch the wave. -around, so we'll restart with more than seven cars on the lead lap, maybe not until 21st because there are 14 cars one lap back. I would say they will take the path because there is a good chance that I don't think they have a choice. I think those guys who just arrived and are a lap behind have to stay out, hoping that a yellow flag will come out shortly after we turn green again and maybe they'll remember it when we get to this stage of the race.

The aggressiveness in the race increases, so there is probably a good chance of sitting on the last yellow flag? We'll have 17 to 20 Kyle Busch in his pit, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, coming down pit road along with Harvick and Stenhouse. The pots are already finished on the left side. My big dilemma between Kyle and Adam seems to be a bit of trouble on the left front getting the lugs in there next to the cam wall. How much to tune this car 18 because of where it will be? traffic, knows he needs to turn better, but was worried about being so far back in the dirty air Vince by Brad Keselowski will be four tires, they put a piece of tape on the nose at that last stop, otherwise there will be no judge adjustments now Put another piece of tape on that too again, the 22, a chassis adjustment, there you just saw it on the left rear and the four cars outside, as well as the four tires, so that Ryan Blaney wouldn't stop and we're double checking Kurt.

Busch, we had said it was the bye, but we'll have to double check, with 34 laps to go, Coach Gibbs looks to work on the fourth caution of the day at Auto Club Speedway. Ryan Blaney, the leader did not pit under this yellow flag. flag he and Kyle Busch will have the front row at the restart NASCAR confirmed that Kurt Busch was the first car a lap back in the last score that Luke crossed before the yellow flag came out, so he is the free pass car every week. We take a look at short track chief in the Southern California region, we have plenty of options, but how about Sleepy Trip Rum?

Well, if you're a fan like me of open wheel racing on the short track dirt tracks here in Southern California, you certainly know who Ron Sleepy Trip is. This guy was a legend when it came to SEC open wheel racing. I actually had the opportunity to compete against Ron and, what an incredibly tough competitor, this guy. Well, I was asked how you get the name Sleepy. I did some research on this. I raced against him for years, I never knew how, but I guess when he was a kid racing quarter midgets, he always liked to sleep in that car, he would fall asleep between races, not when he was racing.

If not, Shannon, help us. Hi Mike, so far the green car has been lucky, not lucky, and lucky again. Kyle Busch on this restart. Jamie, what do you think we'll see from him? Well, he is in the best position. He has the newer tires. Ryan Blaney. I think he made a good decision to sit out, it's his chance to win this race, but Kyle Busch has had the better car all day, he had a little luck with the yellow flag and I think he's going to be the guy to beat for the rest. That's what you're Ryan Blaney about, you do what on this restart you're trying to maintain because if he can run three, four or five laps and let the tires catch up with everyone else, he'll be fine because there's ten laps left until Ryan pits.

Blaney and Kyle Busch for the two fastest cars, so it's a long race to the finish line. Ryan Blaney has a chance. Mike, we have been working on our Gaelic at st. St. Patrick's Day, Slainte to all of you. Thanks Shannon, oh well done, 26 drivers took the wave and that includes the 14 drivers who were a lap behind, they got back on the lead lap and I quickly look at the top Toyota players and there they are. Kyle Busch is in second place Denny Hamlin Erik Jones Martin Truex Matt DiBenedetto everyone among the 21 drivers on the leading lap better tighten your seatbelts friend, we are getting ready to do a lap, there will be 31 laps left while you take the green flag for the restart The teammates Raed Blaney's team didn't do him any favors, they gave Kyle Busch a big push to take that lead, but look at this move by Keselowski towards the quarter panel on the 18th, he can't push the push to create some clean air.

On the outside, they're going to team up here, you've got the 22 and then the 12 back here, Kyle's going to have his hands full with these guys, great move from the four, getting a great shot from the 11 by Denny Hamlin to get to the bumper rear, the toy to go to the outside three wide for him, he saw Kyle Busch go down today all day and then the edge rotted most of the David that I, as we go, that time we haven't seen Kevin Harvick with this kind of takeoff speed, but we've seen this before the cowboy in front gets back to about third or fourth, give it a couple of laps and we'll see where it really is, it seems like after about like you said you've known Pam since about 7 8 9 10 laps ago, he sets off and Kurt was right in the mix with them, that caution couldn't have been better timed for driver number 1, the black car, you can see Blaney there in 6th position fighting for seventh and you know, just those three or four laps on tires, this track is so abrasive that it demands a lot from them, yes, they almost ran over Blaney.

I'll go there, only sin because he couldn't get out like these guys with the tires under pressure definitely would. Laney is back in seventh place the six drivers who stopped during the yellow flag are now sixth and here go the Busch brothers and for the lead Logano Keselowski before they fall to the side no Mike, that hot line in the turn It gives you that good shot on that curve, on that backstretch, that's what the kids ask. It's been good here lately. Joey Logano has great sprint speed in that 22 car. I mean, we saw where he went.

He crawled back a bit, but it looks like he can actually hold on. Momentum is better than anyone during the first few laps, which is why he is trying to attack his teammate. Brad Keselowski keeps that track position, maybe he can keep it, you know. Year, I think Kevin Harvick had a great car, he was going for a four in a row, but he got even when he and Kyle Larson got together, but today it may be Make the strategy worth it for Daniel Suárez with our Coca-Cola camera battle. his teammate, Martin Truex's 19th for position and they may have had a little bit of contact in the races during the 13th.

Wes, tight racing, there was chasing Elliott or there was going to Suarez at the back, yeah, Elliott, I think when the squares came out behind a number 19 car, I shot. him among the nine maybe he'll get loose here's sixth place now both Blaney and Dillon stopped on lap 160 have tires a little older than the front five and Stenhouse I don't care what happens in the three cars the date when They put the kid on a yeoman day of work here he doesn't feel good, he got in that car, started from pole and lost, so he got it back and ran in the top six.

Very good job for him. Roger Penske has long said that there are no team orders, they just don't take each other. Well, they're both working their butts off, get on, you better play that radio. Junior Roger does get a little closer and Kyle Busch comes fast as these two run side by side. Really good job, Joey. Logano fighting that side draft wow Keselowski now here comes Kyle Busch diving to the deep end Kyle Busch it could all be over guys he's clearly going up it could all be a real race that just shows you how good that car is racing, yes.

It took him a lap or two to improve his tire air pressure a little on my tire, but once he did, he took off, so the top five in this race have newer tires and by the way, they're all previous champions of this series. This is one of the toughest racing tracks on the abrasive. You know the different lanes you have to choose. You could hit the wall. What you have to do to balance your car so that it performs well not only in sprints but also in races. In the long term, it's the best teams and the best drivers that achieve that.

Jamie Kurt Busch and what a great job he is doing with this new Ganassi team this year, led by Matt McCall. They are coming into this race with three consecutive top ten finishes. He's jumped into the top five They've been tuning this car, they told me this morning they were never decent this weekend and he's running the wheels, they got the free pass, they did a wedge air pressure adjustment and it's come to life. Going after Kevin Harvick, you know what Jeff says about the best of the best ending up winning here, we've run 29 races here, 22 of them have been won by a champion, including all three, you, man, know what I like with each one.

When the 400 miles are short, I think it made it a lot more entertaining and fun to run and watch to cover a short network of an extra hundred miles, but this has been a really great race, it just creates a little more urgency, especially in these restarts, we've seen how they deploy you four and five wide, but you have to go. I mean, there's no question because they didn't take that hundred miles off the end of the race, they just took it out of the middle, which end of the rope with that I can tell you how Bush just took the wind out of everyone, you could say he said, say , Oh, uh, Kyle Busch on the cusp of 200 wins in all three NASCAR national series.

I mean, personally it's funny Look at the different numbers that Richard has or people will compare like everything Richard did it this way and he did it better and it means more or Kyle or whatever and the debate that goes back and forth but you still have to those people who will forever be Richard Petty fans or Kyle Busch haters who will always discredit any achievement someone makes that could be better than someone, will I ever be considered one of the greats? I don't know, probably not well. I feel like I've done my career to the best of my ability absolutely Kyle Busch leading by one point three seconds making two in a row and looking for his 53rd win and what is now the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, you know, he compared it to the two if I want to but no one else has done what the Cowboys did just no one no one did what Richard Petty here's a look at Kyle Busch's day that hitting penalty was very costly but now the younger of the two Las Vegas brothers is back in the lead with 21 laps left, we'll go to the Fox story side by side 18 laps left in Southern California Kurt Busch side by side with Kevin Harvick fourth place boy, you must be impressed with Kurt amazing I mean, we haven't seen a lot of Chevrolets this year, we know that they have more work to do, but for the Chevrolets, it has been thebetter one week after another.

Awesome race looks like everyone likes that Highline and turns one and two, maybe not so much. Fred turns three and four Kurt drives that thing too, you see the back end sticking out as he tries to apply the accelerator, you know, it's kind of funny, it's a one year contract, so he's driving for his job, I really mean, it's almost like Auditioning for a job every week, well, I'll give a shout out to Mark Church Jr. I just passed by these two, Aric Almirola's ten on Austin Dillon's 3, who by the way, was a job incredible for him, staying there, you know, and enduring an illness, but Mark Church jr.'s number 19 car. they just got whipped by these two like they were standing still and that thing has a lot of damage behind the right rear tire Matt, he's certainly struggling, in fact at one point Jeff, when he came to the pits to work on that damage, they had a game.

They planned that they were going to repair the car and then Cole Pearn was going to send a second crew over the wall to repair the damage, so when they serviced the car, Cole went, went, went, Daryl Jeff, you're a former driver. when you hear that. What are you doing? Go, go, go, that's exactly true, you dropped the clutch and went down to the pits so they had to bring it back, but they fixed it and this is one of those days where you're leading here and it feels like it's not your day. , you certainly ran like a champ, hold on, you've had great runs for seconds at Atlanta, 2nd last week, this car is notoriously good in long runs and you've proven it again today, you've really outperformed a lot of cars that were late here's our camera at Ford board with Aric Almirola we talked to him on the pace laps he's been in the top ten most of the day here he's in ninth place 11th I say he's doing what I think he does best he's very consistent that's what got him there to fifth place and points at the end of last year Alex Bowman taking 21st place, he's the last car on the lead lap, that's our national camera stopping behind Ty Dillon, there Ryan Newman will be the first car on a lap back, I know.

Those Hendrick guys must be a little disappointed. Mike 224 is running 16 to 48 grunting 17 moment here in 21st. I thought you knew you were thinking you were going to have a better day because yeah, we heard about chasing Elliott. I thought his car drove pretty well it just didn't have the straight line speed. I think we've heard the same thing between 24, 48 and 88 from Alex Bowman, he seems to have had to work a little more, but I definitely think they're going to be disappointed with 14 laps to go and suddenly Kyle Busch's lead is going away. reducing Matt, it's that chemistry Mike between spotter and driver Tony Hirschman, the third has been calling races for Kyle Busch since 2012, is telling him who Logano and Keselowski are. behind him in terms of lane choice, if they are finding grip and speed and right now they are not on the road since today is st.

St. Patrick's Day, a big thank you to one of our passionate racing fans up to Dublin Ireland. Hino ins has watched our races since 2006 and hasn't missed a single one, so at st. On St. Patrick's Day, a big shout out to the green and you know who else's birthday is today. Tiger Tom Pistone, happy burger, keep an eye on this here, you'll see 13 to go if I look at the last eight spring races here because that's when we went. at 400 miles the average of the last yellow flag laughter 188 there are 12 laps left and in the last five races Mike we went to overtime four times boy Larry, I think that would be bad news for the 18 car because we have seen it struggle in these Los Restarts take him three, four or five laps to get going, which could be a big problem for him.

Half of the last eight races here I've finished with the last lap gone and that's typical of the end of races, especially when you're running so close to the wall it's just that you get more aggressive, you start taking more risks, more risks. , you end up hitting the wall on the right side, what does that do? It usually cuts the tire on the right side, in front of the right rear, well, the leader. it's been going back and forth Joey Logano brought it down to just under 2 seconds Kyle Busch opened it up now Logano stayed on station right around 2.3 seconds and now the gap widens a little bit.

I think Kyle Busch is just looking at the guy. behind him, if he seems to close up a little, he will step it up. I think Kyle is sitting on that, you know, he's saving a little bit in case he needs it, when he would also say Joey Logano's 22 is. searching a little and occasionally finding a groove where he can carry a little more speed into the corner. I would say what he said is let that 22 car go full throttle that he's trying to chase, he's trying to catch. you let him go into overdrive, you just ran at your pace last night in the the way the cars are spaced mike is 18 coming in three here comes the 22 in three here comes the 12 or the two in three are spaced out to where they don't help or hurt each other that's how you race the lap the race track that makes the difference for Chevrolet fight 4/10 with austin dillon and chase Elliott if Chase makes this pass and hangs on to it hey free pickles on monday hey at your local Hooters but he has to finish in the top ten, no just do this pass fried pickles free fried pickles yeah that's right I've been to some pickles at that time there's a rhyme about that uh let me see how that no, nine to go thanks Mike Larsson Stenhouse Suarez a couple of seconds apart there, so the difference has stabilized at about 2.4 seconds.

Let's go for a ride with Kyle Busch. I just think this is where one of his strengths all day has been out of reach for him. Right here, every time I saw him pick up someone, he was able to get them out of the corner. Jeff, yes, you could see that he is choosing to run one lane further down the track, didn't we see Joey Logano? And there's a really tall one right next to the wall that crosses that seam and like I said, he runs in his second lane from the top, yeah, no. I don't think he's looking for anything Mike, I think he found it when you can hear no, we've been on board with some drivers in the corners today and you can hear them hitting the gas, getting in and out, you know. the lead isn't Kyle Busch once he gets back up to speed he seems to get wide open and be able to keep it wide open joey logano that time was a quarter of a second faster than what Kyle Busch could have reduced to just two seconds While went around the 43 car, passed Bubba Wallace here in the front, might have hindered him a little bit, but we'll see how this lamp goes out getting to six to get interesting that time between three and four Kyle Busch changed. he moved up his line a little bit, he got to the top next to the wall just like Joey Logano and the gap increases, yeah, it's just a spectrum forward.

I think the traffic had a little bit to do with it on the last lap before he didn't. I see a big difference in the gap as I watch it come out of the corners here again. You see that time, that's his father. I think he's doing a great job giving important information to Kyle Busch telling him where Logano's 22 runs, where they both are. Keselowski is racing right now and that's when the spotter is so important because he's doing it and telling you what that gap is, if he's winning or if you know where you're winning and where you're losing, that's what the driver needs to hear right now. 66 - Grip of the year, but you can't Hill today near the bottom excellent lap right there was Kyle Busch I think he has that I just think he's settling something if he needs it Brad Keselowski remains about three and a half behind perfect in the top five OMG , I was always a big fan of using the start/finish line as an indicator of where the car was behind me, so when I cross the start/finish line we see Kyle going wrong, his spotters will tell him or he could tell him that you're on the line now in the 22 cars on the line now so it gives you an idea of ​​what it's like for Head and the guy you are without making it two or three seconds and I wonder if there's Penske teammates Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano, they're going to rethink a little bit how they race each other in this latest restart because they raced each other very, very hard, not just slowed them down a little bit to allow Kyle Busch to get close to them.

I wonder if he didn't eat up some of those tires and I'm not saying they could have held off Kyle Busch either way. Kyle has definitely been the dominant car today, that's probably on page number 19 or 20 of willa. could wear shoes, so Joe Gibbs Toyota runs first, seventh and ninth, Penske Ford second, third and sixth, Chip Ganassi Chevy at the fork and Stewart Haas there, Ford in the top five in fifth with Harvick. I just gave Kyle a tip of the hat for making it interesting. Because that highway speed taking the Pro4 speeding penalty put him back in the pack, we saw him do some incredible things with that race car, well there are several bright spots today.

Harvick bounces back for a top five after no-show at Phoenix last week Kurt Busch will get his third top five of the season and, most importantly, Chevrolet is, in fact, the only fourth-place Chevrolet up for discussion here Kurt Busch Kevin Harvick Chevy Ford battle yes It was like this since Kurt Busch made this pass to Kevin Harvick. I've seen his lap time go down a little bit, he probably put too much pressure on him trying to pass Kevin Harvick, maybe it took away a little bit of their lead. The tires or the balance starts to change and we saw Kurt Busch earlier when he made the pass on Kevin Harvick, he slid from behind into that car, so it's not like the cars on Rails take the white flag with one lap left sponsored by credit. a bank for Kyle Busch 2.4 ahead of Joey Logano, so you've got the white flag now all you want to do is look, see clear navigation in front of you, you know, cars back, keep it off the wall, make sure Let nothing else go wrong, no vibrations and you.

I got a lap half a second ahead, use it, this could be the slowest lap Nick Kyle Busch runs all day it would be for me, I know three to four and he's heading home, Kyle Busch in his Joe Gibbs Toyota He's going to win his 53rd Cup race and hit his magic number 200 in Southern California race cars thank you thank you all I do is win win win the battle what can you imagine for the biggest garden and do you feel confident? Joey Logano finished his second two point three back, Kozlowski third, four seconds back, Kevin Harvick nine seconds and Ryan Blaney nine seconds back, are in the top five and Kurt Busch is denied that top five finish, finishing sixth in his Chevrolet, yes, but Mike, did you hear that trust? that that team has in its driver Kyle Busch, I mean just thank him for allowing us to be a part of this historic day and today is a historic day anyway, you won't see it, it may not be the greatest of all time yet, but He is the best of his time, without a doubt on the horse, there is no arguing what a good friend Busch is.

Joe Gibbs' team has the flag of 200 victories in the three national series of NASCAR, Xfinity and the Monster Energy Cup Series. Today's victory was powered by Sunoco. Sunoco powered all the wins. All season long, it was never a question of when and he said it on the radio, I mean, he's been on a great streak just getting wins, whether it's Xfinity trot Cup. I just said it, what if he hadn't? One problem at Fanta to Las Vegas might have been that he would be talking about winning all the races. Cup win 53 in his third 500 start, second win of the season and first repeat race winner this year for me, although the only thing that is indisputable if you do it.

What I want to compare him to Richard Petty is that they both gave themselves more chances to win than anyone else, if you will, I mean he's hitting his exact 1000 exactly and I know Richard Petty also ran a thousand times, but wow. His winning percentage is incredible, it's the first time Kyle will go to Victory Lane after a speeding penalty that occurred on lap 123 of 200. The last driver to win here after being caught speeding It was Kasey Kahne in 2006. Joe Gibbs' 160th career win. Competing in the Cup and Mike, you know, it was a moment where I didn't think I'd see anyone win seven championships again.

Jimmie Johnson did it and there was definitely a time in my career where I thought no one was going to make it to hundreds. I don't care how you do it, the man now Busch just did it and the sport has evolved which makes it so difficult to compare the eras well and now I think we're going to talk about what you mentioned and alluded to. Mike is that number 100 as he begins to rack up these Cup wins like he has done in the last twoweeks and he mentioned it himself when we interviewed him after the race last week and talked about "I want to get to 100 well if it keeps up like this." Well, he won eight races last year, there are already two this season, he could get there.

Kyle Busch gets out of the car and raises the flag, wow man, there's the signature arch and I don't think anyone knows how hard it was to get it. at this 200 wind mark, so that guy over there I mean he's been behind the wheel putting his heart and soul into every one of those races. I think what impresses me is the three different series, the three different rules packs, the three different team leaders, the three different. everything that still prevails is vented, the anticipation is over, the speculation is over and Kyle Busch has finally reached number 200 in the three touring series 200 wins in NASCAR for Kyle Busch, you finally did it, you got over it, it's complete, How does 200 feel?

Just like number one feels like yesterday, man, that was one hell of a race car. I mean, it's Interstate Batteries. The Camry was amazing today and I'm glad we put on a great show for all these fans here in California at the Auto Club. Speedway and you know it takes green to get to Victory Lane today today st. Patty's day came, so all the wrestlers were at a disadvantage. I've known about it all day and this green machine from Interstate Batteries was flying today, so just amazing, just amazing, and winning 200, I mean, whatever that means, it means a lot to me.

Much to all my guys, everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing, you are the best Toyota TRDs. It's an incredible opportunity to drive for Joe Gibbs and I will cherish every minute of it and love it in every way and just want it. We could keep it up, keep it up, run hard, run well and win these races. You did. Congratulations, Kyle Busch, number 200. The rowdy nation will have a lot to celebrate tonight.