Kyle Larson Wins the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway
- 28.03.2017
“That's when all the cautions started coming out. We had some decent restarts there at the end. But still had more cautions” Larson said. “Had to actually come back down pit road, put four new tires on, get some more good restarts.The pit calls were great. The pit crew did an amazing job. A fairly clean race for us. Lots of fun to be Kyle Larson right now. Our race cars are really fast, XFINITY and Cup. It's a blast to show up to the racetrack every week”. Larson led for a race-high of 110 laps and led 7 times during the duration of the race. Larson also was in the lead at the end of stage one, thus gaining 6 playoff points. This was his second victory in 116 NASCAR Cup races. With the win, Larson received 59 points, and is in first place in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings with 243 points. “Well, I'm really, you know, fortunate to be driving really fast race cars right now. Our cars are by far as good as they've ever been, really good at every racetrack right now” Larson said. “In both series I feel like I have a shot to win every time I go to the racetrack. That's always a lot of fun. That's always something I've hoped for, to get to a point of that in my NASCAR career”. Brad Keselowski finished in second place and did not lead during the race. Keselowski spun out on lap three and damaged his car and Jimmie Johnson’s, was resilient during the duration of the race to ultimately battle back for second place.
This was Keselowski's fourth straight top 5 finish of the season and his third straight top 10 finish at Auto Club Speedway. Clint Bowyer came in third place and did not lead during the race. This was Bowyer's best finish since the race at Sonoma in 2015, where he also finished in third place. “Fun racetrack. You know, I mean, I think I've been coming here 12, 13 years now. It wasn't always this way. I remember single file around here. Couldn't really pass. Ring around the bottom” Bowyer said. The restarts were the story of this race for Larson, as he had to fight off each caution and restart. Larson, winner of the Auto Club 400, leads the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings with 243 points and 6 playoff points. Chase Elliott is in second place with 214 points with 1 playoff point. Martin Truex Jr, winner of the Kobalt 500, is in third place with 205 points and 8 playoff points. The next race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will be at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia. | |||
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