Alex Bowman rolled to a dominant victory Sunday at Auto Club Speedway, turning in a sweeping performance for his first NASCAR Cup Series win of the season.
Bowman, who was fastest in both Friday practices, powered Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 88 Chevrolet to a 8.904-second margin of victory, leading 110 of 200 laps in the Auto Club 400. His first win at the 2-mile California track was his second in NASCAR’s top division.
Kyle Busch, a four-time Auto Club winner, drove home second in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. He was one spot better than his brother, Kurt, who took third ahead of Chase Elliott and Brad Keselowski in the third points-paying race in 2020.
Home-state favorite Jimmie Johnson led three times for 10 laps in his final Auto Club start of his last full-time Cup Series season but finished seventh. His wife, Chandra, and daughters, Genevieve and Lydia, were in the flag stand for the initial green flag as ceremonial starters. Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevrolet also led a five-wide salute during pace laps.
Martin Truex Jr. started last after an issue in Saturday’s inspection kept him from posting a qualifying lap. He drove all the way into contention, leading three laps, but trouble with the rear-tire change during a final-stage pit stop knocked his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to a 14th-place finish.
Ryan Blaney was in contention in the top 5 for the third straight week, leading 54 laps — second only to Bowman — and winning the second stage. But Blaney’s No. 12 Team Penske Ford was forced to pit from second place with a tire issue with three laps left. He finished 19th, one lap off the pace.
Clint Bowyer started from the pole position and led the opening 11 laps, but a flat tire on his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford forced a caution flag on Lap 92. He finished 23rd.
Rain was not only in forecast, but at the track all morning. Raining off and on right up until the drop of the green flag. NASCAR and Auto Club speedway did a perfect job of keep jet dryers and safety cars on track before the start and kept the track dry. Rain has played a factor for the first 3 week of the 2020 season including delaying the Daytona 500 to a Monday afternoon race. Rain was never an issues after the pre race rain drops but the temps at the track stayed low with high winds all day that kept a lot fans from coming to the track at all.
California sport fans are known for showing up late and leaving early, but most race fans in the stands didn’t even bother to show up at all. Which is a shame because the Auto Club 400 was the best racing we have seen all season so far and might be the best race of the 2020 season as a whole (just like the last 5 years running). In a time when NASCAR is looking at the 2021 schedule and looking to make drastic changes for next season, maybe it’s time to give the Auto Club Speedway a fall date, in the playoffs, instead of this early in the season. The speedway is now owned by NASCAR so maybe it’s time for NASCAR to invest in a track that hands down has the best racing and sits in the number 2 media market in the world. This track needs a fan (& race team) friendly infield overhaul (like Las Vegas, Phoenix, Daytona & Talladega). And needs to be in the playoffs to either start or end them. Time will tell if NASCAR does the right thing for the fans in SoCal and for its fans as a whole, but there is no questioning it, NASCAR puts on its best show of the year at the Auto Club Speedway, and it’s time NASCAR admits it.
