Starting from 21st place Car 8 Kyle Busch Lucas Oil Chevrolet won the Pala Casino 400, his 61st win in 644 Cup Series races. This is his 1st win & 1st Top 10 finish in 2023. This is his 5th win & 17th Top 10 finish in 24 races at Auto Club Speedway. With his win today, Kyle Busch has now won a Cup Series race in 19 consecutive seasons, breaking a tie with Richard Petty for first all time who had won a race for 18 consecutive seasons from 1960 – 1977. With his win today, Kyle and Kurt Busch now have a combined 95 Cup Series wins making them the winningest brothers in NASCAR history, breaking a tie with Bobby and Donnie Allison. 2nd Place Car 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, started from 33rd place posted his 4th Top 10 finish in 7 races at Auto Club Speedway. It is his 1st Top 10 finish in 2023. 3rd Place Car 1 Ross Chastain Kubota Chevrolet, started from 8th place posted his 1st Top 10 finish in 5 races at Auto Club Speedway.
4th Place Car 99 Daniel Suarez Freeway Insurance Chevrolet, started from 7th place followed by 5th place Car 4 Kevin Harvick GEARWRENCH Ford, started from 10th place. 6th Place Car 11 Denny Hamlin Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota, started from 13th place followed by 7th place Car 6 Brad Keselowski Castrol Edge Ford, started from 16th place. 8th Place Car 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet, started from 4th place followed by 9th place Car 3 Austin Dillon Dow Coatings Chevrolet, started from 28th place. Lastly in the Top 10 wasCar 22 Joey Logano AAA Southern California Ford, in 10th place, started from 3rd place. Ty Gibbs (16th) was the highest finishing rookie.
The race had 8 Cautions for 38 Laps: 1st Caution on lap 17 for Competition Caution. 2nd Caution on lap 43 for #6, 7 Crash on the Backstretch. 3rd Caution on lap 67 for Stage 1 Conclusion. 4th Caution on lap 76 for #16 Crash on the Backstretch. 5th Caution on lap 82 for #7 Spin Turn 4. 6th Caution on lap 88 for #41, 20, 12, 10, 45, 51, 77, 31, 38 Crash on the Frontstretch. 7th Caution on lap 132 for Stage 2 Conclusion. 8th Caution on lap 142 for #77 Stopped on Track.
The Race had 28 Lead Changes among 13 drivers; C. Bell 1; A. Bowman 2-17; R. Chastain 18-27; J. Logano 28-29; R. Blaney 30-42; J. Logano 43; R. Blaney 44-46; R. Chastain 47-67; A. Bowman 68; R. Chastain 69-72; D. Hamlin 73-74; J. Logano 75-76; A. Dillon 77-79; N. Gragson # 80; J. Logano 81-92; D. Hamlin 93-97; R. Chastain 98-132; J. Logano 133; K. Harvick 134-137; K. Busch 138-141; J. Logano 142; K. Busch 143-144; K. Harvick 145; R. Chastain 146-166; C. Elliott 167; D. Hamlin 168-171; B. Keselowski 172-173; M. McDowell 174-179; K. Busch 180-200.
Stages:
Stage 1 Top 10: 1, 12, 99, 48, 11, 24, 22, 4, 19, 9
Stage 2 Top 10: 1, 8, 22, 4, 99, 11, 9, 48, 6, 7
NASCAR Cup Series Race Number 2
Race Results for the Pala Casino 400 – Sunday, February 26, 2023
Auto Club Speedway – Fontana, CA – 2. – Mile Paved
Total Race Length – 200 Laps – 400. Miles
Finish Start Car Team Laps Status
1. 21. Car 8 Kyle Busch Lucas Oil Chevrolet 200 Running 2. 33. Car 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 200 Running 3. 8. Car 1 Ross Chastain Kubota Chevrolet 200 Running 4. 7. Car 99 Daniel Suarez Freeway Insurance Chevrolet 200 Running 5. 10. Car 4 Kevin Harvick GEARWRENCH Ford 200 Running 6. 13. Car 11 Denny Hamlin Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota 200 Running 7. 16. Car 6 Brad Keselowski Castrol Edge Ford 200 Running 8. 4. Car 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 200 Running 9. 28. Car 3 Austin Dillon Dow Coatings Chevrolet 200 Running 10. 3. Car 22 Joey Logano AAA Southern California Ford 200 Running 11. 14. Car 19 Martin Truex Jr Reser’s Fine Foods Toyota 200 Running 12. 2. Car 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr Ralphs/Tree Top Chevrolet 200 Running 13. 5. Car 17 Chris Buescher Pala Casino Ford 200 Running 14. 12. Car 7 Corey LaJoie NEGU Chevrolet 200 Running 15. 24. Car 21 Harrison Burton DEX Imaging Ford 200 Running 16. 23. Car 54 Ty Gibbs # Monster Energy Toyota 200 Running 17. 25. Car 38 Todd Gilliland Long John Silver’s Ford 200 Running 18. 26. Car 34 Michael McDowell Horizon Hobby Ford 200 Running 19. 34. Car 43 Erik Jones Allegiant Chevrolet 200 Running 20. 31. Car 14 Chase Briscoe Rush Truck Centers/MobilDelvac Ford 200 Running 21. 29. Car 31 Justin Haley LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet 199 Running 22. 20. Car 42 Noah Gragson # Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet 199 Running 23. 22. Car 15 JJ Yeley ActOne Group Ford 199 Running 24. 30. Car 78 BJ McLeod American Hartford Gold Chevrolet 199 Running 25. 32. Car 24 William Byron RaptorTough.com Chevrolet 198 Running 26. 9. Car 12 Ryan Blaney Wurth Ford 196 Running 27. 11. Car 51 Cody Ware Biohaven Ford 195 Running 28. 19. Car 2 Austin Cindric Menards/Quaker State Ford 194 Running 29. 15. Car 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 185 Running 30. 18. Car 23 Bubba Wallace Leidos Toyota 172 Engine 31. 36. Car 77 Ty Dillon NationsGuard Chevrolet 140 Engine 32. 1. Car 20 Christopher Bell Sirius XM Toyota 88 Accident 33. 27. Car 41 Ryan Preece HaasTooling.com Ford 87 Accident 34. 35. Car 45 Tyler Reddick The Beast Unleashed Toyota 87 Accident 35. 17. Car 10 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 86 Accident 36. 6. Car 16 AJ Allmendinger Farmsmart Chevrolet 75 Accident
Race Comments: Prior to the start of the race, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reasons indicated: None. Failed to Qualify: None. Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 8 Mins, 5 Secs. Average Speed: 127.603 MPH. Margin of Victory: 2.998 Seconds. Caution Flags: 8 for 38 laps. Lead Changes: 28 among 13 drivers.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: March 5, 2023 – Las Vegas Motor Speedway
NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications @ P.O. Box 2875, Daytona Beach, FL 32120-2875
NASCAR
http://www.nascar.com/
Graphics Courtesy of NASCAR