5 takeaways from NASCAR’s Auto Club 400
Kyle Larson finally won in Sunday’s Auto Club 400, and here are the four other things we learned from the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Fontana.
Second place finally became first place on Sunday, as Kyle Larson ended his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series frustration by driving into Victory Lane in the 2017 Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana.
While Larson cemented his lead in the Cup Series points standings, Brad Keselowski became the latest person to suffer property damage and the other young guns of NASCAR continued to burn up the racetrack.
If you missed any of Sunday’s race, you can get the full results from the Auto Club 400 here.
Here are our 5 takeaways from the 2017 Auto Club 400:
1) VICTORY PARTY AT KYLE LARSON’S HOUSE
How awesome does it feel to be Kyle Larson right now? After all those second place finishes, the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing driver finally got to be number one. Larson held off a determined Brad Keselowski to score his first victory of the season and second Cup Series win overall.
And let’s not forget that he won the Xfinity Series race on Saturday over Keselowski’s teammate Joey Logano as well as the pole position for the Auto Club 400.
Larson is officially no longer cursed. And no matter who your favorite driver is, you have to be smiling at least a little bit. We all know what it’s like to constantly be knocking on the door of success and then break through — plus it’s a great sign for NASCAR as a whole that drivers like Kyle Larson are continuing to raise the level of talent. We could easily be talking about this guy as a Cup Series champion someday, as long as he avoids black cats and broken mirrors.
2) You break it, you can still drive it
Speaking of Keselowski the man deserves some props for his performance in the Auto Club 400. He spun out on just the third lap of the race, yet he and the No. 2 Team Penske squad somehow kept the car together for the remainder of the day. And they didn’t just finish: they were able to come second.
We’ve seen a lot of Cup series drivers race around with half a car over the years and it’s always impressive. They’re able to hurtle around at top speeds while most of us freak out if we scratch a fender. So kudos to Brad Keselowski and everyone else who’s ever smashed up a car and yet still managed to drag it home.
3) Even Jimmie Johnson can be defeated
It’s become easy to think of Jimmie Johnson as some sort of superhuman being. He has seven Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championships, an awesome family life and runs marathons in his spare time. But this year has been so far trying for the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team, and it didn’t get any better in Fontana.
Johnson was unable to make a qualifying attempt for the race, which led him to start near the back on Sunday. That setback was then compounded by pit road issues that put the kibosh on any kind of comeback. He ultimately finished 21st, which is not bad at all considering he began 37th, but far from what we’d expect from Seven-Time.
4) What’s going on with Jamie McMurray?
As we sing the praises of Kyle Larson, we should also say something about his teammate Jamie McMurray. McMurray has been both qualifying and racing well in almost every race this season. He finished 6th in the Auto Club 400, which is his third Top 10 finish in the last four events.
Like Larson, he’s not someone your brain automatically jumps to when you think of NASCAR Cup Series contenders, but if he keeps this up maybe this could be the season in which McMurray gets his first win since 2013.
5) Sponsorship is fun
This isn’t abnormal, but you have to laugh at Joey Logano driving the Auto Club car at Auto Club Speedway in the Auto Club 400 (which will retain that name until 2020). The redundancy is unintentionally hilarious. And it’s still less of a mouthful than “Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.”
Next: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings after Fontana
The next Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race is the STP 500 from Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, April 2. The race begins at 2 p.m. ET and is the first contest of the season to be nationally televised on Fox Sports 1.
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