Jimmie Johnson wins Auto Club 400 2016: Five takeaways from Fontana

Jimmie Johnson outlasted everyone on the track to win the 2016 Auto Club 400 at Fontana.

After four different drivers won the first four races of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, there was a bit of a different feeling on Sunday, when some of those drivers that have already won raced each other for the lead most of the day at the 2016 Auto Club 400.

Austin Dillon started the day on the pole in the No. 3, but he was quickly overtaken by last week’s winner, Kevin Harvick. From there, Harvick  would hold a commanding lead for much of the race and it really turned into a two-man battle between him and Jimmie Johnson.

The other two drivers that have won this year, Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski, both had issues down pit road on Sunday. Hamlin was caught speeding as he came down and Keselowski’s crew lost control of a tire, which made him go to the back of the field.

While the two dominant drivers were battling each other for the lead, Chase Elliott lurked behind them in the third spot and kept a close eye on the two. However, Harvick was just too strong for anyone to overcome and although Joey Logano held a lead for a brief period of time, Harvick bumped him out of the way and took it to a couple of laps remaining, where Jimmie Johnson would beat Harvick in overtime in his Superman car for the win.

With another exciting day in NASCAR, here are five takeaways from the 2016 Auto Club 400.

1. The NASCAR safety barriers saved Kyle Larson

There were some very big wrecks in the 2016 Auto Club 400. With Auto Club Speedway being a superspeedway, that means the wrecks are going to be coming at higher speeds and have a much more likely chance to be more dangerous to drivers.

The first big wreck of the day came when Kyle Larson blew a tire and slid across the track and hit the safety barrier head on.

Larson hit the safety barrier so hard that it bowed and absorbed all the energy. It’s a great reminder as to why NASCAR has these barriers in place to protect the driver and the safety barrier did its job and kept Larson safe.

2. Chase Elliott is showing tremendous poise

Chase Elliott has had some unfortunate luck in the early weeks of the season this year. He’s been involved in some wrecks that weren’t his fault and he wrecked early at the Datyona 500 and was the first one off the track.

While all of that provides plenty of learning experiences to a young driver and could be something that weighs the No. 24 team down, Elliott has been showing tremendous poise on the track lately.

Elliott had another strong day at the Auto Club 400 and hugn around the leaders for most of the day and was in contention to do big things. He gets better by the week.

3. Brad Keselowski has bad luck on pit road

Brad Keselowski has had some bad luck on pit road the last couple of seasons because of his crew members. Once again, a tire became uncontrolled in his pit as the pit crew member lost control of it and that meant that Keselowski had to drop to the back of the field.

For a team that’s poised on winning a championship, those are the little things as a team that they’re going to have to clear up, because there is no excuse for those types of things happening constantly.

4. Danica Patrick went airborne

If Kyle Larson had the first big wreck of the day at the Auto Club 400, then Danica Patrick easily had the scariest wreck. As Kasey Kahne was looking to make a move around a turn, he got into the back end of Patrick full speed, which sent her in the air and straight into the wall.

Her car was destroyed and it was a wreck that had everyone worried.

Fortunately, she was fine and was able to get out of her car. However, she was not happy and threw up her hands in anger at Kahne.

5. Jimmie Johnson picks up his second win of the season

Sunday, it looked like it was going to be Kevin Harvick’s day at the 2016 Auto Club 400. However, what Harvick didn’t want was a caution late and that bunched everyone back up together. When that happened, Jimmie Johnson passed him in overtime and picked up his second win of the season.

Even better, Johnson in his Superman car celebrated as Fontana played the Superman theme song.