KYLE LARSON SWEEPS AUTO CLUB 400 RACE WEEKEND

Minutes before the end. (Photo by: Dicken Wear)

The Happy Crew. (Photo by: Dicken Wear)

After the Checker. (Photo by: Dicken Wear)

A Very Happy Chip Ganassi. (Photo by: Dicken Wear)

Only time I saw Chad Johnston smile. (Photo by: Dicken Wear)

One Happy Race Driver. (Photo by: Dicken Wear)

FONTANA, Calif. – Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series leader and Elk Grove, Calif. native Kyle Larson (No. 42, Target Chevrolet) made Auto Club Speedway home sweet home this weekend and atoned for runner-up finishes in each of his previous three Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts by pulling into victory lane at the 21^st Annual Auto Club 400 Sunday.

Larson’s second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory in 116 starts comes on the heels of winning the pole position for the race on Friday and winning Saturday’s XFINITY Series Service King 300 race. He is the first driver to win both races and the Cup Series qualifying run in one weekend at Auto Club Speedway.

Celebrating its 20th anniversary throughout 2017, Auto Club Speedway hosted its 28^th NASCAR Cup Series race – second all-time among active California racetracks – and crowned its 16^th winning NASCAR Cup Series driver.

“Lots of fun to be Kyle Larson right now,” Larson said. “Our race cars are really fast in XFINITY and Cup. Our cars are, by far, the best they’ve ever been. I feel I have a shot to win at every race track. I came out of (Turn) 4 (on the final lap) and I told them (the crew team) on the radio to put the bridesmaid’s dress back in the closet. I don’t want to wear that ever again. It was a solid weekend. Definitely the best of my NASCAR career.”

Larson, 24, is the fourth driver to sweep the weekend of Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR XFINITY races at Auto Club Speedway, following the lead of Kyle Busch (2013), Matt Kenseth (2007) and Kasey Kahne (2006).

Larson, who finished second at Auto Club Speedway during his rookie year in 2014, led for 110 laps overall and increased his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season points lead to 29 over Chase Elliott.

2015 Auto Club 400 champion Brad Keselowski (No. 2, Wurth Ford) endured a battle of attrition as his car was hit four laps into the race and on another occasion. Yet, he gradually worked his way back to a runner-up finish.

Recording his eighth top-10 finish in 17 career Auto Club Speedway starts and his fourth top-10 finish on the  Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series circuit this year, Keselowski encountered a fender bender with six-time Auto Club Speedway champion Jimmie Johnson (No. 48, Lowe’s Chevrolet) in Turn 4, leading to the race’s first caution flag.

“I got ran over the back and it did a lot of damage to the car. And then I got ran over again. The car was all torn up,” Keselowski said. “A lot of adversity but we were able to overcome it. We executed after the restarts. It takes a little bit of execution, good work by the team and luck the last few yellows.

“By the time things cleared up, Kyle (Larson) was far gone. It’s impressive to me that he’s been able to sustain it a handful of weeks in a row to start the new season. You knew this was going to be a good track for him, and it’s the type of track that suits his style the best.”

Clint Bowyer (No. 14, Rush Truck Centers Ford) placed third after starting the race from the 17^th position. It was Bowyer’s eighth top-10 finish in 17 races at Auto Club Speedway. Daniel Suarez (No. 19, Subway Toyota) placed as the highest-finishing rookie, in seventh.

The Auto Club 400 featured 17 lead changes among eight different leaders, and seven caution flags for a total of 29 laps. Four of the race’s five caution flags that weren’t related to stage finishes dropped in the last 20 laps.

A caution prompted Larson to pit and further refresh his tires with seven laps to go. Only three cars stayed out of pit row during this caution including Martin Truex Jr. (No. 78, Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Toyota), who was running second at the time. The move paid off for Larson as he restarted third and regained the lead on Lap 197. One more late caution, on Lap 198, pushed the race’s final lap tally to 202.

“I was just trying to stay calm and focused on what was ahead of me and what I needed to do in the restarts,” Larson said. “Seems like every time I get in the lead in one of these NASCAR races, a lot of cautions drop.”

2016 Auto Club 400 winner Johnson began the race in 37^th position (out of 39) and placed 21st. He fell two laps back of the leader in the first half of the race.

The first two 60-lap stages of the Auto Club 400 were won by Larson and Truex Jr. in succession, with Larson winning the final 80-lap stage at Auto Club Speedway’s two-mile oval.  (Story Courtesy of ACS Media Office).

Post MAVTv 500 IndyCar Winning Statements, Miscues, And Movements

IndyCar Series Race Director, Beaux Barfield waves to Scott Dixon to begin his qualification run which had his car be placed in P7, first car in Row 3 in a 3-wide rolling start. Target Chip Ganassi Racing decided to change the engine to give Scott's car a fresh machine for the 500 mile race which carries a 10 spot penalty. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Post MAVTv 500 IndyCar Winning Statements, Miscues, And Movements

You know, in this life, it is easy to be critical after the fact. The MAVTv 500 IZOD IndyCar Series season finale held at Auto Club Speedway, upon review, had its share of miscues and confusing statements ... probably way too many to mention in one posting but here are a couple of highlights.

The first one was a statement made by IndyCar's only team owner, driver, and first champion of the MAVTv 500 (2012) Ed Carpenter - No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka/Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, after the MAVTv 500 race last year which provided a key motivation to this year's MAVTv 500 champion, Will Power - No. 12 Verizon/Penske Racing Chevrolet.

Here, Will Power informs owner/driver Ed Carpenter of the level of motivation he provided with his ill thought out assertion. It was the kind of assertion that Dixon and his team were making against Team Penske at Sonoma when the right-rear pitman was accused of unprofessional tactics. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Will Power pumps his fist with excitement as Ed Carpenter begins to understand the positive nature of the motivation he was able to create with his off-the-cuff-comment about Power crashing out after only a little over 50 laps of the 2012 MAVTv 500. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

This excerpted and edited from Auto Racing Daily -

Q - I heard you mention on television that you had a little extra incentive today to want to win this, make a point of some sort.

WILL POWER:  The incentive?  The incentive was, Ed Carpenter said that Will Power did exactly what everyone expected him to do at the last race last year. I thought that was just such motivation for me to beat him and win at this track and just be good at ovals. I went about it. I thought I’m going to beat Ed. Ed, I really respect him. A very good, fast, clean oval racer. Always good to race. I don’t dislike him, but I told him, I said, Man, your comment last year gave me a lot of motivation. It’s true.

So, yes, that’s right. I like Ed. He’s very good. He’s quick. But that comment definitely got to me in a good way.
[Reference Here]

Second, can we say that 'The Captain' has called better races for Helio Castroneves? Helio Castroneves - No. 3 Auto Club of America/Penske Racing Chevrolet, had set himself up to win. He was mentally prepared, in qualifications he secured the P2 position between Pole winner Will Power and single race team-mate P3 A.J. Allmendinger leaving Scott Dixon further down in the field at P7 with an engine change for both Scott and Helio, a 10 spot penalty was assessed. (Castroneves P12 / Dixon P17).

Three-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves leads four-time ChampCar series season champion Sebastien Bourdais into Turn 2 during the MAVTv 500 IndyCar season finale at Auto Club Speedway. Image Credit: Ken Manfred (2013)

By Lap 5 Helio was running in the top five where he remained for the  most of the race - even leading several times. Then on Lap 210 a YELLOW Flag flew due to Alex Tagliani - No. 10 Target/Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, spinning off of Turn 2 which brought a call over the radio to Helio from Roger Penske to PIT. On Lap 212, Helio Castroneves gives up his position in the field as he enters the pits when they were still classified as closed.

Helio found himself battling for the lead again with Charlie Kimball - No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen/Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, where Helio crowded Charlie running for the lead and damaged the front wing on his No. 3 DW12. On Lap 226 Helio Castroneves replaced his nosecone and was never able to recapture his position in the field finishing one position behind P5 Scott Dixon - No. 9 Target/Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

In a post MAVTv 500 season championship press conference, Scott Dixon stated that his car was a 7th or 8th fastest car in the field at best. Castroneves is left as Power was left the previous three years with a 'should'a, could'a, would'a ending to a strong season.

This infographic found in the Media Room, where all of the post event press conferences take place, pretty much highlights the obvious ... made even more obvious by the win in the 2013 MAVTv 500 ... Target Chip Ganassi Racing is the team to beat in IndyCar. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Judging by the achievement of season championships - Scott Dixon's being the 10th since 1996, we need to be giving a higher military title to Chip Ganassi ... like 'The Colonel, Chip' or 'The General, Ganassi' because Penske Racing's 5 season championships has to take a back seat to this level of success. It is pretty funny to listen to Target Chip Ganassi's brain trust of Mike Hull and Chip Ganassi talk during the post MAVTv 500 season championship press conference and pay homage to Penske Racing as the best team in present day IndyCar. Let's be clear ... Target Chip Ganassi Racing is the best team in present day IndyCar based solely on performance.

Team Owner and Managing Director Chip Ganassi and Mike Hull revel in the 'hat danc' during victory lane celebrations at Auto Club Speedway. 'Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Lastly, one has to take issue with a statement made by Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Managing Director, Mike Hull about choosing the Honda engine for their DW12 package and the fact that for 2014, the team has chosen to take a different direction.

Scott Dixon's car was developing heat and was having trouble getting rid of this problem which thretened to end Scott's run to capture his third championship in ten years (2003, 2008, and 2013). On Lap 299 Dixon came into the pits and stayed a little extra time to clear the radiators of debris. The engine ran hot the balance of the race.

MAVTv 500 Post Race Press Conference - Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Managing Director, Mike Hull | Owner Chip Ganassi Audio File HERE >>>

Mike Hull was asked about how this effected their race, Hull stated (starting at 1:14 of the above linked audio file), "I have to say, as hot as the engine got, Honda did what we wanted them to do what they wanted to do ... and that was to build an engine that didn't break under severe conditions" ... which all begs the question asked later to Chip Ganassi by Motor Press Guild and LMR Marketing Communications' Larry Mason on why the jump to Chevrolet next year? Chip's answer leaves one to wonder if there is something more than, "It was a business decision ...", due to the number of season championships (since 1996 - 9 Honda-powered/1 Toyota-powered) the team was able to earn with the Honda engine partnership.

Hat's off to New Zealander Scott Dixon on his third, very well earned, IndyCar Series season championship and the fact this earned honor now sits with the winningest-active driver in the series with 33 wins, and that he remains the longest tenured driver in the Target Chip Ganassi stable since joining the team mid-way through the 2002 CART season.

One additionally wonders if the Chevrolet way (as opposed to the Japanese way) will be compatible with both TCGR and Scott Dixon ... or if the door is now open for Andretti Autosport to outlast and out race the rest of the field with their new Honda-powered - build an engine that didn't break under severe conditions - Dallara DW12s.

... notes from The EDJE