2020 Auto Club 400
The 2020 Auto Club 400 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on March 1, 2020, at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Contested over 200 laps on the two-mile (3.2 km) D-shaped oval, it was the third race of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season.
| Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 3 of 36 in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series | |||
| Date | March 1, 2020 | ||
| Location | Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 2 mi (3.22 km) | ||
| Distance | 200 laps, 400 mi (640 km) | ||
| Average speed | 152.753 miles per hour (245.832 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Stewart-Haas Racing | ||
| Time | 40.086 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Laps | 110 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 88 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | Fox | ||
| Announcers | Mike Joy and Jeff Gordon | ||
| Nielsen Ratings | 4.789 million[9] | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | MRN | ||
| Booth Announcers | Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle, and Rusty Wallace | ||
| Turn Announcers | Dan Hubbard (1 & 2) and Kurt Becker (3 & 4) | ||
Report
Background
Auto Club Speedway (formerly California Speedway) is a 2 miles (3.2 km), low-banked, D-shaped oval superspeedway in Fontana, California which has hosted NASCAR racing annually since 1997. It is also used for open wheel racing events. The racetrack is located near the former locations of Ontario Motor Speedway and Riverside International Raceway. The track is owned and operated by International Speedway Corporation and is the only track owned by ISC to have naming rights sold. The speedway is served by the nearby Interstate 10 and Interstate 15 freeways as well as a Metrolink station located behind the backstretch.
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
- (i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.
Practice
First practice
Alex Bowman was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 40.125 seconds and a speed of 179.439 mph (288.779 km/h).[10]
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 40.125 | 179.439 |
| 2 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 40.517 | 177.703 |
| 3 | 8 | Tyler Reddick (R) | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 40.539 | 177.607 |
| Official first practice results | ||||||
Final practice
Alex Bowman was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 40.764 seconds and a speed of 176.626 mph (284.252 km/h).[11]
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 40.764 | 176.626 |
| 2 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 40.866 | 176.186 |
| 3 | 43 | Bubba Wallace | Richard Petty Motorsports | Chevrolet | 40.868 | 176.177 |
| Official final practice results | ||||||
Qualifying
Clint Bowyer scored the pole for the race with a time of 40.086 and a speed of 179.614 mph (289.061 km/h).[12]
Qualifying results
Race
Stage Results
Stage One Laps: 60
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 2 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 9 |
| 3 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 7 |
| 5 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 6 |
| 6 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 5 |
| 7 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 4 |
| 8 | 21 | Matt DiBenedetto | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 3 |
| 9 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 2 |
| 10 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 1 |
| Official stage one results | |||||
Stage Two Laps: 60
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 10 |
| 2 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 9 |
| 3 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 7 |
| 5 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 6 |
| 6 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 5 |
| 7 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 4 |
| 8 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 3 |
| 9 | 20 | Erik Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 2 |
| 10 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 1 |
| Official stage two results | |||||
Final Stage Results
Stage Three Laps: 80
| Pos | Grid | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 200 | 59 |
| 2 | 17 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 200 | 40 |
| 3 | 4 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 200 | 40 |
| 4 | 13 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 200 | 40 |
| 5 | 15 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 200 | 44 |
| 6 | 28 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 200 | 34 |
| 7 | 2 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 200 | 46 |
| 8 | 6 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 200 | 36 |
| 9 | 5 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 200 | 29 |
| 10 | 29 | 20 | Erik Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 200 | 29 |
| 11 | 19 | 8 | Tyler Reddick (R) | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 200 | 26 |
| 12 | 7 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 200 | 29 |
| 13 | 12 | 21 | Matt DiBenedetto | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 200 | 27 |
| 14 | 38 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 200 | 29 |
| 15 | 21 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 200 | 22 |
| 16 | 11 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 200 | 21 |
| 17 | 27 | 6 | Ross Chastain (i) | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 200 | 0 |
| 18 | 18 | 41 | Cole Custer (R) | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 199 | 19 |
| 19 | 16 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 199 | 37 |
| 20 | 10 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 199 | 17 |
| 21 | 9 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 199 | 16 |
| 22 | 8 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 199 | 15 |
| 23 | 1 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 199 | 14 |
| 24 | 25 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 199 | 13 |
| 25 | 23 | 38 | John Hunter Nemechek (R) | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 199 | 12 |
| 26 | 24 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 199 | 11 |
| 27 | 14 | 43 | Bubba Wallace | Richard Petty Motorsports | Chevrolet | 198 | 10 |
| 28 | 31 | 96 | Daniel Suárez | Gaunt Brothers Racing | Toyota | 198 | 9 |
| 29 | 26 | 32 | Corey LaJoie | Go Fas Racing | Ford | 197 | 8 |
| 30 | 20 | 37 | Ryan Preece | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 197 | 7 |
| 31 | 30 | 52 | J. J. Yeley (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 197 | 0 |
| 32 | 32 | 15 | Brennan Poole (R) | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 195 | 5 |
| 33 | 34 | 53 | Joey Gase (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 193 | 0 |
| 34 | 36 | 51 | Garrett Smithley | Petty Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 193 | 3 |
| 35 | 35 | 00 | Quin Houff (R) | StarCom Racing | Chevrolet | 192 | 2 |
| 36 | 33 | 77 | Reed Sorenson | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 191 | 1 |
| 37 | 37 | 66 | Timmy Hill (i) | MBM Motorsports | Toyota | 184 | 0 |
| 38 | 22 | 95 | Christopher Bell (R) | Leavine Family Racing | Toyota | 80 | 1 |
| Official race results | |||||||
Race statistics
- Lead changes: 16 among 8 different drivers
- Cautions/Laps: 3 for 13
- Red flags: 0
- Time of race: 2 hours, 37 minutes and 7 seconds
- Average speed: 152.753 miles per hour (245.832 km/h)
Media
Television
The race was the 20th race Fox Sports covered at the Auto Club Speedway. Mike Joy and three-time Auto Club winner Jeff Gordon called the race in the booth for Fox. Jamie Little, Regan Smith, Vince Welch and Matt Yocum handled the pit road duties for the television side. Larry McReynolds and Jamie McMurray provided insight from the Fox Sports studio in Charlotte.
| Fox | ||
|---|---|---|
| Booth announcers | Pit reporters | In-race analysts |
| Lap-by-lap: Mike Joy Color-commentator: Jeff Gordon | Jamie Little Regan Smith Vince Welch Matt Yocum | Larry McReynolds Jamie McMurray |
Radio
MRN had the radio call for the race, which was also simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle and 2001 race winner Rusty Wallace called the race from the booth when the field raced their way down the front stretch. Dan Hubbard called the race from a billboard outside turn 2 when the field raced their way through turns 1 and 2 & Kyle Rickey called the race from a billboard outside turn 3 when the field raced their way through turns 3 and 4. Kim Coon, Steve Post and Dillon Welch had the pit road duties for MRN.
| MRN | ||
|---|---|---|
| Booth announcers | Turn announcers | Pit reporters |
| Lead announcer: Alex Hayden Announcer: Jeff Striegle Announcer: Rusty Wallace | Turns 1 & 2: Dan Hubbard Turns 3 & 4: Kyle Rickey | Kim Coon Steve Post Dillon Welch |
Standings after the race
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References
- "2020 schedule". Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. January 17, 2020. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
- "Auto Club Speedway". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. January 3, 2013. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
- "Entry List". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. February 25, 2020. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
- "First Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. February 28, 2020. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
- "Final Practice Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. February 28, 2020. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
- "Starting Lineup". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. February 29, 2020. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
- "Auto Club 400 Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. March 1, 2020. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
- "Points standings" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. March 1, 2020. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
- "Auto Club 400 ratings". ShowBuzzDaily. Mitch Metcalf. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
- Utter, Jim (February 28, 2020). "Bowman leads first Cup practice at Fontana as Chevys dominate". Motorsport.com. Fontana, California: Motorsport Network. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
- Utter, Jim (February 28, 2020). "Alex Bowman tops final Cup practice; Kyle Busch tags wall". Motorsport.com. Fontana, California: Motorsport Network. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
- Utter, Jim (February 29, 2020). "Bowyer narrowly beats out Johnson for Fontana pole". Motorsport.com. Fontana, California: Motorsport Network. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
| Previous race: 2020 Pennzoil 400 |
NASCAR Cup Series 2020 season |
Next race: 2020 FanShield 500 |