NASCAR Sprint Cup: Tony Stewart wins the Pepsi Max 400 at Auto Club Speedway
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Tony Stewart posted his first career win at Auto Club Speedway in one of the more entertaining races held at the Fontana track when he won the Pepsi Max 400 this afternoon.
With seven laps left, David Ragan and Kurt Busch tangled in the first major wreck of the day. Stewart was leading the race at the time but Jimmie Johnson was starting to chase him down. What that set up was a two-lap shootout between Stewart and Johnson.
Stewart, who climbed five spots to fifth in the Chase for the Sprint Cup standings with the win, chose to take the high line and he grabbed the lead by the backstretch. When he took the white flag he looked to be in command. The battle was then for second, and that was won by Clint Bowyer.
There was also a caution for the always present debris with 18 laps to go. Bowyer, who thought he had the race won, was rather upset over the call, wondering where the debris was located.
The top 10 in the race were: Stewart, Bowyer, Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman, Mark Martin, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Jeff Gordon and David Reutimann.
Johnson maintained his slim lead in the Chase for the Sprint Cup standings over Hamlin. The official standings are: Johnson with 5,673 points, followed by Hamlin (-36), Harvick (-54), Gordon (-85), Stewart (-107), Kurt Busch (-140), Carl Edwards (-162), Jeff Burton (-177), Kyle Busch (-187), Greg Biffle (-215), Matt Kenseth (-241) and Bowyer (-247).
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On lap 155 of the Pepsi Max 400, Kyle Busch’s hopes in the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup took a severe downturn when he blew an engine, forcing him from the field. On the radio, he told his pit crew that this ends his hopes of winning the series championship. It’s been a difficult race for three of the Chase drivers. Besides Busch, Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards might have seen their chances go down with early exits.
On the caution, Jeff Gordon was assessed a speeding penalty entering the pits. It could certainly be a blow to his hopes of winning today but he’ll still be in a good position in the Chase for the Cup standings. The penalty forced Gordon to drop back to 25th. As races go at this Auto Club Speedway, Sunday’s event was better than most with a lot of good racing. Heading into the final 50 miles there are several good storylines:
--Can Tony Stewart win for the first time at this track?
--Does Mark Martin have the horsepower to pull off a big upset?
--Can Clint Bowyer, 12th in the Chase standings, draw the field closer?
--And, of course, can Chase leader and four-time reigning series champion Jimmie Johnson do what he does so often -- win?
The top five, entering the final 50 miles were Bowyer, Martin, Stewart, Johnson and Ryan Newman.
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On lap 137 of the Pepsi Max 400, there was actually a legit caution when Marcus Ambrose spun out and scattered debris across the Auto Club Speedway track. It was the second caution caused by Ambrose as he had a flat tire earlier in the race. Everyone used the latest caution to pit, but it was not in the window to allow it to be the final one of the race. There will be at least one more. The caution lasted for five laps.
Clint Bowyer and Jeff Gordon battled for half a lap on the restart but Bowyer semed to have the better car and claimed the lead.
On lap 145 came the sixth caution of the day when debris was spotted in turn one. About half the field came in for another stop, mostly opting to replace two tires. Bowyer and Gordon elected to stay out on the track. This caution lasted three laps.
On that restart, Bowyer again took the lead but Tony Stewart was able to pick up a few spots and on lap 149 took the lead from Bowyer.
At the 300-mile mark, Stewart had the lead, followed by Bowyer, Ryan Newman, Mark Martin and Jimmie Johnson.
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As anticipated, NASCAR spotted some mystery debris in turn 2 on lap 114, forcing the strung-out field in the Pepsi Max 400 to bunch up. Most of the drivers used it for a quick pit spot.
Among the better performances today has been David Reutimann, who started 23rd but worked his way into the top five. Tony Stewart was also having a good day, also making the top five at one point.
Remember Greg Biffle, who blew an engine early? He packed up his rig and has already left the Auto Clup Speedway.
Kyle Busch had to make two stops during the four-lap caution. A ventilator hose shook loose, taking him out of the top 10. However, he was quickly making up time, having gone from 28th to 20th in just a handful of laps.
At the 250-mile mark, the top five were Jeff Gordon, Clint Bowyer, Mark Martin, Stewart and Jimmie Johnson. Denny Hamlin, who started last after changing his transmission before the race, has moved up to sixth.
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Miles 150 to 200 were an example of the kind of boring racing that has been part of the Fontana track’s trademark. The drivers started to get strung out over the 2-mile Auto Club Speedway track, meaning NASCAR will soon discover a piece of mystery debris on one of the turns so the field can be brought back together.
Mark Martin, who was likely to be Danica Patrick’s racing coach in the near future, built almost a four-second lead. Martin is not in NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup since he was 15th in the points standings entering the final 10 races of the season.
Carl Edwards, who had to go behind the wall with what was thought to be a fuel problem, didn’t gain much ground after returning 15 laps down. The problem was eventually discovered to be a distrubutor.
Cars started to pit on the 95th lap, jumbling the lineup as the halfway point approached. At 200 miles, the top five were Martin, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Clint Bowyer and Tony Stewart.