Brad Keselowski took advantage of four fresh tires and two green-white-checkered attempts to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Auto Club 400 race in California.
Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick spent the afternoon in sunny California demonstrating that they were the cars to beat at Auto Club Speedway. The two Stewart-Haas Racing teammates ran first and second during the majority of the NASCAR race Sunday (3/22).
In fact, Kurt was the race high lap leader spending 65 laps out front of the field. There was a total of nine cars that spent time out front in the race that was scheduled to run 200 laps (400 miles) around the two-mile track exchanging the lead 19 times.
The race saw the yellow flag waive seven times for cautions that covered 31 laps of the race. What proved pivotal for Brad Keselowski was that two of those caution periods came literally at the end of the race. While the majority of drivers took two tires and a few cars stayed out during the caution, Brad’s team put four new tires on his #2 Ford. When the race restarted Brad was able to move forward in the pack to fifth place before the final yellow flag of the day waived.
The final restart of the race saw Brad charge forward on those fresher tires and take the lead on the last lap. He was able to hold on for the last half-lap and capture his first Sprint Cup win at Auto Club Speedway.
Kevin Harvick was not able to win his third Sprint Cup race in a row, however he was able to keep his streak of top two finishes alive by grabbing the runner up position under the checkered flag. That brings Kevin to eight consecutive races of a first or second place finish going back to the last three races of the 2014 Sprint Cup season. He is now three top two finishes away from the all-time record for top two finishes that was set by “The King” Richard Petty in 1975 when he finished 11 races in a row in either first or second place.
Kurt Busch held on for a third place finish with Paul Menard and Ryan Newman completing the top five in fourth and fifth places respectively. See the complete race results for the 2015 Auto Club 400 here. Watch a race recap video below.
While Kevin Harvick didn’t win Sunday’s race he was able to hold on at the top of the Sprint Cup point standings. Joey Logano remains in second place with Martin Truex Jr. holding steady in third place. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was able to bounce back from a last place finish a week ago due to a blown tire in Phoenix for a sixth place finish in California and moved himself up two places in the point standings to fourth. Brad Keselowski’s win vaulted him four spots in the standings to round out the top five in the points. See the complete NASCAR Sprint Cup point standings here.
Brad’s win also makes him one of the three drivers that are “all but guaranteed” a spot on the Chase Grid. Kevin Harvick’s two wins previously to this week makes him the only driver that is virtually locked on the Chase Grid. See how the 2015 NASCAR Chase Grid looks after the Auto Club 400 here.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers go short trackin’ next as the series heads to Martinsville Speedway for the STP 500 Sunday, March 29th.
By: Buck Stevens
