FONTANA, Calif. – Chase Elliott climbed from 33rd to the top five with 50 laps to go while Ross Chastain swept the stages and led the most laps (91) of any NASCAR Cup Series driver at Auto Club Speedway on Sunday afternoon (Feb. 26).
But neither one took the checkered flag first.
The duo was running second and third after the final round of green flag pit stops, but neither was any match for Kyle Busch, who controlled the final quarter of the race and cruised to victory in his second start for Richard Childress Racing.
It was Busch’s 61st Cup win, breaking a tie with Kevin Harvick for ninth on the all-time win list. It was also his fifth win at Auto Club, and he broke Richard Petty‘s record for the most consecutive winning seasons in Cup, upping his streak to 19 in a row.
With 2023 being the last dance for the 2-mile configuration in southern California, Elliott and Chastain fell just short of scoring their maiden wins at Auto Club in the final chance to do so.
Elliott was fast enough to pass Chastain, but he was left with the tall order of passing Busch, who was more than three seconds out front. Elliott was unable to make up much ground in the final laps, and Busch took home the checkered flag by 2.998 seconds.
“It’s always really tough to say [what I needed at the end],” Elliott said. “I didn’t feel like I had a very good pit sequence on and off pit road, you know, that would’ve been a big one if I could’ve gained a big chunk of time there.
“But still, even if we were good enough to get by Ross [Chastain], [passing Busch] was going to take some time and [Busch] was really stretching his lead at that juncture. By the time we got to second, I think [Busch] was probably just pacing himself out front.”
Like many drivers this weekend, Elliott also expressed the bittersweet emotions surrounding the final race in Auto Club’s current configuration.
“I hate to see [Auto Club] go, it was a great racetrack,” Elliott said. “We didn’t have many good runs here, but today was good. I guess it was nice to send it off on a somewhat high note. Hate to see it go, but obviously, it sounds like this is it.”
Elliott’s runner-up result on Sunday comes on the heels of a 38th-place finish in the Daytona 500 and an inconsistent end to 2022. For a season that has 34 races left to be written, it’s a good start.
“I hope this [performance] trend continues, but we’ll have to get to some other tracks and kind of see where we stack up,” Elliott said. “As far as today went, I was really proud of our team and really proud of the effort we put in over the winter.”
For Chastain, Sunday was a case of a dominant car that fell off toward the end of the race. He admitted as much after the race was over.
“[Busch] got faster,” Chastain told FOX Sports. “Our balance was loose for most of the day, so I thought we did everything right. We kept up with it, it would just feel pretty loose late in the runs. And at times it was enough, and at times [other drivers] got way better.”
While a disappointing ending with the dominant car, Chastain expressed gratitude for the early fortune that 2023 has provided in contrast to 2022, which saw him start the year with 40th- and 29th-place finishes in the first two races.
“To start off the year the way we have is a total 180 from last year, it was not like this,” Chastain said. “As much as it stings, as much as it hurts, hats off to Chevrolet for the top-four [finishers] there.
“Pumped to be in this position with Trackhouse and for our first crack at the big tracks here, it’s all we can ask for. We will regroup, study and be back next week.”
About the author
Stephen Stumpf is the NASCAR Content Director for Frontstretch and is a three-year veteran of the site. His weekly columns include “Stat Sheet” and “4 Burning Questions.” He also writes commentary, contributes to podcasts, edits articles and is frequently at the track for on-site coverage.
Can find on Twitter @stephen_stumpf.
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Your lead article is about the guys who were 2nd and 3rd?
your just a fan boy.
I think that was the point of the article. Podium finishers. Maybe he continues this way the rest of the year. Hmmm?
What a shame, 2 more of hendricknascars chevrolets fall short, was thinking maybe the off-season aero/powerplant tweaks would bring the Toyotas and the Fords closer to nascarchevrolets’ performance edge – whooo! Close call though! chevy 2, Toyota/Ford – 0.
How can you use the finish at a restrictor plate race as any kind of proof of anything? Besides I thought it was obvious that the Fords were best at Daytona. Unfortunately, being good at a restrictor plate track doesn’t matter, it’s a lottery.
Leading 2 trains around for 4 hours was a poor indication of performance until it was GO time – all the while indicated by the sandbagging displayed by the in-car telemetries. California was a true litmus test.
Chastain’s Trackhouse team is using ECR engines.