Alex Bowman Wins at Fontana

AP Photo - Will Lester

FONTANA, CA – RIS – Alex Bowman won his second career NASCAR Cup race by holding off the Busch brothers at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA.  Bowman had one of the fastest cars all weekend, but after Ryan Blaney had to pit late in the race for tires, the win was his. Coincidentally, Bowman’s contract is up at the end of the season.  Winning is imperative.

“We’ve been so good to start this season,” Bowman said. “We’ve got to go win a bunch more, but man, it feels good to have one this early.”

Bowman was dominant. He led 110 laps and managed to stay out front after the final pit stops before cruising to the checkered flag in an uneventful race featuring only one caution outside of the stage breaks.

Defending Fontana champion Kyle Busch was 8.9 seconds behind in second place in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. His older brother Kurt was third, and Bowman teammate Chase Elliott came in fourth.

“We’ve unloaded the last two weeks,” Bowman said. “I don’t think we’ve had a change in the race car from how it came off the truck. That makes my job a heck of a lot easier. I’m just so proud of this team, Hendrick Motorsports, Hendrick horsepower under the hood, the whole shop back home. They work their butts off. We put a lot of effort into this new car, and it’s obviously working well.”

Bowman started third and led 44 of the first 60 laps on his way to winning the first stage. With Blaney pacing the field for much of the second stage, leading 50 of its 60 laps, Bowman stayed steady inside the top five.

The No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports team then took back control of the race off of the restart to start the final stage. Bowman cycled back to the top spot for the final time with 34 laps to go after green flag pit stops and kept extending his lead over Blaney throughout the run to the checkered flag.

Blaney was 8.7 seconds behind Bowman when he complained about a vibration, which turned out to be a corded tire. After pitting with three laps to go, Blaney, who won the second stage, finished a lap down in 19th position.

Pole-sitter Clint Bowyer led the first 10 laps but was never again a factor. Bowyer ran between 10th and 20th for much of the afternoon and finished 23rd off the lead lap following a flat left front tire on lap 94.

Despite back-to-back disappointing finishes, Blaney continues to lead the points standings as the series heads to Phoenix Raceway.

Race Results: 24th Annual Auto Club 400 - March 1, 2020, Auto Club Speedway

Fin, St, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 3, Alex Bowman, No. 88 Cincinnati Chevrolet, 200, 1, 2, 5, 110, 6, 59, Running
2) 17, Kyle Busch, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota, 200, 10, 7, , , , 40, Running
3) 4, Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet, 200, 5, , , , , 40, Running
4) 13, Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 200, 9, 6, , , , 40, Running
5) 15, Brad Keselowski, No. 2 America's Tire Ford, 200, 6, 4, 1, 6, , 44, Running
6) 28, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota, 200, , 8, , , , 34, Running
7) 2, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 200, 3, 3, 3, 10, , 46, Running
8) 6, Aric Almirola, No. 10 Smithfield Ford, 200, 4, , , , , 36, Running
9) 5, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford, 200, , 10, , , , 29, Running
10) 29, Erik Jones, No. 20 Reeser's Fine Foods Toyota, 200, , 9, , , , 29, Running
11) 19, Tyler Reddick #, No. 8 I am Second Chevrolet, 200, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 7, Joey Logano, No. 22 Auto Club of Southern California Ford, 200, 7, , , , , 29, Running
13) 12, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 21 Menards/Quaker State Ford, 200, 8, , , , , 27, Running
14) 38, Martin Truex Jr, No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, 200, , 5, 1, 3, , 29, Running
15) 21, William Byron, No. 24 Axalta 24 Tribute Chevrolet, 200, , , 1, 1, , 22, Running
16) 11, Chris Buescher, No. 17 Fastenal Ford, 200, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 27, Ross Chastain(i), No. 6 Castrol Ford, 200, , , , , , 0, Running
18) 18, Cole Custer #, No. 41 Production Alliance Group/Haas Ford, 199, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 16, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 BODYARMOR Ford, 199, 2, 1, 4, 54, 1, 37, Running
20) 10, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, No. 47 Kroger Chevrolet, 199, , , 1, 6, , 17, Running
21) 9, Kyle Larson, No. 42 McDonald's Chevrolet, 199, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 8, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Love's Travel Stops Ford, 199, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 1, Clint Bowyer, No. 14 Rush/HAAS CNC Ford, 199, , , 1, 10, , 14, Running
24) 25, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Dow Coatings Chevrolet, 199, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 23, John Hunter Nemechek #, No. 38 Fire Alarm Services Ford, 199, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 24, Ty Dillon, No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet, 199, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 14, Bubba Wallace, No. 43 Victory Junction Chevrolet, 198, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 31, * Daniel Suarez, No. 96 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Toyota, 198, , , , , , 9, Running
29) 26, Corey LaJoie, No. 32 Pala Casino Ford, 197, , , , , , 8, Running
30) 20, Ryan Preece, No. 37 Cottonelle Chevrolet, 197, , , , , , 7, Running
31) 30, JJ Yeley(i), No. 52 JACOB Companies Ford, 197, , , , , , 0, Running
32) 32, Brennan Poole #, No. 15 CHOC Kids Chevrolet, 195, , , , , , 5, Running
33) 34, Joey Gase(i), No. 53 One Legacy Ford, 193, , , , , , 0, Running
34) 36, Garrett Smithley, No. 51 Chevrolet, 193, , , , , , 3, Running
35) 35, Quin Houff #, No. 00 Victory Weekend Chevrolet, 192, , , , , , 2, Running
36) 33, Reed Sorenson, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, 191, , , , , , 1, Running
37) 37, * Timmy Hill(i), No. 66 MANSCAPED/LASVEGAS.NET Toyota, 184, , , , , , 0, Running
38) 22, Christopher Bell #, No. 95 Rheem Toyota, 80, , , , , , 1, Engine
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 37 Mins, 7 Secs.
Race Length: 200 Laps - 400. Miles
Average Speed: 152.753 MPH
Margin of Victory: 8.904 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 88, 12, 48, 10, 1, 2, 22, 21, 9, 18
Stage 2 Top 10: 12, 88, 48, 2, 19, 9, 18, 11, 20, 4

 Race Comments: Alex Bowman won the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway, his second career NASCAR Cup Series victory.

Prior to the start of the race, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reasons indicated: No. 37 (penalty) and 47 (penalty).

Caution Flags: 3 for 13 laps;
Laps: 62-66 (Stage 1 Conclusion [34]);
94-95 (No. 14 Incident in Turn 1 [96]);
122-127 (Stage 2 Conclusion [42]).

Lead Changes: 16 among 8 drivers;
C. Bowyer 1-10;
A. Bowman 11-29;
R. Stenhouse Jr 30-35;
A. Bowman 36-63;
J. Johnson 64-68;
R. Blaney 69-70;
J. Johnson 71;
R. Blaney 72-91;
W. Byron 92;
R. Blaney 93-123;
J. Johnson 124-127;
R. Blaney 128;
A. Bowman 129;
M. Truex Jr 130-132;
A. Bowman 133-160;
B. Keselowski 161-166;
A. Bowman 167-200.

Busch Pole Award: Clint Bowyer, No. 14 179.614 mph