Tough Breaks Prevent Second Victory at Home Track
Date: March 23, 2014
Event: Auto Club 400 (Round 5 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. (2-mile oval)
Start/Finish: 4th/36th (Running, completed 204 of 206 laps)
Winner: Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing in a green-white-checkered finish (Toyota)
Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), had a strong run going in the Auto Club 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., but a pair of flat tires relegated him to a 36th-place finish.
“We had another strong Jimmy John’s Chevrolet,” Harvick said. “It’s kind of the same story as the last few weeks. We’ll have a really strong run going, and something happens and we don’t get the finish that we deserve. It’s really frustrating. I’m proud of the effort that the guys on this No. 4 team put in every week. It isn’t for lack of effort. It’s just unfortunate situations or part failures that have us trending in the wrong direction.”
Harvick started fourth in the 43-car field and held his position in the opening laps. The Bakersfield, Calif., native took over the third position on lap 17 but slowed drastically moments later as the left-rear tire of his No. 4 Chevrolet deflated. Already past the entrance to pit road, Harvick was forced to make a lap around the 2-mile speedway. As the tire disintegrated, the left-rear quarter panel of Harvick’s Jimmy John’s Chevrolet suffered major damage that required multiple trips to pit road for repairs.
Despite the damage incurred, Harvick was determined to make the most of his day. It look him just 20 laps to advance from the 42nd position to 22nd, and as the laps clicked off, the No. 4 continued to climb in the running order steadily. By the halfway point of the race, Harvick worked his way back inside the top-five and appeared to be on his way to contending for the race lead. Unfortunately, misfortune struck Harvick again on lap 139, when he experienced another left-rear tire failure. This time the damage to the Jimmy John’s Chevrolet was much worse, and the necessary repairs saw Harvick lose three laps to the race leaders. From there, all the No. 4 team could do was make repairs good enough to get Harvick to the finish, where he ended the race two laps down in 36th-place.
Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS, led the four-car SHR contingent Sunday by finishing third in the Auto Club 400.
Busch started 17th and led two laps around the 2-mile oval before scoring his first top-five of the 2014 season. It was Busch’s sixth top-five in 21 career Sprint Cup starts at Fontana and his 101st top-five in 476 career Sprint Cup starts. The strong showing came at the home track for Haas Automation, as the largest CNC machine tool builder in the western world is located just 100 miles west of Auto Club Speedway in Oxnard, Calif.
Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS for SHR, started 10th and finished fifth to give the three-time Sprint Cup champion back-to-back top-five results, as Stewart finished fourth last week at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. The top-five run at Fontana was Stewart’s seventh in 23 career Sprint Cup starts at the Southern California racetrack. It was also his 181st top-five in 526 career Sprint Cup starts.
Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy/Get Found Chevrolet SS for SHR, started 27th and finished 14th. It was Patrick’s 51st career Sprint Cup start and her second at Fontana.
Kyle Busch won the Auto Club 400 for the second straight time to score his 29th career Sprint Cup victory, his first of the season and his third at Fontana.
Kyle Larson finished .214 of a second behind Kyle Busch in the runner-up spot, while Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth and Stewart rounded out the top-five. Jamie McMurray, Brian Vickers, A.J. Allmendinger, Paul Menard and Carl Edwards comprised the remainder of the top-10.
There were nine caution periods for 42 laps, with two drivers failing to finish the 206-lap race, which was extended six laps by a green-white-checkered finish.
With round five of 36 complete, Stewart leads the SHR contingent in the championship point standings. He is 17th with 127 points, 59 behind new series leader Carl Edwards. Kurt Busch is 24th with 99 points, 87 out of first. Harvick is 25th with 97 points, 89 out of first. Patrick is 27th with 92 points, 94 out of first.
The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the STP 500 on Sunday, March 30 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The race starts at 1 p.m. EDT, with live coverage provided by FOX beginning with its prerace show at 12:30 p.m.
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