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 [February 27, 2023]
Kyle Busch, in just his second regular-season start for his new
team, took the lead with 21 laps left Sunday and won the Pala Casino
400 in the final NASCAR Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway in
Fontana, Calif.
After having a good Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet in the
Daytona 500 but wrecking at the end, Busch won for the fifth time
overall at ACS but first in the No. 8 for RCR by passing Michael
McDowell, who stayed out hoping for a late caution.
Busch, 37, beat Chase Elliott by about three seconds for his 61st
career win. He won a Cup race for the 19th consecutive season -- a
NASCAR record.
"It ranks high," Busch said of the triumph, "because I can do it. I
never doubted myself, but sometimes you do. You kind of get down and
you wonder what's happening."
Busch and Ross Chastain came out of the pits together with 33
circuits to go, but third-place finisher Chastain fell way off the
pace set by the Las Vegas native Busch and dropped seven seconds
back.
"He got faster," said Chastain, who led a race-high 91 laps. "I
thought we did everything right."
Daniel Suarez and Kevin Harvick completed the top five as Chevrolet
swept the top four spots.
The 47-year-old Harvick, a native of Bakersfield, Calif., started in
his 750th consecutive Cup Series race and was the top-finishing
Ford.
With ACS' land recently sold by NASCAR and the sanctioning body
retaining just 89 acres with plans for a short track, the 36 drivers
prepared to dial in their cars as they embarked on one final 200-lap
run around the speedway an hour east of Los Angeles.
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Feb 26, 2023; Fontana, California, USA;
NASCAR Cup Series driver Joey Logano (22) and driver Ross Chastain
(1) drive for position during the Pala Casino 400 at Auto Club
Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Chastain was able to maneuver his No. 1 Chevrolet
to win Stage 1. The 65-lap first stage was an important one, since
the exhibition Clash at the tiny Los Angeles Coliseum short track
and last Sunday's Daytona 500 at the massive, high-speed
superspeedway were unusual races and not indicative of the 36-race
schedule.
A Lap 87 restart triggered the race's biggest incident with Joey
Logano out front.
In a wild 10-car melee -- uncommon at the spacious track, where
drivers logged pace laps five-wide before the first green flag --
Logano didn't get on the throttle right away, and the cars behind
him began to check up.
Christopher Bell's No. 20 Toyota received the worst damage in the
largest wreck by number of cars in the track's 33-race history.
Chastain set a blistering pace in Stage 2, beating Busch to the line
by over six seconds.
--Field Level Media
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