Bearden Breakdown: Truex returns to form in Fontana

By Aaron Bearden, Motorsports Editor

A breakdown of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway from Motorsports Editor Aaron Bearden.

Return to Form

Watch out, NASCAR. MTJ is back.

Martin Truex Jr. recovered from a quiet start to the season with a dominant performance at Auto Club Speedway, besting two-mile oval ace Kyle Larson and the rest of the field to claim both stages and the race win in Sunday’s Auto Club 400.

The victory was the first for Truex since his career-defining classic in the 2017 finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where he fended off a fierce challenge from Kyle Busch with a defensive drive for the ages to earn his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship. It also marked his first stage victory since September’s race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, ending a 12-race streak without a stage win.

“Everyone kept asking when we were going to win and we hadn’t won any stages yet,” Truex said. “And I said don’t worry, we are close. We just need to figure it out a little bit.”

In a fitting twist, Truex’s win in Fontana came after another classic battle with Busch. The duo combined to lead 187 of the race’s 200 laps, dueling for the victory throughout the middle stages of the race.

The New Jersey native’s ascendance to the lead came on the final run to the checkered flag. He passed Busch on Lap 169, driving off to the race win as Busch faded down the stretch.

“We were just fighting hard and never gave up on it,” Truex said of his battle with Busch. “I knew we really had a good racecar after the first adjustment of the race. The thing just came alive. From there it was just about managing my tires and being smart.”

Truex earned the maximum 60 points after his dominant day, elevating him to the top of the regular season point standings. He leads second-place Busch by nine points heading to Martinsville Speedway.

The veteran claimed seven playoff points to put toward his playoff pursuit, making the first step toward building another dominant postseason advantage.

Most importantly, Truex and Furniture Row Racing have their swagger back. That bodes well for them leaving the West Coast Swing and heading into the rest of the year.

“You just never know in this sport,” Truex said. “Things change so fast and you have the off season and you never know if you will lose your mojo.

“For us, this group works hard and we get a lot of support from Toyota. We have a great partnership with JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) which certainly makes this possible. Without all of the people involved, we wouldn’t be able to do it.

“It takes so much. I am just glad we were able to come back here this season and start off strong and consistent, putting ourselves in that conversation.”

A Sign of Weakness

A total of 37 stars made their way to Fontana for the final leg of the West Coast Swing, but two were considered heavy favorites to claim the event.

The first was Larson – the two-mile king. The Chip Ganassi Racing star had claimed four-straight wins at two-mile ovals, dating back to his first Cup win at Michigan International Speedway in 2016. Larson hadn’t always dominated the events, but he consistently found a way to be in the right spot to make a winning move when it counted.

Second on the list of favorites was Kevin Harvick. The 2014 Cup champion had just one win at Auto Club coming into the weekend, but he arrived in California fresh off of his third-consecutive victory at ISM Raceway.

Sure, one of the wins had been deemed encumbered – or whatever the proper term may be. But Harvick had bounced back the following week with another triumph, jokingly smacking the back of his car in protest afterward.

Larson had led 249 laps during his four-race win streak on two-mile ovals. Harvick had paced 433 circuits during his three-race win streak entering Fontana.

Neither would lead a lap on Sunday.

Harvick and Larson both showed speed early on, but they were each set back by the other after a collision between the two eliminated Harvick from contention and forced Larson to continue on with minor damage.

#NASCARreplay: Take another look at the contact between @KevinHarvick and @KyleLarsonRacin.#NASCARGoesWest | FOX pic.twitter.com/jBUsVou0jK

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) March 18, 2018

Harvick took the blame for the crash after the race.

“I went down to side draft and he was coming up and we touched, and it just knocked the thing to the right and spun out,” Harvick said. “I don’t know that it’s his fault.  I think that’s my fault for coming down the race track right there and trying to side draft and then as we touch it just came back up the race track.

“I was just trying to get a little too much right there.”

Larson echoed Harvick’s sentiments, saying, “Kevin and I had our issue there down the backstretch, just racing hard, side drafting each other for a few laps.  I think he came down to maybe side draft down me, got in my right rear, it spun him pretty quick.”

Regardless of fault, the incident brought a disappointing end to one of the most intriguing storylines of the weekend. Harvick was seemingly marching his way to the front, having risen from outside of the top 10 into the top three as Stage 1 neared its end.

Harvick appeared poised to contend for another win. Instead he ended up wrecked in 35th.

The veteran’s competitors were left grasping at thoughts of “what if” when asked about Harvick after the race.

“It’s so hard to tell early in the race, but just the little bit I was around Kevin, I felt like he still had the best car,” Larson said. “Who’s to say, though?  Didn’t get to really race a whole lot.”

Truex had a dominant car, and there’s a good chance that Harvick being in the field would have done little to change that. But his early exit from the race eliminated the possibility before either driver had a chance to answer the question with certainty.

Larson continued on to mount another strong late charge, but this time he fell short. Way short.

The Californian finished second, but he was a whopping 11.685 seconds behind Truex at race’s end. The phenom known as ‘Yung Money’ will have to wait until Michigan in June to reclaim his two-mile crown.

“It was good to get all the way to second,” he said. “Would have liked to be one spot better, but we couldn’t even see Martin.  Got to be a little bit better.”

Quick Shots

He may have suffered through a subpar day in Fontana, but make no mistake – Harvick is still among the favorites moving forward to Martinsville and beyond.

Even Larson acknowledged Harvick’s strength this season, saying “he’ll be good every weekend.”

The Bakersfield, California native sits just eighth in the standings despite his three wins, but his car has shown speed at every race on the circuit. Assuming that remains the case moving forward, Harvick and Stewart-Haas Racing should be able to shrug off their Fontana struggles and continue to lead the way moving forward.

Kyle Busch again found himself coming under scrutiny for what appeared to be an avoidance of a TV interview and media center responsibilities after his third-place finish in Sunday’s event. But in the time after the race Busch both explained his side of the incident and, in an interesting twist, offered his take on a solution.

The 2015 Cup champ’s plan is simple. Have the Top Five finishers all complete post-race television interviews, and bring the top three drivers to the media center after each event.

Busch’s idea offered a rare request from a driver – asking for more driver availability as opposed to less. That would be a welcome change for the media that cover the sport.

While in theory any driver can be reached following a race, the truth for those that cover NASCAR is that we rarely have enough time to talk to more than one or two drivers at length. Most Cup drivers stay on pit road for somewhere in the range of five-to-10 minutes, debriefing with their team and offering limited availability for any reporters on pit road. A few traditionally stick around a bit longer, and the top two drivers and a “storyline” driver go the media center after the race.

The process is acceptable, but it can make tracking the 30+ stars of the Cup Series a challenge. The time of availability is smaller than less consistent than many other sports, such as college basketball, which Associated Press writer Jenna Fryer pointed out offers a lengthy time of availability in the locker room after teams are given a period of time to cool off.

Perhaps a similar model could be applied to NASCAR. Other forms of motorsport offer something comparable with their media bullpens, so the thought isn’t beyond the realm of feasibility – though the size of NASCAR’s field and current “leave quick” mentality would make it a challenge.

If nothing else, a slight alteration to add clarification for the third-place driver would be a nice touch, so both the driver and media know with certainty whether they’ll be sent to the media center or not. This isn’t a complaint – the process isn’t broken by any means –  but the opportunity for slight improvements certainly exists.

Ford and Toyota continued their dominant performances up front, but Chevrolet showed a bit more promise this week than they have in most races since the Daytona 500.

Jimmie Johnson finally looked somewhat reminiscent of his old self, earning points in both of the day’s two stages and scoring his first top 10 of the year with an eighth-place result. The run was far removed from the victory he earned in California in 2016, but it offered a step in the right direction after the veteran’s dreadful start to the season.

Daytona 500 champion Austin Dillon also looked a bit more like the playoff contender of the prior two seasons, running on the lead lap and scoring his first top 10 since his Florida win with a 10th-place run.

The improvements were minor for both drivers, but their effects were noticeable. Dillon’s top 10 kept him 12th in the championship standings, within sight of the top 10 and bonus playoff points at the regular season’s end. Johnson’s result stopped the bleeding from a brutal start to the year, moving him up to 18th in the standings with just 18 points separating the Californian from the current playoff grid.

The run still wasn’t enough for the Bowties. They placed only one driver inside of the top five, led just three laps and never held any strong chance to claim a victory.

But considering how poorly the manufacturer had ran in recent weeks, Fontana was another small step forward. Those are the sorts of minor improvements they’re going to need to make if they hope to contend with Ford and Toyota when the playoffs arrive this fall.