Alex Bowman won the Auto Club 400 from the Auto Club Speedway on Sunday afternoon.
Bowman dominated throughout the weekend and led a race-high 110 laps. Bowman unloaded fast on Friday, and he ran fast laps throughout both practices and qualified towards the front of the field.
Bowman said this was the second week in a row where his team was fast from start to finish.
“We’ve unloaded the last two weeks; I don’t think we’ve got a change in the racecar from how it came off the truck,” Bowman said. “[Crew chief] Greg Ives and all the guys are just on point.”
Bowman said this victory is a statement for all the hard work his team has put in since his first win last June.
“The first one…was a really enjoyable experience, and then we sucked for six months,” Bowman said. “We started this year so strong; I feel like I’ve got a lot of things on my side that I’m doing better.”
Kyle Busch finished second on Sunday after struggling with his car’s handling throughout the weekend.
Busch said his team is continuing to work on their speed.
“We have a lot of work to do,” Busch said. “It wasn’t a second-place car, but thankfully we got a good finish out of it.”
Ryan Blaney seemed like he had the only car that could challenge Bowman, but he needed to pit for tires with two laps to go after shredding the right-rear tire.
Blaney, who finished second in the first two races of the season, said he wasn’t frustrated with the early season misfortune.
“I didn’t see any frustration,” Blaney said. “Just corded a right-rear there at the end and gave up a good finish. That one didn’t work out in our favor…just unfortunate end to the day, again.”
Unofficial results:
- Alex Bowman
- Kyle Busch
- Kurt Busch
- Chase Elliott
- Brad Keselowski
- Denny Hamlin
- Jimmie Johnson
- Aric Almirola
- Kevin Harvick
- Erik Jones
- Tyler Reddick
- Joey Logano
- Matt DiBenedetto
- Martin Truex Jr.
- William Byron
- Chris Buescher
- Ross Chastain
- Cole Custer
- Ryan Blaney
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Kyle Larson
- Michael McDowell
- Clint Bowyer
- Austin Dillon
- John Hunter Nemechek
- Ty Dillon
- Bubba Wallace
- Daniel Suarez
- Corey LaJoie
- Ryan Preece
- JJ Yeley
- Brennan Poole
- Joey Gase
- Garrett Smithley
- Quin Houff
- Reed Sorenson
- Timmy Hill
- Christopher Bell
