NASCAR California Tuesday, February 20, 2023
Auto Club Speedway NASCAR Cup Series Stats Highlights
2022 California
Kyle Larson
2022 California winner – Started rear of field, finished 5th in Stage 1 & 2, 28 laps led
Winner pit stops: Kyle Larson (10 Stops) Lap 16, 39, 54, 68, 92, 112, 133, 153, 175, 193 (All under caution)
Longest green flag run: 19 Laps (20-38)
Top 5 Stage 1 & 2: Larson (5th & 5th), Jones (2nd & 2nd), Reddick (1st & 1st)
Speeding: A. Dillon (2nd), Kurt Busch (8th), Hamlin (15th), LaJoie (28th), Bilicki (30th)
Rear of field: Larson (1st), Logano (5th), Harvick (7th), Wallace (19th), Haley (23rd), Keselowski (27th), Chastain (29th)
Best Hendrick: Kyle Larson (1st)
Best Gibbs: Martin Truex Jr. (13th)
Best Stewart-Haas: Aric Almirola (6th)
Best Penske: Joey Logano (5th)
Most California wins: 6 Jimmie Johnson
Kyle Larson: 2 Wins last 5 California races – 3 Top 2 finishes last 5 California races
Austin Dillon: 1 Top 5 finish in 8 California races – Finished 2nd last year
Erik Jones: 1 Top 5 finish in 5 California races – Finished 3rd last year
Aric Almirola: 3 Straight California top 10 finishes
Kevin Harvick: 3 Straight California top 10 finishes
Joey Logano: 7 California top 5 finishes – Most of winless drivers
Denny Hamlin: 147 California laps led – Most of winless drivers
18 Different winners in 32 NASCAR Cup Series Auto Club Speedway races (*11 Champions)
6 Won multiple Auto Club Speedway races
4 Winners from California (12 Wins) – Jimmie Johnson (6), Jeff Gordon (3), Kyle Larson (2) & Kevin Harvick (1)
Champions winless at Auto Club Speedway: Chase Elliott & Joey Logano
Joey Logano passed for final lead change 2 of last 3 Auto Club races
15 of last 16 Auto Club races won by drivers that won championships
Only 3 of 32 Auto Club races won from the pole – Jimmie Johnson 8/08, Kyle Larson 2017 & Martin Truex Jr. 2018
2 of last 5 Auto Club races won from pole – Only 1 of previous 27 Auto Club races won from pole
4 Auto Club races settled by last lap pass
Kyle Busch won 2 Auto Club races by last lap pass (2013 & ’14)
Winner led only final lap twice – Kevin Harvick (2011) & Brad Keselowski (2015)
6 Auto Club Overtime finishes – Leader at scheduled distance won 3
Stage 1 winner went on to win 4 of 5 Auto Club races – Larson 2017, Truex Jr. 2018, Kyle Busch 2019 & Bowman 2020
Tyler Reddick won Stage 1 & 2 at 2022 Auto Club – Finished 24th
Martin Truex Jr. (2018) & Kyle Busch (2019) won Stage 1, 2 & race
Tony Stewart won first Auto Club race in 19th try (10/10) – Most of all drivers
Jeff Gordon (1997) & Jimmie Johnson (2002) are only drivers to win at Auto Club in first try
Worst official starting position of Auto Club winner: 31st – Matt Kenseth 2/06
*Kyle Larson started rear of field winning in 2022
3 of 4 Auto Club wins were first win of season for Kyle Busch
Only win of season for 3 of last 8 Auto Club winners –
Kyle Busch (2014), Brad Keselowski (2015) & Alex Bowman (2020)
2 Won first career race at Auto Club – Jimmie Johnson 2002 & Kyle Busch 9/05 (Both Hendrick Motorsports)
Jimmie Johnson (2002) & Kyle Busch (9/05) only Rookie of the Year candidates to win Auto Club race
Jimmie Johnson (10/09 & 2/10) & Kyle Busch (2013 & ’14) only drivers to win consecutive Auto Club races
Most cautions: 12 (2/08 & 2022)
Most caution laps: 59 (2022)
Closest margin of victory: .144 (2011) – Kevin Harvick over Jimmie Johnson
Auto Club speeding penalties – 2014: 8 / 2015: 3 / 2016: 8 / 2017: 2 / 2018: 2 / 2019: 4 / 2020: 2 / 2022: 6
Christopher Bell finished last in last 2 Auto Club Speedway races with engine failure
Tony Stewart won only shortened Auto Club race (2012) – 129 of 200 Laps
1 2-Day Auto Club Speedway NCS race – Started 2/24/08 (88 Laps) & Finished 2/25/08 (162 Laps)
Toyota won 2 of last 4 Auto Club races
Chevrolet won 4 of last 6 Auto Club races
Ford won only 1 of last 14 Auto Club races – Winless last 6 races
Auto Club Speedway NASCAR Xfinity Series Stats Highlights
California wins
Joe Gibbs Racing: 10
Richard Childress Racing: 2
JR Motorsports: 1
Kaulig Racing: 0
2022 Winner: Cole Custer – Started 2nd, finished 2nd in Stage 1 & Stage 2 winner, 80 laps led (most)
18 Different winners in 32 NASCAR Xfinity Series Auto Club Speedway races
8 Different teams won last 8 Auto Club races
6 Won multiple Auto Club races
3 Winners from California – Cole Custer (2019 & ’22) Kyle Larson (2014 & ‘17) & Kevin Harvick (2015)
5 of last 8 Auto Club races won by California drivers
Joe Gibbs Racing won only 1 of last 8 Auto Club races (2020) – Won previous 9 Auto Club races
Joe Gibbs Racing won 9 straight at Auto Club (2/08-3/13) – 9 Is record for consecutive wins at one track
Toyota won only 1 of last 8 Auto Club races (2020) – Won previous 9 Auto Club races
Pole won 5 of 32 Auto Club races
Joe Gibbs Racing won 7 of last 10 Auto Club Speedway poles with 7 different drivers
11 of last 17 Auto Club winners started on front row – Last 23 winners started 8th or better
24 of last 26 Auto Club NXS winners competed in Auto Club NCS race on same weekend –
Cole Custer won 2019 NXS race & Harrison Burton won 2020 NXS race
4 Drivers swept Auto Club NXS & NCS races on same weekend –
Kasey Kahne (9/06), Matt Kenseth (2/07), Kyle Busch (2013) & Kyle Larson (2017)
Only 5 Auto Club NXS winners did not compete in Auto Club NCS race same weekend
Kevin Harvick (2015) won first Auto Club race in 19th try – Most of all drivers
Todd Bodine (1997), Mark Martin (2/05), Scott Riggs (2002) & Harrison Burton (2020)
are only drivers to win Auto Club race in first try
Worst starting position of Auto Club winner: 28th – Todd Bodine 1997
3 Won first career race at Auto Club Speedway – Hank Parker Jr. (2001), Kyle Larson (2014) & Harrison Burton (2020)
Scott Riggs (2002), Carl Edwards (9/05) & Harrison Burton (2020)
only Rookie of the Year candidates to win Auto Club race
Leader of most laps failed to win 5 of last 8 Auto Club races
Mid-race leader won only 5 of last 14 Auto Club races
Leader at 10 to go mark failed to win 9 of 32 Auto Club races
3 Auto Club Speedway overtime finishes
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (1998) & Kyle Busch (2/09) only drivers to win Auto Club race & championship in same season
Stage 1 winner failed to win last 3 Auto Club races
Most cautions: 12 (2022)
Most caution laps: 58 (2022)