2020 Auto Club 400
# 2020 Auto Club 400

The 2020 Auto Club 400 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on March 1, 2020, at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Contested over 200 laps on the two-mile (3.2 km) D-shaped oval, it was the third race of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season.

## Report

### Background

Auto Club Speedway (formerly California Speedway) is a 2 miles (3.2 km), low-banked, D-shaped oval superspeedway in Fontana, California which has hosted NASCAR racing annually since 1997. It is also used for open wheel racing events. The racetrack is located near the former locations of Ontario Motor Speedway and Riverside International Raceway. The track is owned and operated by International Speedway Corporation and is the only track owned by ISC to have naming rights sold. The speedway is served by the nearby Interstate 10 and Interstate 15 freeways as well as a Metrolink station located behind the backstretch.

**Entry list**

* (R) denotes rookie driver.
* (i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.

| No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer |
| - | - | - | - |
| 00 | Quin Houff (R) | StarCom Racing | Chevrolet |
| 1 | Kurt Busch | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet |
| 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford |
| 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet |
| 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford |
| 6 | Ross Chastain (i) | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford |
| 8 | Tyler Reddick (R) | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet |
| 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford |
| 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
| 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford |
| 13 | Ty Dillon | Germain Racing | Chevrolet |
| 14 | Clint Bowyer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford |
| 15 | Brennan Poole (R) | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 17 | Chris Buescher | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford |
| 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
| 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
| 20 | Erik Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
| 21 | Matt DiBenedetto | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford |
| 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford |
| 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 32 | Corey LaJoie | Go Fas Racing | Ford |
| 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford |
| 37 | Ryan Preece | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet |
| 38 | John Hunter Nemechek (R) | Front Row Motorsports | Ford |
| 41 | Cole Custer (R) | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford |
| 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet |
| 43 | Bubba Wallace | Richard Petty Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet |
| 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 51 | Garrett Smithley | Petty Ware Racing | Chevrolet |
| 52 | J. J. Yeley (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Ford |
| 53 | Joey Gase (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Ford |
| 66 | Timmy Hill (i) | MBM Motorsports | Toyota |
| 77 | Reed Sorenson | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 88 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 95 | Christopher Bell (R) | Leavine Family Racing | Toyota |
| 96 | Daniel Suárez | Gaunt Brothers Racing | Toyota |
| Official entry list ||||

## Practice

### First practice

Alex Bowman was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 40.125 seconds and a speed of 179.439 mph (288.779 km/h).

| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Time | Speed |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 40.125 | 179.439 |
| 2 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 40.517 | 177.703 |
| 3 | 8 | Tyler Reddick (R) | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 40.539 | 177.607 |
| Official first practice results |||||||

### Final practice

Alex Bowman was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 40.764 seconds and a speed of 176.626 mph (284.252 km/h).

| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Time | Speed |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 40.764 | 176.626 |
| 2 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 40.866 | 176.186 |
| 3 | 43 | Bubba Wallace | Richard Petty Motorsports | Chevrolet | 40.868 | 176.177 |
| Official final practice results |||||||

## Qualifying

Clint Bowyer scored the pole for the race with a time of 40.086 and a speed of 179.614 mph (289.061 km/h).

### Qualifying results

| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Time |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 40.086 |
| 2 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 40.093 |
| 3 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 40.143 |
| 4 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 40.233 |
| 5 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 40.250 |
| 6 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 40.280 |
| 7 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 40.284 |
| 8 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 40.304 |
| 9 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 40.341 |
| 10 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 40.351 |
| 11 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 40.367 |
| 12 | 21 | Matt DiBenedetto | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 40.428 |
| 13 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 40.485 |
| 14 | 43 | Bubba Wallace | Richard Petty Motorsports | Chevrolet | 40.487 |
| 15 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 40.491 |
| 16 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 40.503 |
| 17 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 40.516 |
| 18 | 41 | Cole Custer (R) | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 40.519 |
| 19 | 8 | Tyler Reddick (R) | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 40.583 |
| 20 | 37 | Ryan Preece | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 40.587 |
| 21 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 40.610 |
| 22 | 95 | Christopher Bell (R) | Leavine Family Racing | Toyota | 40.698 |
| 23 | 38 | John Hunter Nemechek (R) | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 40.699 |
| 24 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 40.738 |
| 25 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 40.750 |
| 26 | 32 | Corey LaJoie | Go Fas Racing | Ford | 40.761 |
| 27 | 6 | Ross Chastain (i) | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 40.783 |
| 28 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 40.790 |
| 29 | 20 | Erik Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 40.955 |
| 30 | 52 | J. J. Yeley (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 41.484 |
| 31 | 96 | Daniel Suárez | Gaunt Brothers Racing | Toyota | 41.511 |
| 32 | 15 | Brennan Poole (R) | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 41.819 |
| 33 | 77 | Reed Sorenson | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 41.975 |
| 34 | 53 | Joey Gase (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 42.375 |
| 35 | 00 | Quin Houff (R) | StarCom Racing | Chevrolet | 42.657 |
| 36 | 51 | Garrett Smithley | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 42.842 |
| 37 | 66 | Timmy Hill (i) | MBM Motorsports | Toyota | 43.729 |
| 38 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 0.000 |
| Official qualifying results ||||||

## Race

### Stage Results

Stage One Laps: 60

| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 2 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 9 |
| 3 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 7 |
| 5 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 6 |
| 6 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 5 |
| 7 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 4 |
| 8 | 21 | Matt DiBenedetto | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 3 |
| 9 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 2 |
| 10 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 1 |
| Official stage one results ||||||

Stage Two Laps: 60

| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 10 |
| 2 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 9 |
| 3 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 7 |
| 5 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 6 |
| 6 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 5 |
| 7 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 4 |
| 8 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 3 |
| 9 | 20 | Erik Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 2 |
| 10 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 1 |
| Official stage two results ||||||

### Final Stage Results

Stage Three Laps: 80

| Pos | Grid | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 3 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 200 | 59 |
| 2 | 17 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 200 | 40 |
| 3 | 4 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 200 | 40 |
| 4 | 13 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 200 | 40 |
| 5 | 15 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 200 | 44 |
| 6 | 28 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 200 | 34 |
| 7 | 2 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 200 | 46 |
| 8 | 6 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 200 | 36 |
| 9 | 5 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 200 | 29 |
| 10 | 29 | 20 | Erik Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 200 | 29 |
| 11 | 19 | 8 | Tyler Reddick (R) | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 200 | 26 |
| 12 | 7 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 200 | 29 |
| 13 | 12 | 21 | Matt DiBenedetto | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 200 | 27 |
| 14 | 38 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 200 | 29 |
| 15 | 21 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 200 | 22 |
| 16 | 11 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 200 | 21 |
| 17 | 27 | 6 | Ross Chastain (i) | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 200 | 0 |
| 18 | 18 | 41 | Cole Custer (R) | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 199 | 19 |
| 19 | 16 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 199 | 37 |
| 20 | 10 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 199 | 17 |
| 21 | 9 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 199 | 16 |
| 22 | 8 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 199 | 15 |
| 23 | 1 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 199 | 14 |
| 24 | 25 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 199 | 13 |
| 25 | 23 | 38 | John Hunter Nemechek (R) | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 199 | 12 |
| 26 | 24 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 199 | 11 |
| 27 | 14 | 43 | Bubba Wallace | Richard Petty Motorsports | Chevrolet | 198 | 10 |
| 28 | 31 | 96 | Daniel Suárez | Gaunt Brothers Racing | Toyota | 198 | 9 |
| 29 | 26 | 32 | Corey LaJoie | Go Fas Racing | Ford | 197 | 8 |
| 30 | 20 | 37 | Ryan Preece | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 197 | 7 |
| 31 | 30 | 52 | J. J. Yeley (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 197 | 0 |
| 32 | 32 | 15 | Brennan Poole (R) | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 195 | 5 |
| 33 | 34 | 53 | Joey Gase (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 193 | 0 |
| 34 | 36 | 51 | Garrett Smithley | Petty Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 193 | 3 |
| 35 | 35 | 00 | Quin Houff (R) | StarCom Racing | Chevrolet | 192 | 2 |
| 36 | 33 | 77 | Reed Sorenson | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 191 | 1 |
| 37 | 37 | 66 | Timmy Hill (i) | MBM Motorsports | Toyota | 184 | 0 |
| 38 | 22 | 95 | Christopher Bell (R) | Leavine Family Racing | Toyota | 80 | 1 |
| Official race results ||||||||

### Race statistics

* Lead changes: 16 among 8 different drivers
* Cautions/Laps: 3 for 13
* Red flags: 0
* Time of race: 2 hours, 37 minutes and 7 seconds
* Average speed: 152.753 miles per hour (245.832 km/h)

## Media

### Television

The race was the 20th race Fox Sports covered at the Auto Club Speedway. Mike Joy and three-time Auto Club winner Jeff Gordon called the race in the booth for Fox. Jamie Little, Regan Smith, Vince Welch and Matt Yocum handled the pit road duties for the television side. Larry McReynolds and Jamie McMurray provided insight from the Fox Sports studio in Charlotte.

Fox :

| Booth announcers | Pit reporters | In-race analysts |
| - | - | - |
| Lap-by-lap: Mike Joy Color-commentator: Jeff Gordon | Jamie Little Regan Smith Vince Welch Matt Yocum | Larry McReynolds Jamie McMurray |

### Radio

MRN had the radio call for the race, which was also simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle and 2001 race winner Rusty Wallace called the race from the booth when the field raced their way down the front stretch. Dan Hubbard called the race from a billboard outside turn 2 when the field raced their way through turns 1 and 2 & Kyle Rickey called the race from a billboard outside turn 3 when the field raced their way through turns 3 and 4. Kim Coon, Steve Post and Dillon Welch had the pit road duties for MRN.

MRN :

| Booth announcers | Turn announcers | Pit reporters |
| - | - | - |
| Lead announcer: Alex Hayden Announcer: Jeff Striegle Announcer: Rusty Wallace | Turns 1 & 2: Dan Hubbard Turns 3 & 4: Kyle Rickey | Kim Coon Steve Post Dillon Welch |

## Standings after the race

| | Pos | Driver | Points |
| - | - | - | - |
| | 1 | Ryan Blaney | 122 |
| | 2 | Joey Logano | 111 (–11) |
| 11 | 3 | Alex Bowman | 110 (–12) |
| 1 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | 110 (–12) |
| 6 | 5 | Jimmie Johnson | 106 (–16) |
| | 6 | Chase Elliott | 105 (–17) |
| 2 | 7 | Denny Hamlin | 94 (–28) |
| 2 | 8 | Matt DiBenedetto | 87 (–35) |
| 5 | 9 | Kyle Larson | 86 (–36) |
| 7 | 10 | Aric Almirola | 84 (–38) |
| 3 | 11 | Chris Buescher | 82 (–40) |
| 7 | 12 | Brad Keselowski | 82 (–40) |
| 3 | 13 | Martin Truex Jr. | 79 (–43) |
| 7 | 14 | Austin Dillon | 76 (–46) |
| 10 | 15 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 73 (–49) |
| 3 | 16 | Clint Bowyer | 70 (–52) |
| Official driver's standings ||||
| Pos | Manufacturer | Points |
| 1 | Ford | 107 |
| 2 | Chevrolet | 104 (–3) |
| 3 | Toyota | 97 (–10) |
