Excitement, thy name is sure not Fontana. Not usually. There is a reason the idea to bring the Cup folks out to the Auto Club Speedway was abandoned after just seven seasons. It is bad enough to be a yawner on television, but when that is the perception live and in person, you have got a problem.
The song ends like that every time. Same for NASCAR lately. Kevin Harvick won his third straight, maybe it was even unencumbered but we will have to wait on that. At least he was not the only car featured. Kyle Busch was strong all day and finished second. Chase Elliott was not, yet arrived later on to matter when it mattered to finish third. Not yet a win, but the result sends him back in the right direction. Denny Hamlin was a factor and, to a much lesser degree, so was pole sitter Martin Truex, Jr. as they completed our Top Five.
As Kyle Busch walked into the deadline room at ISM Raceway and stepped up to the podium, he let out an exhausted sigh of disappointment and frustration. He picked up the mic and walked everyone through the race for the lead in the final stage and the botched pit stop.
As Kevin Harvick's crew lined the outer pit wall to celebrate with him, he stood on the door of his car, leaned down and smacked the back windshield multiple times. He then craned towards the stands and pointed repeatedly down towards his back windshield, as though he was tempting fans to find something wrong with it this week.
Busch has proven himself time and again to be very competitive and to hold himself and his team to a higher regard. He's a champion. He's won on every type of venue. He's undoubtedly one of the best in the business driving for one of the best organizations in the business.
The damndest thing happened right after I submitted this for publication. The penalties came down after Las Vegas. Kevin Harvick’s team got hit. Hard. Talk about having to go back to the drawing..er..keyboard.
1. Kevin Harvick: Harvick was clearly the class of the field at Las Vegas, winning Stages 1 and 2 and leading 214 laps in winning the Pennzoil 400, his second consecutive victory. "I was untouchable," Harvick said. "The field didn't have anything for me, except inferiority. And I've led 395 of 592 laps over the last two races, which should give me the award for 'best lead actor in a series.'" Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series normally visits Las Vegas in the fall during the Playoffs, but this time they visited Vegas in the spring for the first time ever. As always, the trucks did not disappoint. Here are four takeaways from the Stratosphere 200.
The 21-year-old Garcia from Monroe, Georgia, led 104 of 250-scheduled laps and persevered through a fuel-only pit stop prior to the final stage period to become the 219th competitor to win in the Truck division.
When the checkered flag waved in Thursday night’s ARCA Menards Series East race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, Tristan McKee was crowned the 2026 series champion.
The 24-year-old Riggs from Bahama, North Carolina, was awarded the pole position for the 2026 Chase opener at Thunder Valley due to inclement weather canceling qualifying in its final stages.
