There are days when we don't even discuss the tire as we focus on the racing. Then there's days like this past Sunday at Auto Club Speedway when the tire becomes the discussion. Many drivers had a problem with the tires throughout the course of the race.
I must admit I was rather surprised to learn that The Great Gonzo, of Muppets fame, was named to be the Grand Marshall for the Auto Club 400. I found myself asking: "seriously? A Muppet puppet is going to give the command to start engines?
Okay, everyone from Goodyear engineers, NASCAR officials, crew chiefs, car chiefs, drivers, the media and the fans have had some time to digest the issue of tire wear that was presented during last Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at the Auto Club Speedway.
When it comes to watching NASCAR racing at the Auto Club Speedway, sometimes you have to be patient and wait until the waning laps of the event in order to witness the drama unfold.
Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) reassured their dominance in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series on Sunday at Fontana after team owner, Tony Stewart finished fifth and first-year SHR driver Kurt Busch placed third.
Tires, man. That was the story of the race at Fontana. If one was conservative in their set up, like those owned by Joe Gibbs, all was well. If not…well, they blew it.
The craziness started before the green flag flew to get today’s Auto Club 400 from Auto Club Speedway underway. J.D. Gibbs announced about 30 minutes prior to the command to fire engines that Denny Hamlin wouldn’t race due to a sinus infection that affected his vision.
Patrick Staropoli concluded all murmurs about him winning the PEAK Stock Car Dream Challenge was a fluke, and further ended any discussion of him not capable of performing well.
The reigning two-time Cup Series champion from Elk Grove, California, led a race-high 93 of 200 laps and fended off teammate Justin Allgaier through a 17-lap shootout to notch his second O'Reilly victory of 2026 at the Lone Star state.
Brent Crews was the top-finishing Toyota driver in the NASCAR O’Reilly Series race at Texas Motor Speedway, winning the Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus with a fourth-place result on Saturday afternoon.
The 23-year-old Hocevar from Portage, Michigan, clocked in a single qualifying lap at 191.340 mph in 28.222 seconds to claim his second consecutive Cup pole at the Lone Star state by 0.003 seconds over teammate Daniel Suarez.
