Many times a change needs to be made to make things better. It’s like making a change in policy for safety reasons, or changing something on a car to make it perform better.
For NASCAR, a change was made at the Auto Club Speedway last fall to bring some excitement to the track.
I’ll be the first to admit, I hate boring races. I watch them because I love this sport, but watching a race that makes people yawn, and wait for the checkered flag is not fun one bit. The Auto Club Speedway was one of those tracks needing to make a change; in fact, many changes.
Having two races at this track soon began to show as a bad decision. From 1999 through 2003, this track sold out every race it hosted. Beginning in 2004, with the first of two schedule realignments, it hosted two races. One came in the spring, the other came late summer, and then moved to early fall.
Its a catastrophic failure to say the least. Less than stellar crowds are what greeted the drivers. That, and the fact the race was 500 miles made for a long afternoon, or evening in some cases.
Let’s be honest, there are some tracks that have races that are far too long, and the Auto Club Speedway is one. However, when NASCAR reworked the schedule for 2010, they took step one in that process. The second race at California was shortened to 400 miles, and it made for a much better race because it changed the complexion of the action, and the strategies of the teams. Then, when the schedule was made for 2011, they completed step two as the track now hosted one race during the year, and it was moved to a later date to avoid any weather issues.
The move showed to be the best of both worlds on Sunday. The crowd was better than anticipated, even by some standards. It was estimated that close to 90,000 people came to the race despite the early morning rain, and the constant cloud cover.
Shortening the race made for a great finish. Normally this race would come down to one of two scenarios. It either comes down to who can squeeze out every last drop of fuel in the tank, or it is who has the fastest car when it matters the most.
Last fall, the fastest car won the race. But this time, the fastest car all afternoon fell victim to a few drivers who were fastest when it mattered the most.
Kyle Busch once again was the top dog in this race, leading the most laps. He held the lead late in the going, but he couldn’t hold it. Jimmie Johnson made the pass with three laps to go, and seemed to have the best spot. But Kevin Harvick came charging up after the white flag, knowing that he lost this race last year because he ran too hard, too quick.
This time, he made the move at the right time, pushing Johnson into the corner, and then running high to make the pass out of the final corner.
It took eight years for NASCAR to see the reality that California was not the best choice to host two races in a season. Sunday’s Auto Club 400 proved that fact.
RESULTS: 1-Harvick 2-Johnson 3-Kyle Busch 4-Kenseth 5-Newman 6-Edwards 7-Bowyer 8-Vickers 9-Kahne 10-Montoya
NOTABLE FINISHES: 12-Earnhardt Jr. 13-Stewart 17-Kurt Busch 18-Gordon 20-Martin 39-Hamlin
CAUTIONS: 4 for 16 laps. Lap 76-79 (Debris), 104-107 (Debris), 172-174 (#71 spin-T4), 187-191 (#47 accident-T2)
LEAD CHANGES: 18 among 10 drivers. Montoya 1-6, Hamlin 7-21, Kyle Busch 22-31, Montoya 32, Bowyer 33, Johnson 34, Yeley 35-36, Kyle Busch 37-66, Truex Jr. 67, Stewart 68-69, Kyle Busch 70-76, Stewart 77-79, Newman 80-87, Stewart 88-91, Kyle Busch 92-137, Stewart 138-139, Kyle Busch 140-197, Johnson 198-199, Harvick 200.
TIME OF RACE: 2 Hrs, 39 Mins, 6 Secs.
AVERAGE SPEED: 150.849 MPH
MARGIN OF VICTORY: 0.144 Seconds
POINT STANDINGS (Top 12): 1. Edwards, 187 points; 2. Newman, -9; 3. Kurt Busch, -10; 4. Kyle Busch, -11; 5. Johnson, -14; 6. Stewart, -17; 7. Menard, -23; 8. Montoya, -26; 9. Harvick, -30; 10. Kenseth, -30; 11. Kahne, -30; 12. Earnhardt Jr, -31.
