One last race on the west coast for the Xfinity Series before heading back east and a few weeks off to recouperate and rebuild.
It’s the California 300 from Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.
After 13 of the Monster Energy Cup Series cars failed to qualify for the Auto Club 400 on Sunday, NASCAR has issued the ruling that any Xfinity Series team that does not make a qualifying run will start at the rear of the field and must make a pass through penalty once the green flag drops.
The Xfinity Series brought 40 cars to Fontana, so all teams will be in the race.
After two rounds of qualifying rookie Christopher Bell will sit on the pole and lead the field to the green flag. This is Bell’s third pole in the 2018 racing season.
The starting lineup for the California 300:
Christopher Bell
Joey Logano
John Hunter Nemechek
Cole Custer
Daniel Hemric
Justin Allgaier
Ryan Reed
Ryan Preece
Brandon Jones
Ryan Truex
Elliott Sadler
Kaz Grala
Ross Chastain
Austin Cindric
Spencer Gallagher
Tyler Reddick
Ryan Sieg
Michael Annett
Austin Dillon
Matt Tifft
Alex Labe
Jeremy Clements
Joey Gase
J.J. Yeley
Garrett Smithley
BJ McLeod
Josh Williams
Chad Finchen
Spencer Boyd
Matt Mills
Tommy Joe Martins
Jeff Green
Morgan Shepherd
Vinnie Miller
Timmy Hill
David Starr
Stephen Leicht
Josh Bilicki
Mike Harmon
Dylan Lupton
Nearly one third of the field has never run on Auto Club Speedway before.
Monster Energy Cup Series driver Brad Keselowski joins FOX broadcasters Adam Alexander and Michael Waltrip in the broadcast booth for the race.
Stages one and two of the race are 35 laps each with stage three lasting 80 laps.
Polesitter Christopher Bell brings the field down for the green flag and holds on to the lead with Joey Logano in second. The drivers quickly get four and five wide across the wide track.
Lap three Christopher Bell has a tenth of a second lead on Joey Logano with Cole Custer in third, John Hunter Nemechek in fourth and Justin Allgaier in fifth.
Lap five Joey Logano gets around Christopher Bell to take over the lead of the race. Cole Custer is in third, Justin Allgaier in fourth, and John Hunter Nemechek is in fifth.
Lap eight Joey Logano has a one second lead on Christopher Bell with Cole Custer in third, Justin Allgaier in fourth, and John Hunter Nemechek in fifth. Xfintiy Series points leader Elliott Sadler is in ninth.
Lap 14 Joey Logano continues to lead the race and has a two second lead on Cole Custer with Justin Allgaier in third, Christopher Bell in fourth, and Tyler Reddick in fifth.
Lap 17 Joey Logano holds on to a two second lead on Cole Custer; Justin Allgaier, Christopher Bell, and Tyler Reddick round out the top five.
Lap 20 Joey Logano has increased his lead to three seconds over Cole Custer with Justin Allgaier, Christopher Bell, and Tyler Reddick rounding out the top five.
Lap 26 and Joey Logano has pulled out to a lead of over four seconds on Cole Custer.
Driving it like he stole it, Joey Logano is over 18 seconds ahead of tenth place driver Ryan Truex.
Lap 28 Joey Logano leads second place driver Justin Allgaier by over five seconds with Cole Custer in third, Tyler Reddick in fourth, and Elliott Sadler in fifth.
Matt Mills brings out the first caution flag of the race when he hits the wall.
With Matt Mills’ car up against the wall, stage one will end under the caution flag with Joey Logano winning the stage.
The top 10 at the end of stage one:
Joey Logano
Justin Allgiaer
Cole ucster
Elliott Sadler
Tyler Reddick
Christopher Bell
John Hunter Nemechek
Daniel Hemrick
Ross Chastian
Ryan Truex
With a pit stop of 15.1 seconds, Joey Logano wins the race off of pit road.
Joey Logano brings the field down for the green flag start of stage two on lap 41 and pulls out in front of the field for the lead with Justin Allgaier in second.
Lap 43 Joey Logano has a one second lead on Justin Allgaier; there are 23 cars on the lead lap.
Lap 45 Joey Logano has a two second lead on Justin Allgaier with Tyler Reddick in third, Cole Custer in fourth, and Christopher Bell in fifth.
Lap 48 Joey Logano has pulled out to a lead of nearly two and a half seconds on Justin Allgaier with 23 cars on the lead lap.
Lap 51 Justin Allgaier and Cole Custer battle it out for second place with Joey Logano in the lead by over three and a half seconds.
Lap 53 Joey Logano now has a lead of over fur second on Tyler Reddick.
Lap 58, Joey Logano’s lead is down ot less than three seconds over Tyler Reddick with Christopher Bell, Justin Allgaier, and Elliott Sadler rounding out the top five.
Lap 61, Joey Logano holds on to the lead with Tyler Reddick two seconds behind; Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, and Justin Allgaier rounding out the top five.
Lap 65 Joey Logano’s lead is down to less than two seconds on Tyler Reddick. Ryan Reed’s car is smoking.
With only four laps remaining in stage two, there are 22 cars on the lead lap.
The caution flag comes out on lap 68 when John Hunter Nemechek blows a tire. He had been reporting a vibration in his car.
Joey Logano wins stage two under caution.
The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Joey Logano
Tyler Reddick
Christopher Bell
Elliott Sadler
Justin Allgaier
Cole Custer
Daniel Hemric
Austin Dillon
Ryan Preece
Michael Annett
Joey Logano wins the race off of pit road to continue his dominance of the race.
Joey Logano brings the field down for the green flag start of stage three on lap 75 with Joey Logano and Tyler Reddick battling it out for the lead with Joey Logano edging out for the lead.
Lap 80 Joey Logano has pulled out to a lead of over a second on Tyler Reddick with Christopher Bell in third, Austin Dillon in fourth, and Justin Allgaier in fifth. There are 21 cars on the lead lap.
Sixty laps remaining in the race, Joey Logano has a lead of over a second on Tyler Reddick; Christopher Bell, Justin Allgaier, and Cole Custer round out the top five.
Only 55 laps remaining in the race, Joey Logano continues to dominate the race.
Christopher Bell brings out the caution flag when he spins out and hits the wall and makes a trip through the grass with 52 laps remaining in the race.
The teams are on the edge of their pit window for making it to the end of the race.
Joey Logano again wins the race off of pit road and will bring the field down for the green flag restart.
Joey Logano brings the field down for the green flag restart with 48 laps remaining in the race. Tyler Reddick battle Joey Logano for the lead but Logano pulls out in front to hold on to the lead of the race.
The drivers are getting four and five wide across the track.
Michael Annett and Christopher Bell get into a wreck and bring out the fourth caution flag of the day. Both drivers hit the wall.
Joey Logano brings the field down for the green flag restart with 42 laps remaining in the race; the drivers get three wide battling for the lead but Joey Logano edges them out for the lead.
Dylan Lupton brings out the caution flag with 41 laps to go when he blows an engine in his backup car after wrecking during qualifying.
Once pit road opens, Joey Logano stays out but the remainder of the field comes down pit road for fresh tires.
Justin Allgaier wins the race off of pit road.
Joey Logano brings the field down for the green flag restart with only 36 laps remaining in the race and edges out to hold on to his lead of the race.
Thirty to go, Joey Logano continues his domination of the race as drivers battle for position behind him He has a lead of only a tenth of a second on Justin Allgaier with Elliott Sadler in third, Cole Custer in fourth, and Brandon Jones in fifth.
The caution comes out for debris on the track – a large piece of debris.
Last caution, Joey Logano and Brandon Jones were the only drivers that did not come down pit road. This pit stop Joey Logano brought his car down pit road and will restart the race in 16th.
Justin Allgaier brings the field down for the green flag. restart with only 26 laps remaining in the race.
Elliott Sadler passes Justin Allgaier to take the lead of the race. With 25 laps remaining in the race, Joey Logano has put his car in the top 10.
Lap 24, Joey Logano is in third place.
Only 23 laps remaining in the race, Elliott Sadler leads the race with Joey Logano up to second place and challenges Elliott Sadler for the lead.
With 22 laps remaining in the race, Joey Logano passes Elliott Sadler for the lead.
Twenty to go, Joey Logano has a lead of over a second on Elliott Sadler with Justin Allgaier, Cole Custer, and Daniel Hemric rounding out the top five.
Sixteen to go, Joey Logano has a lead of over a second on Elliott Sadler.
Fifteen to go and Justin Allgaier passes Elliott Sadler for second with Joey Logano out front by nearly two seconds.
The seventh caution flag comes out with only eleven laps remaining in the race when Austin Cindric blows a tire and leaves debris on the track.
With one last set of fresh tires in the pits, all of the drivers come down pit road for tires.
After not taking any tires, Ryan Sieg wins the race off of pit road.
Ryan Sieg brings the field down for the green flag restart with only eight laps remaining in the race but Joey Logano quickly takes over the lead of the race with Justin Allgaier and Elliott Sadler battling it out for second. Ryan Sieg is falling through the field.
Five to go and Joey Logano has a one second lead on Justin Allgaier.
Three to go, Joey Logano has a lead of over a second on Justin Allgaier.
Joey Logano takes the white flag.
After dominating the race – leading 139 laps -, Joey Logano wins the California 300 and earns car owner Roger Penske his first ever Xfinity Series win at Auto Club Speedway.
Kaz Grala wrecks on the last lap and hits the wall hard.
The unofficial results of the California 300:
Joey Logano
Justin Allgaier
Elliott Sadler
Austin Dillon
Daniel Hemric
Cole Custer
Tyler Reddick
Matt Tifft
Ryan Preece
Ross Chastin
Spencer Gallagher
Ryan Truex
Brandon Jones
Kaz Grala
Jeremy Clements
Joey Gase
Ryan Reed
Michael Annett
Alex Labbe
Ryan Sieg
Christopher Bell
BJ McLeod
Garrett Smithley
Tommy Joe Martins
Josh Williams
David Starr
Vinnie Miller
Austin Cindric
John Hunter Nemechek
Spencer Boyd
Stephen Leicht
Josh Bilicki
Dylan Lupton
J.J. Yeley
Timmy Hill
Chad Finchum
Matt Mills
Morgan Shepherd
Jeff Green
Mike Harmon