Kyle Busch wins last NASCAR Cup race on Auto Club two-mile oval

As farewells go, it was chilly. And weepy.

The Fontana air had a pronounced chunk Sunday for the final NASCAR race on the venerable two-mile Auto Club Speedway oval, lower than 24 hours after snow improbably blanketed a lot of the Inland Empire.

The observe wept, and that isn’t an try at personification. Trapped rainwater from the previous couple of days seeped from underneath cracks and seams within the porous, 26-year-old asphalt, forming what drivers name “weepers” — slick, moist spots that may trigger a driver to lose management, particularly when tire treads turn into worn.

But the observe was drivable, and opponents can learn it and weep: Kyle Busch ended a mini stoop, profitable going away.

Who could possibly be stunned that Busch took the final Auto Club 400 regardless that he’s coming off a down season wherein he gained just one Cup Series race? It was his fifth Auto Club victory, together with his first Cup Series win in 2005 and his two hundredth general win in 2019.

It additionally was his first win in simply his third race with Richard Childress Racing after 15 years with Joe Gibbs Racing.

“That all makes it memorable,” Busch mentioned. “I love California and this speedway has always been great to me. The fans here have been great.”

The win enabled him to succeed in different milestones. It marked the nineteenth season in a row that he has gained a Cup Series race, one yr longer than that of earlier record-holder Richard Petty. It additionally was the ninety fifth Cup Series victory for brothers Kyle and Kurt Busch, breaking the file held by Bobby and Donnie Allison.

Kurt Busch greeted Kyle with a hug in victory lane.

“It’s neat to have him be there,” Kyle mentioned. “He was emotional, he’s getting soft in his old age. It’s fun to set records always, and when you’re able to do it as a brother tandem, there’s nothing more special for our parents, I’m sure.”

Chase Elliott completed second with a robust last 30 laps and was adopted by Ross Chastain and Kevin Harvick.

“The track conditions were fine,” Harvick mentioned. “I didn’t really see weepers and it was just really dirty every run. The second half of the race it cleaned up, but it was hard on the windshields. In the end, they did a great job preparing the track and we were able to put on a good race.”

Crews set to work Sunday at 5:30 a.m. to stem the tears, using monumental track-drying apparatuses — Air Tundras, Buffalo Turbine Blowers, Jet Dryers and a sweeper truck. They additionally used hand saws and drills to create troughs within the observe the place water may drain from outdoors banks to the apron.

The Cup Series race began on time at 12:30 p.m. in entrance of a sellout crowd of about 50,000, and the drivers lined up 5 extensive throughout tempo laps earlier than the drop of the inexperienced flag, a formidable sight meant to salute the followers that supported the two-mile observe because it opened in 1997.

The observe was moderately dry and occasional weepers weren’t the one downside. By Lap 40, the entrance of automobiles seemed like they’d been sandblasted, and pit crews needed to be aware to not slip on particles that shook out of grills throughout stops.

In his final season as a Cup Series driver, Harvick was making his 750th consecutive begin, making him the third driver to succeed in the milestone. He and Busch — who’re tied amongst lively drivers with a file 60 Cup Series wins — have been first and second with 62 laps to go after Chastain had led many of the race.

But an aggressive transfer by Chastain pushed again Harvick for good and Busch for an eyeblink. Busch slipped to seventh however shortly moved again to second, hanging proper on Chastain’s tail.

Busch was to not be denied the ultimate victory on an oval beloved by drivers.

“There were a couple moments where I got loose,” he mentioned. “I about busted my ass on that last run. So I was like, please don’t. But fortunately was able to hang on well enough and tried to find another groove that my car would work better in, so it was always a constant evolution of where you needed to be and just trying to work.

“That’s what I enjoy the most about this racetrack. … It’s big, it gets spread out, but man, you can move around and you can spread out and you can make your own destiny by trying to find something else that will help work for your race car. It’s a sad day for me to see this racetrack be in its last race being a two-mile configuration. Glad I was able to win the final run here.”

Although NASCAR may abandon the venture till floor is damaged, the plan is to cut back the observe from two miles to a half-mile and modernize the speedway in order that races attraction to a broad demographic, not simply hardcore NASCAR followers.

NASCAR confirmed Friday it has offered many of the Auto Club Speedway land to its enterprise companion Hillwood, a Dallas-based firm that’s serving to NASCAR promote properties nationwide. NASCAR will retain 89 of the greater than 500 acres and says it is going to proceed with plans to develop the half-mile observe.

Early on Sunday warning flags got here out practically as usually as they do at a brief observe. The sixth warning got here after a number of automobiles spun out into the infield on a restart. The leaders didn’t velocity up as quick as anticipated going into the inexperienced flag, squeezing everybody behind them like an accordion. It resulted within the largest wreck ever in an Auto Club Speedway Cup race and despatched to the sidelines Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Preece, Aric Almirola and AJ Allmendinger.

“I think the leader was just playing games, trying to prevent the runs coming from behind and they stopped in the middle of the restart zone right about where they should have been accelerating,” Almirola mentioned. “Everybody just started stacking up and you can’t stop on a dime.”

Busch had nothing to do with the wreck and prevented the congestion. Busch’s nickname is “Rowdy,” and lots of wrongly assume it’s a nod to his aggression on the observe and reasonably cocky perspective. He got here up with it as a result of Rowdy Burns was his favourite character in “Days of Thunder.”

Coincidentally, actor Michael Rooker, who performed legendary driver Rowdy Burns within the film, gave the command for drivers to start out their engines Sunday. About 3½ hours later, one driver was doing a burnout on his victory lap, offering the ultimate reminiscence on an iconic observe. The crowd cheered.

“Yeah, man, Rowdy Nation is growing, loud and proud,” Busch mentioned. “Watch out, we’re going to take over.”

Busch requested speedway President Dave Allen for a bit of the observe when it’s torn out.

“As special as this place has been to me with five wins here, it would be pretty meaningful, and winning the last one was super meaningful to me,” he mentioned. “It’s not all that glamorous or cool looking. It’s a piece of asphalt. But it’s still a memory.”