2016 Auto Club 400

Background Auto Club Speedway is a low-banked, D-shaped oval superspeedway in Fontana, California. Entry list The entry list for the Auto Club 400 was released on Monday, March 14 at 3:25 p.m. Eastern time. Thirty-nine cars were entered for the race. Two driver changes from the previous race included Brian Vickers returning to the seat of the No. 14 Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet and Jeffrey Earnhardt returning to the No. 32 Go FAS Racing Ford. ==Practice==

First practice Austin Dillon was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 38.194 and a speed of . Practice (post-qualifying) Second practice Carl Edwards was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 38.317 and a speed of . Kurt Busch went to a backup car after slamming the wall in turn 3. Because this took place after qualifying, he'll start the race from the rear of the field. Greg Biffle and Kyle Larson made contact with each other exiting turn 4. Larson went to a backup car and will start from the rear of the field. ==Qualifying==

scored the pole position. Austin Dillon won the pole for the race with a time of 38.200 and a speed of . Being his second career pole and first since the 2014 Daytona 500, he said he was glad he "got a pole somewhere else. To do it at a driver’s race track like this at Fontana it means a lot to me. Just proud of this American Ethanol team we’ve had fast cars all year long. I knew going into that third session if I didn’t make mistakes I would have a shot. I just stayed with it off of (Turn) 4. I kept my locker locked as much as I could with the gas just keeping as much fuel to the car as I could. It worked out for us.” Adding to his impressive start to the season, he also said that this was "the start of what we need to be doing as a group. I feel like we have everything all the other companies have. We still have a lot of work to do, but it feels good to have a small moral victory here.” After qualifying second, Kevin Harvick complemented the great "effort by Rodney and the team getting the car ready. This track is a challenge with its bumps and rough surface and the lower downforce makes them harder to drive but we’ve got a good car and looking forward to Sunday. Our goal was to run the same lap time all three rounds. That is going to put you in a spot to have a chance. All in all, it’s been a good start to the weekend and really looking forward to the race on Sunday.” After qualifying third, Denny Hamlin said he's "had fast cars all year long, and I knew going into that third session, if I didn’t make mistakes I would have a shot. I just stayed with it off of 4. I kept my locker locked as much as I could with the gas just keeping as much fuel to the car as I could. It worked out for us.” Qualifying results ==Race==

First half Start won the race. Under clear California skies, Austin Dillon led the field to the green flag at 3:49 p.m. He was passed going into turn 1 for the lead by Kevin Harvick. After five laps, Dillon fell back to third. Carl Edwards made a charge at Harvick, but he failed to make the pass. By lap 17, Harvick's gap grew to two seconds over Edwards. Kyle Busch was running fifth when he made an unscheduled stop for a flat right-rear tire on lap 20. He rejoined the race in 37th one-lap down. The first caution of the race flew on lap 27 for a single-car wreck in turn 2. Riding the high line, Chris Buescher suffered a right-rear tire blowout and made contact with the wall. Edwards exited pit road with the race lead. Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch and Kasey Kahne were tagged for their crews being over the wall too soon and restarted the race from the tail-end of the field. The race restarted on lap 32. Harvick got a run on Edwards going down the backstretch to retake the lead on lap 35. Coming to the lead, Edwards took back the lead on lap 36. Going into turn 1, Harvick drove underneath Edwards to retake the lead on lap 38. The second caution of the race flew on lap 47 for a single-car wreck on the backstretch. Exiting turn 2, Kyle Larson cut down his left-rear tire, hit the outside wall, turned down the track and slammed the inside wall head-on. He said that he "was going down the back stretch and I think it was my left-rear tire got cut. It must have ripped the brake line because I went to push the pedal and it went straight to the floor board. I couldn’t slow down. It was definitely a hard hit there, probably one of the harder ones of my career. Even before that we were pretty sub-average there, we were pretty bad. Disappointed in our run today, but glad I’m alright. It was really good for about 20 laps on each run. The take-off speed was awesome and I don’t know I just couldn’t get the thing to last for a whole run. We just kind of struggled there at the end of each run, that kind of hurt us, but short-run speed that was a lot of fun. I thought we were as competitive as anybody on short-run speed. We just needed something there for the last 10 to 15 laps. We will work on it. The pit crew was awesome. They bounced back with great stops all day.” Brad Keselowski was tagged for an uncontrolled tire and restarted the race from the tail-end of the field. Second quarter The race restarted on lap 54. Harvick made an unscheduled stop from the lead on lap 71 for a vibration. Martin Truex Jr. assumed the lead while Harvick rejoined the race in 33rd. A. J. Allmendinger also pitted from 10th for a vibration. Jimmie Johnson took the lead from Truex on lap 78. He hit pit road on lap 84 and handed the lead to teammate Chase Elliott. He pitted the next lap and handed the lead to Matt Kenseth. He pitted the next lap and the lead cycled to Harvick. Denny Hamlin and Paul Menard were tagged for speeding and were forced to serve pass-through penalty's. Matt DiBenedetto was tagged for removing equipment from his pit box and was forced to serve a pass-through penalty. Second half Halfway Harvick pitted from the lead on lap 106 and handed the lead to Johnson. The third caution of the race flew on lap 108 for a single-car wreck in turn 2. Round the turn, Trevor Bayne got too close to the wall and rode it. Harvick opted not to pit under the caution and assumed the lead from Johnson. Clint Bowyer was tagged for his crew being over the wall too soon and restarted the race from the tail-end of the field. The race restarted on lap 115. Harvick on older tires was no match for Johnson on new tires as the latter took the lead with 85 laps to go. The fourth caution of the race flew with 79 laps to go for a single-car wreck in turn 1. Going into the turn, Danica Patrick got hooked into the wall by Kahne and slammed the wall head-on. She walked towards the racing surface to show her displeasure towards Kahne. This would lead to Truex cutting a tire down, making an unscheduled stop and finishing 32nd. == Post-race ==

Driver comments Speaking on the final restart, Johnson said he "got a great run off of Turn 2 and I thought ‘man I’ve got a shot at this thing’. Which I didn't expect to have, Harvick has been so fast. I cleared him and kind of got away. We saved our best for last for sure. We had our best at the last there and really strong on the short run which wasn't necessarily our strong suit earlier in the day. Chad (Knaus, crew chief) made some great adjustments there to get me tuned up for that dash at the end.” Harvick said after the race that the final restart "was the worst it has taken off on restarts, but we weren’t very good on restarts for four or five laps unless we were all by ourselves. The No. 48 was able to hang with us and we just weren’t able to drive it in like I needed to.” Penalties On the Thursday after the race, Danica Patrick was fined $20,000 for walking up towards the racing surface to show her displeasure to Kahne which led to her being placed on probation as well. In addition, six teams were issued warnings for failing tech inspection multiple times. == Race results ==

Race summary • Lead changes: 26 • Cautions/Laps: 6 for 33 laps • Red flags: 0 • Time of race: 2 hours, 59 minutes and 17 seconds • Average speed: ==Media==

Television Fox Sports covered the race at Auto Club Speedway for the sixteenth time. Mike Joy, three-time Auto Club winner Jeff Gordon and Darrell Waltrip called the race from the commentary booth, while Jamie Little, Chris Neville and Matt Yocum handled the pit road duties for the television side. Radio MRN had the radio call for the race which was also simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Joe Moore, Jeff Striegle and 2001 race winner Rusty Wallace called the race from the booth when the field was racing down the front stretch. Dan Hubbard called race from a billboard outside turn 2 when the field was racing through turns 1 and 2. Kurt Becker called the race from a billboard outside turn 3 when the field was racing through turns 3 and 4. Alex Hayden, Winston Kelley and Steve Post worked pit road for MRN. ==Standings after the race==

;Drivers' Championship standings ;Manufacturers' Championship standings • Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings. ==Notes==