Larson holds off Logano, wins Xfinity race at Fontana
FONTANA >> Kyle Larson held off Joey Logano on the final lap to win the NASCAR Xfinity race at Auto Club Speedway on Saturday.
Larson thrived out of a late restart with smart moves and a clever lane choice on Fontana’s five-wide asphalt. The native Californian won the Xfinity race at Fontana for the second time in his Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet.
Larson, the Cup series points leader, is also on the pole for Sunday’s race with a chance for a weekend sweep.
Kyle Busch was third, with Erik Jones in fourth and rookie William Byron in fifth.
Danica questions discipline after no fine for Dillon
FONTANA >> When NASCAR decided not to fine Austin Dillon for running Cole Custer into a wall last week in Phoenix, other drivers were left wondering how the sport decides who gets fined and who gets away with rambunctious behavior.
“Give me my money back,” Danica Patrick said Friday at Fontana.
Patrick is among several drivers who have been fined for on-track shenanigans seemingly less egregious than the scrape between Dillon and Custer.
Dillon deliberately ran into Custer’s Ford while under caution during the Xfinity race at Phoenix last weekend. Dillon was responding in anger after Custer made contact with him earlier, spinning him into contact with the wall.
Custer and Dillon met with NASCAR officials on Friday morning, and the matter is apparently closed with apologies and regrets on both sides.
Patrick was among the drivers who were surprised and confused by NASCAR’s decision, recalling her own fine for a disagreement with Kasey Kahne last year at Fontana. She also got fined in 2015 for retaliation against David Gilliland after trouble at Martinsville.
While concerned about NASCAR’s apparently nebulous justice, Patrick also has a bigger concern: Why is NASCAR getting mad about the stuff that draws fans and attention to the sport in the first place?
“I think NASCAR makes a really big mistake of fining for some stuff, especially something that happens in the car, because it makes for good TV,” Patrick said. “Just like fights and all that stuff. We can handle it. I think it’s a mistake. I might be speaking too much, but I’ve been fined a few times, and I think that it makes for good TV, and I think that we handle it out on the track ourselves.”
Patrick doesn’t disagree with the apparent new standards of discipline, but she also would like to know why fines are levied in the first place.
“I mean, what does that really do?” Patrick asked. “I’m not going to not go on vacation. I would actually rather know what it did. I would actually love to see the playground that got built for it, or homeless people that got food. I would like to see actually what the money does, because it’s supposed to go to charity, right? So what does it really do? I would like to see that.”
Hamilton takes pole in record pace
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA >> Something that surprised Lewis Hamilton after he posted the fastest lap ever at the Albert Park circuit and equaled Ayrton Senna’s record of six pole positions at the Australian Grand Prix was that his time wasn’t even quicker.
New technical and tire regulations for the 2017 season were designed to make the F1 cars faster and maybe reduce Mercedes’ dominance. Hamilton maintained Mercedes’ status quo at the front.
The times kept improving during the three practice sessions and the Mercedes driver’s last flying lap in qualifying Saturday was 1 minute, 22.188 seconds.