The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Fontana’s quirks test drivers
Dillon wins Xfinity race as leaders get flat, run out of gas.
The weathered asphalt on Auto Club Speedway’s 2-mile track has a long history of producing fourwide racing and fantastic finishes.
NASCAR’s new low-downforce package already has created excitement and thrills in the first four Sprint Cup races of the new season.
Drivers think the combination will be dynamite today at Fontana, Calif.
“I get a sense that everybody is really amped up about it, and I think the reason is that you can really drive here,” Carl Edwards said. “Just watch the in-car cameras. Watch what’s going on: Guys have got their heads laid against the left-side headrest. You get to work here. You get to really use the skills you have as a race car driver. That’s why we all started driving race cars, because cars are fun to drive like that.”
The seams in the circuit’s asphalt are brutal on tires and taxing on the drivers’ skills.
The big bumps in the corners and backstretch can lead to mistakes or brilliance, depending on the drivers’ abilities and misfortunes. Kyle Busch won at Fontana in 2013 when leaders Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano wrecked on the final lap, and Brad Keselowski got around Kevin Har- vick on the last lap to win last year.
“I think it’s some of the best racing, if not the best racing, of the year,” Keselowski said.
Xfinity: Austin Dillon, who will start on the pole today, passed Kyle Busch and Daniel Suarez on the 150th and final lap and surged to an improbable victory Saturday in the Xfinity race at Fontana.
Busch got within one lap of his record-tying fourth consecutive Xfinity win after leading 133 laps, but he got a flat tire while trying to save fuel. Suarez went in front while Busch tried to keep racing on the sparking flat wheel.
But when Suarez ran out of gas, Dillon roared up in his Chevrolet and won. He led only one lap, a series record for fewest laps led by a winner.
Formula One: The series’ new qualifying format faces a review this week after a woeful debut Saturday at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. The rolling eliminations every 90 seconds produced plenty of action, and some confusion, in the first session, but in the third segment, which decided the top end of the grid for today’s race in Melbourne, most drivers stayed off the track and instead saved their tires for the race. Fans also left early.
Reigning series champion Lewis Hamilton won the pole, three-tenths of a second ahead of Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg. The new system thus failed to deliver on its intent to shake up the established hierarchy, and Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff admitted it was “pretty rubbish.”
(At) Sharks 4, Rangers 1: Joel Ward scored twice, and Joe Thornton broke a tie early in the third period as San Jose overwhelmed New York. The Sharks moved within a point of second-place Anaheim in the Pacific Division.
(At) Maple Leafs 4, Sabres 1: Connor Carrick scored his second goal in a week after ending a long drought, and Toronto beat Buffalo to win its fourth in six games and avoid elimination from the playoffs.
(At) Senators 5, Canadiens 0: Andrew Hammond stopped all 30 shots for his first shutout of the season, and Ottawa scored three short-handed goals to beat Montreal.
Red Wings 5, (at) Panthers 3: Luke Glendening scored the go-ahead goal, Pavel Datsyuk had two goals, and Detroit rebounded from a two-goal deficit and topped Florida.
(At) Blue Jackets 6, Devils 3: Rookie Oliver Bjorkstrand got his first two NHL goals in the third period, and Columbus beat New Jersey. Sergei Bobrovsky made 27 saves.
(At) Stars 3, Islanders 0: Kari Lehtonen made 27 saves in Dallas’first shutout since December, and the Stars beat New York to maintain their hold on sole possession of first place in the Western Conference. Blues at Canucks: Late Lightning at Coyotes: Late Bruins at Kings: Late
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