
Articles

Chase Elliott Out For Pennzoil 400 Sunday
Chase Elliott will miss the Pennzoil 400 on Sunday due to a leg injury. The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion had surgery on the injured leg after a snowboarding mishap in Colorado. Hendrick Motorsports would not speculate on how many races Elliott may miss. For this weekend, Josh Berry will drive the No. 9 car. […]
Chris Wassel
Tyrell Hatton Generates Buzz At Arnold Palmer
Tyrell Hatton likes to play the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. He has won it before and nearly won it last year. Hatton lost to Scottie Scheffler in a playoff. It does seem the course has to set up a certain way for the English golfer. In 2020, he shot -4 and won and […]
Chris Wassel
Russell Henley Mostly Missing Heading To Bay Hill
Russell Henley seems to be hit and miss with the missing more in emphasis lately. The American golfer missed consecutive cuts for the first time this year. Henley seems to be gripping everything a little too tight from the driver to the putter. With so many parts of his game around average, his 197th-ranked putting […]
Chris Wassel
Corey Conners Trying To Find Sony Momentum
Corey Conners came back from Hawaii, took a few weeks off, and has struggled. Results of tied for 50th and 61st do not seem to inspire much confidence heading into Bay Hill. The Canadian golfer finally got a few drops to drop at The Genesis Invitational on Sunday. However, it was way too late. Again, […]
Chris Wassel
Cameron Young Trending Up For Arnold Palmer
Cameron Young is playing better of late with three top-25 results in his past four tournaments. The American golfer could not keep his momentum rolling in the final round at The Genesis Invitational but managed a tied for 20th. Part of that concern lies with again the putting metric. Young is a rough 191st with […]
Chris Wassel
Tom Kim Trying To Improve Putting At Bay Hill
Tom Kim has endured a rough two tournaments after Phoenix and then the Genesis Invitational. The South Korean golfer has fired seven of his last eight rounds in the 70's. It seems the birdie bonanza (-23) at the American Express had a weird effect. Golfers go through slumps and this is not the greatest time […]
Chris Wassel
Justin Thomas Likely To Contend At Arnold Palmer
Justin Thomas does not quite have the balance of some of the other top golfers at this Bay Hill golf course. The American golfer has some solid results this year but no wins so far. The ninth-ranked golfer in the world did have a solo fourth at Phoenix and a string of top-25 results. His […]
Chris Wassel
William Byron Begins Sunday Near Back Of The Field
With qualifying for the Pala Casino 400 washed out, William Byron will start in 32nd position on Sunday at Auto Club Speedway. The Hendrick Motorsports Driver got off to a nasty start last week at Daytona. He finished 34th and never factored much at Daytona. The No. 24 car aims to move up quickly at […]
Chris Wassel
Tyler Reddick Aims To Bounce Back At Fontana
Tyler Reddick begins Sunday afternoon from the 35th spot at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Reddick and 23XI Racing did not get off to the best of openings at Daytona with a 39th-place result. The No. 45 car qualified 26th last week and his fastest laps were far from quick. Fontana offers Reddick […]
Chris Wassel
Denny Hamlin Starts Next To Martin Truex Jr. Sunday
Denny Hamlin gets a decent boost on Sunday starting next to teammate Martin Truex Jr. Hamlin begins in 13th place, with Truex Jr. starting in 14th. Hamlin has finished in the top seven in four of the past six races at Fontana. The No. 11 car traditionally posts high driver ratings at this track and […]
Chris Wassel
Ty Gibbs Carries Value At Fontana
Ty Gibbs has the car to run fast at Fontana. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver never got going last week but did finish 25th after starting 33rd at Daytona. Place differential has potential again here at Auto Club Speedway. Gibbs starts 23rd and could possibly end up in the top-15. The No. 54 car showed […]
Chris Wassel
Alex Bowman Has Been Here Before At Fontana
The last time Alex Bowman started in the top-five at Auto Club Speedway, the Hendrick Motorsports driver won in 2020. Also, he led 110 laps as well. The No. 48 car was the fastest on the track that day. Now, 2022 saw a different story as Bowman was in the top-15 of 86.9% of the […]
Chris Wassel
Christopher Bell Gets The Pole For Sunday
Christopher Bell will be on the pole Sunday afternoon for the Pala Casino 400 from Auto Club Speedway. Bell nearly won the Daytona 500 last week but came up just short. His reward is a much better starting position for Fontana. The No. 20 car has had engine failure issues his first two trips to […]
Chris Wassel
Ross Chastain In Interesting Position Sunday
Ross Chastain starts eighth on Sunday for TrackHouse Racing. The No. 1 Chevy has not placed well at Fontana with a 17th in 2020 being his best result. Last year, Chastain ended up a couple laps down in 29th. This was before he went on his run which vaulted the driver to contention. His car […]
Chris Wassel
Chris Buescher Could Still Place Well At Fontana
Chris Buescher is a bit of an anomaly when it comes to Fontana on Sunday. The RFK Racing driver showed well last year before a crash derailed his day. He was in the top-15 for a majority of the race (51.9%). While he did not set any fastest laps, Buescher was among the faster drivers […]
Chris Wassel
Kyle Busch And His Chevy Are Ready For Fontana
Kyle Busch in the Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet should get a true test this week at Fontana. Busch finished 19th after starting 36th at Daytona last week. The No. 8 car begins Sunday from the 21st position and expects to move up through the field. Since 2011 alone, Busch has won on the two-mile track […]
Chris Wassel
Harrison Burton Hoping To Bounce Back At Fontana
Harrison Burton did not get off to a good start last year. The Wood Brothers Racing driver crashed twice ending his runs in Daytona and Fontana in 2022. This year, the No. 21 Ford gimped to a 26th-place result. Burton begins Sunday 24th from Auto Club Speedway. Limited loop data shows that the driver never […]
Chris Wassel
Cody Ware Not Ideal Option For Auto Club On Sunday
Cody Ware unexpectedly finished 14th last Sunday at Daytona. The Rick Ware Racing driver will start 11th partially as a result. Now, the problem for the No. 51 Ford is that his two previous appearances at Fontana ended poorly. Ware finished 32nd both times and the fear is he could slide back down the field […]
Chris Wassel
Kevin Harvick In Good Position For Fontana Race
Kevin Harvick looked happy heading into this final NASCAR season. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver expects to race all 36 races in 2023. He begins Sunday in tenth at the Auto Club Speedway. Harvick's No. 4 Ford only led a couple of laps, but he managed an average finish of 8.0. Overall, the driver produces good […]
Chris Wassel
Todd Gilliland Expects Another Lesson At Auto Club
Todd Gilliland showed he could compete at the Daytona 500. Then, Daytona showed him a thing or two about being at the wrong place at the wrong time. A promising top-15 results turned into a 27th instead (started 14th). If there is any solace, Gilliland and his Front Row Motorsports Ford starts 25th this week […]
Chris Wassel
Noah Gragson Could Stay Near Middle On Sunday
Noah Gragson mostly stayed out of trouble at Daytona. The Legacy Motor Club driver started 22nd and ended up in 24th behind a solid ride. Gragson's Chevy was not the fastest but certainly not slow. The No. 42 car begins 20th this week. Young drivers take their lumps and the 24-year old will get a […]
Chris Wassel
A.J. Allmendinger Looks To Continue Daytona Success
A.J. Allmendinger showed an ability to stay out of trouble last Sunday. Despite a few near misses, the Kaulig Racing driver wound up sixth at Daytona. That was after starting 29th. One of the concerns with Allmendinger is that he starts sixth at Fontana this week. Can he race with the top intermediate track drivers? […]
Chris Wassel
Martin Truex Jr. Trying To Turn Clock Back At Fontana
While Martin Truex Jr. produced another solid result at Daytona, that was not good enough for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver. Truex Jr. ended up 15th despite getting to the front a couple times on Sunday (13 laps led). Late in the race proved more challenging. The same happened at Fontana last season. What did […]
Chris Wassel
Bubba Wallace Could Step Up At Fontana
Bubba Wallace showed late run speed at Fontana last year. Unlike most Toyota cars early, the 23XI Racing driver moved up as he picked off cars one by one. That resulted in a +15 place differential (34th to 19th). This year, Wallace starts 18th at Auto Club Speedway. The No. 23 car even slipped into […]
Chris Wassel
Aric Almirola Solid DFS Choice At Fontana
Aric Almirola likes to race at Auto Club Speedway. His last two races at Fontana have been successful. The Stewart-Haas driver has an average finishing position of 7.0 which is third best among active drivers. Almirola even started 31st last year (17th this year). The No. 10 car steamed up the field before settling in […]
Chris Wassel
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. May Slide Back At Fontana
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. stunned the NASCAR world by winning the Daytona 500 last week. He led the lap that counted at the time the race stopped. When the switch flipped, Stenhouse and his JTG Daugherty Racing car were number one. This week, the No. 47 Chevy figures to have a more challenging time at Fontana. […]
Chris Wassel
Austin Cindric Begins From Middle Of The Pack Sunday
Austin Cindric does not get the luxury of starting from the pole like last year at Fontana on Sunday. The Team Penske driver begins 19th this time around. Last year, the No. 2 Ford was able to parlay that top spot into a 12th-place finish. What did Cindric learn from last year? That is an […]
Chris Wassel
Ryan Preece Bit Of An Unknown For Auto Club
Ryan Preece raced twice at Auto Club for JTG Daugherty Racing with two very nondescript results (23rd and 30th). He did not finish on the lead lap either time. Now, Preece starts 27th on Sunday in the Stewart-Haas Racing Ford. The No. 41 car got collected in one of the late crashes at Daytona last […]
Chris Wassel
Austin Dillon Intriguing Wildcard At Fontana
Austin Dillon did not lead a single lap at Fontana in 2022 but managed to leap all the way up to second after 200 laps. Dillon and his Richard Childress Racing car began that race in 16th. This time around, the No. 3 finds himself 28th for Sunday's race at Auto Club Speedway. Dillon has […]
Chris Wassel
Justin Haley Shows Potential At Auto Club
Justin Haley showed something at Fontana in 2022. Disregard his 32nd place finish at Daytona for Kaulig Racing. The No. 31 Chevy expects to be reasonably fast in the cooler conditions on Sunday afternoon. That +12 place differential last season caught many eyes as Haley improved in the later portions of the race. A 29th-place […]
Chris Wassel