News

Track:    Auto Club Speedway (Fontana, Calif.)
Race:     Auto Club 400
Date:     March 20, 2016
 
No. 2 Wurth Ford Fusion – Brad Keselowski
Start: 15th 
Finish: 9th 
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 205/205
Laps Led:  0
Points Position (behind leader):  9th (-53)
 
Recap: Brad Keselowski kept his No. 2 Wurth Ford Fusion inside the top-10 for most of the afternoon in Sunday's Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway (ACS) in Fontana, Calif. before crossing the finish line in the ninth position. After beginning the race from the 15th starting spot he quickly moved into the top 10 by the fifth lap, showing outstanding short-run speed that would be his hallmark on the day. Fortunately for the Wurth Ford team the bad luck they encountered on the afternoon came early in the race in the form of a penalty for an uncontrolled tire following a lap 49 pit stop, forcing Keselowski to start from the rear of the field at lap 54. Again, he quickly began to pick his way through the pack as the passed 15 cars before the next caution period at lap 88. As the race progressed the short run speed on the No. 2 Ford continued to be outstanding but the falloff from the abrasive ACS surface came quick and resulted in Keselowski not being able to challenge for the lead. In the final laps of the event – in similar fashion to his 2015 ACS win – a late-race caution gave Keselowski and crew chief Paul Wolfe one final shot to grab their second win of the season. After restarting from the sixth position on the green-white-checkered restart, Keselowski was not able to advance his position and eventually dropped two spots to finish eighth, his third top-10 finish of 2016. Keselowski moved up two spots in points to ninth and is still locked into the 2016 Chase for the Championship.
 
Quote: "We gave it all we had with the No. 2 Wurth Ford, but just came up a bit short. We seemed to be about a fifth to 10th-place car, probably with everybody having some troubles we should have finished fifth.  I slid back to eighth there, which was frustrating, but, all in all, it was a decent day."
 
No. 22 Auto Club Ford Fusion – Joey Logano
Start:  9th
Finish: 4th  
Status: Running
Laps Completed:  205/205
Laps Led:  0
Points Position (behind leader):  6th (-30)
 
Recap:  Joey Logano raced up front all day long and finished fourth in Sunday's Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway, notching his third top-10 finish of the season.  Logano started the race in the ninth position and showed to be a top-10 car all afternoon long.  Logano broke into the top-five on lap 25 and would remain a constant top-five threat the rest of the day.  The pit crew was on point all afternoon as well, gaining spots for the No. 22 Auto Club Ford Fusion on every pit stop.  Logano would run as high as second and as low as sixth in the first 150 laps of the race.  Crew chief Todd Gordon made great calls to fix a tight center, loose off condition that plagued his driver most of the afternoon.  Following a stop on lap 157, Logano found himself restarting fourth and was able to race his way to the lead on lap 164.  Even though he only held the lead for a few laps, Logano was able to stop in the top five for the rest of the afternoon.  Logano wasn't able to take advantage of a late-race green-white-checkered and would ultimately finish fourth.  It was Logano's second top-five finish of the season and moved him up one spot to sixth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings.
 
Quote:  "I was in a decent spot.  I was gonna try everything I could to try to get a run and do what I had to do, but I just spun the tires.  I don't know why.  It didn't really do that all day.  I don't know what made it do that at the end.  I'll have to watch the replay. Either way, I'm proud of our Auto Club Ford Fusion team.  We are getting there."