Truex, who started on the pole, ran up front throughout the afternoon, winning the first two stages before scoring the race win, his 16th career victory.
The deciding moment in the face came with 37 laps remaining, when the leaders all pitted. Kyle Busch won the sprint off pit road ahead of Truex, but a problem immediately surfaced. Busch’s crew radioed to say they had adjusted the wedge the wrong way on the stop. Five laps later, Busch’s loose car bobbled and Truex sped into the lead for good.
“We never gave up on it,” Truex told Fox Sports. “I knew we had a really good race car. … Once we got in clean air this thing was unbelievable.”
“It’s just unbelievable to be able to do this for a living.”
Kevin Harvick, who had won the previous three races and was favored to win a fourth straight in the Auto Club 400, crashed early in the first stage after running into Kyle Larson’s car. Although Harvick’s crew made repairs, he returned several laps down and finished 35th.
“I went down to side draft, he was coming up and we touched,” Harvick said. “I think that’s my fault for coming down the race track … I was trying to get a little too much right there.”
Larson overcame that early incident with Harvick to finish second. Kyle Busch crossed the line third, followed by Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano.
NASCAR results from Auto Club 400 at Fontana
- Martin Truex Jr.2. Kyle Larson3. Kyle Busch4. Brad Keselowski5. Joey Logano6. Denny Hamlin7. Erik Jones8. Ryan Blaney9. Jimmie Johnson10. Austin Dillon11. Clint Bowyer12. Aric Almirola13. Alex Bowman14. Kurt Busch15. William Byron16. Chase Elliot17. Jamie McMurray18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.19. Paul Menard20. Darrell Wallace21. Ryan Newman22. AJ Allmendinger23. Daniel Suarez24. Kasey Kahne25. David Ragan26. Michael McDowell27. Ty Dillon28. Cole Whitt29. Ross Chastain30. Chris Buescher31. Matt DiBenedetto32. Gray Gaulding33. Timmy Hill34. Reed Sorenson35. Kevin Harvick36. Jeffrey Earnhardt37. Trevor Bayne
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