There wasn’t much creativity when it came down to the final round of NASCAR Cup Series pit stops Sunday afternoon (Feb. 26) at Auto Club Speedway. The headsets of crew chiefs were unified around two words, “four tires,” as the Pala Casino 400 barreled toward its conclusion with a long green-flag run in the final stage.
As the aging track surface ground up tires, it would have been a shock to see a two-tire call made by anyone running Auto Club Speedway’s 2-mile oval. The final round of stops, then, became all about executing the typical four tires and fuel.
It’s where Kyle Busch’s pit crew came into play, coming through in the clutch for their driver. We’ve seen it with Busch and others through the years: a stellar run toward the checkered flag can be spoiled by something going wrong on pit road, either through a penalty or lack of execution.
Neither of those occurred and the stop with 33 laps to go, as many of the leaders pitted under green, put Busch in prime position to finish off the late run to the checkered flag and race victory. Joey Logano pitted slightly earlier, head wrench Paul Wolfe calling his shot, but didn’t have enough of a head start to gain ground.
Front Row Motorsports, though, chose to lay it all on the line down the stretch, a last-ditch effort to pull an upset that ultimately came up short.
McDowell’s Team Lays It On the Line With A Gamble
There’s an old saying that goes, “you miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.”
Michael McDowell and his new crew chief, Travis Peterson, sure took one, rolling the dice in the late going. With many leaders opting to pit around 35 laps remaining, McDowell’s team took a chance and attempted to go the distance on fuel.
Who could blame them? Had McDowell pulled a rabbit out of his hat by staying out, he and rookie Noah Gragson may have been alone on the lead lap depending on when a caution came out. And for McDowell, a win would have likely clinched a postseason berth, allowing him to run the next 24 races like his team is playing with house money.
In the end, it didn’t net a victory, McDowell passed by Kyle Busch with 21 laps to go.
The gamble may have failed, but it’s not one to fault the No. 34 team for taking….
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at …