Austin Dillon squeezed passed a pinch attempt from Kyle Busch to claim his first Xfinity race win of 2016. He took the victory on the last lap of the TreatMyClot.com 300 at Auto Club Raceway in Fontana, California. Busch once again had the dominate machine that led 133 laps of the 150 turned. Dillon only led one lap all afternoon, but it was the last and most significant lap of the contest. The victory broke a chance for the #18 NOS Toyota Camry of Kyle Busch to claim his fourth consecutive win.
The last lap of the race gave the drivers and the viewers a wild ride. Busch was clearly out front of the pack and had a substantial lead over teammate and second place driver Daniel Suarez. It looked like it was going to be smooth sailing heading into turn one of the final lap until Busch’s left front tire blew giving Suarez the lead heading into turn two.
Daniel Suarez, who drives the #19 Interstate Batteries Toyota, was poised to steal the victory until he abruptly dropped to the apron of the track and appeared to be running out of fuel. Busch then re-took the lead from Suarez on the high side of the asphalt and was once again limping towards the finish line in first.
The impressive lead Busch had acquired over third place competitor Dillon was shrinking fast. Dillon in his #2 Rheem Chevrolet caught Busch out of the final turn and made his move on the high side. Busch slowly maneuvered his Toyota Camry towards Dillon in what looked to many as an attempt to pin the #3 against the wall. The rather brash and aggressive attempt was in vein as Dillon’s Chevrolet slipped past the leader and drove on to the checkered flag.
“Well, I just had to stay focused,” said Dillon, who did a masterful job of saving fuel in snapping Busch’s three-race winning streak. “(My team) said (Busch) had a flat. I was worried about our fuel and stayed focused on that the whole time. He tried to screw me right there at the end, but it didn’t work out for him, did it? I’m proud of these guys. Man, that was fun. I didn’t think we had a car to do that, and we didn’t, but we did what we had to do to win the race ….sometimes things just go your way, and today they definitely did.”
The TreatmyClot.com 300 at Auto Club Raceway was completed in two hours and five minutes. The relatively fast-paced race had only four cautions for 16 laps and 12 lead changes among eight drivers. Darrell Wallace Jr. guided his #6 Ford Eco-Boost sponsored hot-rod into third place, right in front of Daniel Suarez’s coasting Toyota. Elliott Sadler in his OneMain Chevrolet rounded out the top five in fifth.
Suarez was awarded the Coors Light Pole Award and Joe Gibbs Racing once again claimed the Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race award. This was the fourth consecutive race that Joe Gibbs Racing has received the honor. Xfinity Series guru Busch took home the Mobil 1 Driver of the Race award.
Final Results for the TreatMyClot.com 300:
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet Camaro | 2:05:52.0 | 150 |
2 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota Camry | +0.714 | 150 |
3 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford Mustang | +6.368 | 150 |
4 | Daniel Suarez | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota Camry | +14.930 | 150 |
5 | Elliott Sadler | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet Camaro | +21.558 | 150 |
6 | Kevin Harvick | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet Camaro | +22.277 | 150 |
7 | Brendan Gaughan | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet Camaro | +22.381 | 150 |
8 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet Camaro | +22.469 | 150 |
9 | Brandon Jones | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet Camaro | +26.721 | 150 |
10 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet Camaro | +36.096 | 150 |
11 | Aric Almirola | Biagi-DenBeste Racing | Ford Mustang | +41.312 | 150 |
12 | Blake Koch | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet Camaro | +41.729 | 150 |
13 | Brennan Poole | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet Camaro | +1 lap | 149 |
14 | Ryan Reed | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford Mustang | +1 lap | 149 |
15 | Erik Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota Camry | +1 lap | 149 |
16 | Jeb Burton | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford Mustang | +1 lap | 149 |
17 | Ty Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet Camaro | +1 lap | 149 |
18 | Corey LaJoie | JGL Racing | Toyota Camry | +1 lap | 149 |
19 | Ross Chastain | JD Motorsports | Chevrolet Camaro | +1 lap | 149 |
20 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford Mustang | +2 laps | 148 |
21 | Jeremy Clements | Jeremy Clements Racing | Chevrolet Camaro | +2 laps | 148 |
22 | Dakoda Armstrong | JGL Racing | Toyota Camry | +2 laps | 148 |
23 | Garrett Smithley | JD Motorsports | Chevrolet Camaro | +2 laps | 148 |
24 | Spencer Gallagher | GMS Racing | Chevrolet Camaro | +2 laps | 148 |
25 | Ryan Preece | JD Motorsports | Chevrolet Camaro | +2 laps | 148 |
26 | Mario Gosselin | King Autosports | Chevrolet Camaro | +3 laps | 147 |
27 | J.J. Yeley | TriStar Motorsports | Toyota Camry | +3 laps | 147 |
28 | Joey Gase | Jimmy Means Racing | Chevrolet Camaro | +5 laps | 145 |
29 | Ryan Sieg | RSS Racing | Chevrolet Camaro | +5 laps | 145 |
30 | Todd Peck | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet Camaro | +9 laps | 141 |
31 | Cody Ware | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet Camaro | +10 laps | 140 |
32 | Mike Harmon | Mike Harmon Racing | Dodge Challenger | +11 laps | 139 |
33 | B.J. McLeod | BJ McLeod Motorsports | Ford Mustang | +55 laps | 95 |
34 | Derrike Cope | Derrike Cope Racing | Chevrolet Camaro | +61 laps | 89 |
35 | Harrison Rhodes | Obaika Racing | Chevrolet Camaro | +66 laps | 84 |
36 | Dylan Lupton | RSS Racing | Chevrolet Camaro | +94 laps | 56 |
37 | Ray Black Jr. | SS-Green Light Racing | Chevrolet Camaro | +106 laps | 44 |
38 | David Starr | TriStar Motorsports | Toyota Camry | +120 laps | 30 |
39 | Josh Wise | MBM Motorsports | Toyota Camry | +132 laps | 18 |
40 | Matt DiBenedetto | TriStar Motorsports | Toyota Camry | +148 laps | 2 |
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