Saturday Auto Club Notebook

Saturday Auto Club Notebook

March 19, 2016

Notebook Items:

·         Fast in qualifying, Bayne still seeking speed in race trim

·         Bees take over flag stand

·         Joe Gibbs Racing claims top-three XFINITY qualifying spots

·         Four drivers damage cars in practice

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

Fast in qualifying, Bayne still seeking speed in race trim

FONTANA, Calif. – The surprise of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season may just be Trevor Bayne.

Twice in the first events this year, Bayne has driven the top-qualifying Ford in time trials. He started third at Las Vegas, and on Friday at Auto Club Speedway, he advanced to the final round of knockout qualifying and earned the sixth position on the grid.

In the Atlanta race itself, however, Bayne quickly fell back through the field and finished 22nd, two laps down. In Sunday’s Auto Club 400 (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX) , the 2011 Daytona 500 winner hopes his race performance will match more closely what he accomplished in qualifying.

“I think we’ve learned throughout the whole season,” Bayne said before Saturday’s first practice session at the two-mile track. “It’s just which way the track is going to go and how aggressive do we have to be with our adjustments throughout the race to keep up with it. 

“Last year, and years past – even in XFINITY – we always freed up the car through practice and maybe started the race too free. This year, with this (lower-downforce) aero package and tire, every race we’ve started way too tight and our first run we’ve been tight, and then we’ve had to work throughout the race to free up the car.”

That was certainly the issue in Atlanta, where Bayne struggled with a tight handling condition from the outset.

“We just weren’t aggressive enough freeing up the car throughout the race,” he explained. “The first run we were OK, but we just got tighter all day long. I don’t think my car (at Auto Club) drives the same as my Atlanta car. I think it’s a little bit freer balance already. It’s more neutral through the whole corner, whereas at Atlanta I kind of compressed tight. 

“So I don’t think it’ll be as much of an issue here, but even at Vegas and Phoenix we’ve been tight every week. That’s something we’ve learned from a lot. We’re not perfect yet or we would be on the pole and leading every lap, but I think we just know we’ve got to be more aggressive changing the car throughout the race.”

If Saturday’s opening practice was any indication, however, Bayne and crew chief Matt Puccia still have work to do in race trim. Bayne was 25th fastest in the session, nearly four miles-per-hour slower than Carl Edwards, who topped the speed chart at 187.906 mph.

TO BEE OR NOT TO BEE

When NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice started on Saturday morning at Auto Club Speedway, there was a flag man on his usual perch atop the flag stand at the start/finish line.

That was noteworthy only because an infestation of bees had driven the flag man from his usual station on Friday, forcing Sprint Cup qualifying to be flagged on a temporary platform behind the grandstand fence.

Bees are an important part of the ecology, and in California, invading swarms must be relocated rather than killed. Accordingly, the speedway called in a beekeeper who immobilized the unwelcome visitors with a spray and collected and removed the swarm.

So when Sprint Cup practice began at 8 a.m. on Saturday morning, the flag man was back in his usual spot – with no bees in sight.

NO ROOM ON THE PODIUM

With Daniel Suárez leading the way, Joe Gibbs Racing claimed the top three spots in NASCAR XFINITY Series qualifying for the fourth straight race.

On Saturday at Auto Club Speedway, Suárez took the pole position for the TreatMyClot.com 300 by Janssen with a lap at 179.955 mph, followed by teammates Erik Jones (179.520 mph) and Kyle Busch (179.381 mph).

The success rate of JGR has been nothing short of spectacular this season, and it’s not confined to XFINITY Series qualifying. Busch won the NXS race at Las Vegas, trailed by Suárez and Jones. Busch triumphed again at Phoenix a week later, with Jones running second and Suárez third.

And, by the way, JGR also grabbed the top three starting spots in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying last weekend at Phoenix, with Busch leading Carl Edwards and Denny Hamlin in the time trials.

SHORT STROKES

Kurt Busch banged the outside wall during Saturday’s first practice and damaged the right rear of his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet. The team opted to roll out a backup car, which may not be a bad thing. Last year’s Auto Club pole winner was 26th in Friday’s qualifying, so the backup car may be an improvement. Busch, however, will lose 13 positions when he drops to the rear to start Sunday’s Auto Club 400…

Aric Almirola, who qualified 25th on Friday, also scraped the wall in practice, but his No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports team opted to repair the damage…

Roughly 30 minutes into final practice, Kyle Larson’s No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet got loose in Turn 4, tapped the outside wall and slowed noticeably. Coming off the corner, Greg Biffle was unable to steer his No. 16 Ford away from Larson’s car and rammed the right rear, damaging both cars severely.

“We were on new tires,” Biffle said. “That was our second lap, and the 42 was on old tires, so our closure rate was super-fast. I was kind of looking at my mark on the wall and on the race track, and he wrecked in front of me and I just couldn’t get stopped.

“There wasn’t anywhere for me to go. The groove is right up against the fence, and I was going probably 15-20 miles an hour faster than he was. By the time I saw him sideways I was catching him so fast that I don’t know what happened.”