In a battle of attrition and a race marred by caution flags, Kyle Larson came out with his first win of 2022. Sunday's Wise Power 400 in Fontana ,California saw 12 cautions, which tied an all time track record and set the record for most cautions at Fontana since the race was shortened to 400 miles.
The race did not go without incident for Larson though, as he and teammate Chase Elliott got tangled up. Elliott was right behind the leaders ,when he made a hard charge trying to pass Larson and Joey Logano. Larson blocked the pass and sent Elliott into the wall. The crash took Larson's teammate with Hendrick Motorsports out of contention and he never recovered.
The comeback of the day, belonged to Daniel Hemric. A shifter malfunction early on put Hemric 7 laps behind the field. He battled back from the early misfortune to finish in the top 10. Many around NASCAR believe, he may have gotten his 1st career cup win if not for the mechanical mishap.
A flaw was exposed in the Nex Gen Car during Sunday's race as drivers slipped, spun and slid. The flaw is said to be with the lack of an inner liner in the tires. Crew chiefs say that issue causes the tires stick excessively when they flat spot. That led to several single car spinouts during the 400.
Larson took the checkered flag with Austin Dillon, Erik Jones, Surprise top 4 finisher Daniel Suarez and Joey Logano rounding out the top 5. Aric Almirola got his 2nd straight top 10 finish, claiming 6th. Behind him in the 7-10 spots were veteran drivers Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch, Daniel Hemric and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Austin Cindric won the Daytona 500 to open the season, was the top rookie finisher Sunday, taking 12th place.
This weekend the Cup series rolls into "Sin City" for the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Larson will look to carry his momentum from Fontana to a track where he's had past success. Larson won in Vegas last year, giving him his 1st win of the campaign on his way to the 2021 Cup Series Championship.
