In the first 15-minute practice session of 2022 on Saturday at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, Kevin Harvick stopped the clock early in the session when his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford snapped loose in turn 4 on the first lap of practice and backed into the outside wall.
As soon as practice resumed, Ross Chastain’s Chevrolet jumped out of control near the same spot where Harvick wrecked and slammed nose-first into the outside SAFER barrier. Behind Chastain, the Ford of Chris Buescher slid sideways but avoided a collision with the wall.
With inventories of backup cars spread thin, it was not an auspicious start to the Cup weekend. Stewart-Haas had one backup for its entire four-car organization and rolled it out for Harvick. The primary car was towed to the garage, rendering Harvick ineligible to participate in time trials.
But Harvick has faced adversity before. In 2020, he won a NASCAR Cup Series-best nine races. Last season he won none. In both years, however, he made the Playoff and finished fifth in the final standings.
“Last year is irrelevant,” Harvick said during a question-and-answer session with reporters before practice. “There is nothing to take from last year. It’s all so much different. We could have a good week or a bad week, and last week is irrelevant, too.
“It’s no different. In the end, you look at the box score, and we finished fifth in the points both years. Top-10s, top-fives — we were about the same. We just didn’t get to Victory Lane, but we had our chances to win a few of them and didn’t get to Victory Lane. It’s just the way this works.”
WDUN will carry live MRN Radio coverage Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series WISE Power 400 from Auto Club Speedway beginning at 2:30 pm on 102.9 FM, AM 550 and streaming live on AccessWDUN.
NASCAR Cup Series
Auto Club Speedway – Fontana, CA
Wise Power 400 – February 27, 2022
Sunday’s Starting Lineup
Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
1. 2 Austin Cindric # Menards/Quaker State Ford 41.226 174.647
2. 43 Erik Jones FOCUSfactor Chevrolet 41.342 174.157
3. 18 Kyle Busch Interstate Batteries Toyota 41.437 173.758
4. 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Ground Toyota 41.529 173.373
5. 16 Daniel Hemric(i) Poppy Bank Chevrolet 41.585 173.139
6. 12 Ryan Blaney Wurth Ford 41.588 173.127
7. 22 Joey Logano AAA Southern California Ford 42.197 170.628
8. 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 41.177 174.855
9. 6 Brad Keselowski Violet Defense Ford 41.403 173.900
10. 24 William Byron, Jr. Axalta Chevrolet 41.478 173.586
11. 8 Tyler Reddick Lenovo Chevrolet 41.516 173.427
12. 19 Martin Truex, Jr. Reser’s Fine Foods Toyota 41.517 173.423
13. 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 41.594 173.102
14. 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 41.634 172.936
15. 99 Daniel Suarez Freeway Insurance Chevrolet 41.636 172.927
16. 3 Austin Dillon Dow Coatings Chevrolet 41.678 172.753
17. 47 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Ralphs/Honey Nut Cheerios Chevrolet 41.688 172.712
18. 42 Ty Dillon Allegiant Chevrolet 41.777 172.344
19. 20 Christopher Bell Rheem Toyota 41.888 171.887
20. 17 Chris Buescher Fastenal Ford 41.888 171.887
21. 41 Cole Custer Production Alliance Group Ford 41.940 171.674
22. 21 Harrison Burton # DEX Imaging Ford 41.989 171.473
23. 34 Michael McDowell Stage Front Ford 42.056 171.200
24. 14 Chase Briscoe Mahindra Tractors Ford 42.140 170.859
25. 7 Corey LaJoie General Formulatioins/Mutoh Chevrolet 42.188 170.665
26. 38 Todd Gilliland # Frontline Enterprises Inc. Ford 42.505 169.392
27. 51 Cody Ware Nurtec ODT Ford 42.634 168.879
28. 77 Josh Bilicki(i) Pacific Coast Termite Chevrolet 42.957 167.609
29. 15 Garrett Smithley Jacob Companies Ford 43.953 163.811
30. 78 B.J. McLeod Pala Casino Ford 44.103 163.254
31. 10 Aric Almirola Rush/Mobil Delvac 1 Ford 0.000 0.000
32. 4 Kevin Harvick Subway Ford 0.000 0.000
33. 1 Ross Chastain Casa Del Sol Tequila Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
34. 23 Bubba Wallace Wheaties Toyota 0.000 0.000
35. 31 Justin Haley LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
36. 45 Kurt Busch Monster Energy Toyota 0.000 0.000
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
