RaceSheets NASCAR DFS Preview: Pala Casino 400

Following Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s win in the Daytona 500, NASCAR makes the cross-country journey from Florida to California. 200 laps will go under the green flag at Auto Club Speedway this Sunday in the Pala Casino 400, and we’re here to preview the race for DFS.

Pala Casino 400 DFS Preview

Daytona 500 Wrap-Up

Whatever lessons you think you want to take away from Sunday’s race — forget about it. Tracks like Daytona, Talladega and the new version of Atlanta are anomalous compared to the rest of the NASCAR schedule. The next time you need to worry about the Daytona 500 will be when NASCAR heads to Atlanta in late March and Talladega in late April. 

In between now and the fifth and 10th races of the season, just tuck that information away because it won’t correlate whatsoever to venues like Las Vegas, Phoenix and especially not the road course at Circuit of the Americas. 

Auto Club Speedway — General Information

ACS — or Fontana as it’s referred to by some due its locale — is a two-mile D-shaped oval that was first opened in 1997 and last repaved in 2004. With nearly two decades since it was last lathered with a fresh coat of asphalt, the track has picked up a reputation as an abrasive track with its propensity to eat up tires. 

This caustic personality trait of ACS has made it a driver and fan favorite as it forces drivers to manage their tires — aka, dance the thin line between management and aggressiveness, as anyone who chases speed early could be met with a shredded tire late into a green flag run. The bad news is that this is probably the last year that NASCAR will know Auto Club Speedway as this two-mile behemoth built in the image of its older sister track — Michigan International Speedway. Plans are set to begin tearing down this venue and build a short track in its spot.

Auto Club Speedway — 2022

Thanks to COVID-19, travel restrictions were put in place that canceled this race in 2021. However, it did return last season and became an event that frankly no one could have predicted. To add some much-needed context, the 2022 version of the Wise Power 400 was the first real race utilizing the Generation Seven vehicle in 2023. From 2013 through 2021, NASCAR had used different iterations of the Generation Six car. However, 2022 was the grand unveiling of the new vehicle and just how it was going to perform in its first real test was anyone’s guess.

After a short practice period on the Saturday prior to the race, Denny Hamlin had registered the fastest single lap while teammate Kyle Busch was second — and unlike Hamlin, managed to carry that speed from the short run into the long run. Third fastest that morning was Tyler Reddick, but he tailed off a tad, going 11th fastest in the consecutive five-lap run. 

Austin Cindric, a surprise pole winner himself, started on the pole but quickly relinquished the top spot to Reddick, who went from 11th to first in just 11 laps. In just a handful of laps, Jones recaptured the lead only to see the first caution flag of the day wave as Kyle Busch spun in turn two. Busch’s accident was the first of 10 cautions on the day, the majority for drivers spinning out by themselves with nearly all of them happening in turn two. 

Nearly 30% of the race was spent under the caution flag with the average green flag run sitting at a measly 10.8 laps. Was the new car already broken? No, what we didn’t understand then was teams had found the breaking point for PSI in their new Goodyear tires, and if they hovered on the fringe of that line, they could pull some extra speed out of the car. However, several drivers wondered over that line and either spun out or cut down a tire. A valiant risk they were willing to take at a higher-tire-wear track. 

This constant stopping and starting opened the door for several drivers to take the lead on subsequent restarts. In all nine drivers led that Sunday in California, yet nobody matched Tyler Reddick’s 90 laps led who was able to take advantage of the constant restarts with a fast short run car and potentially aggressive PSI in his tires. However, Reddick would become another tire casualty that day as he cut down a tire on lap 153, just 16 laps into a new green flag run. He would ultimately end his day in 24th, one lap down. 

In the end, Kyle Larson, after being a non-factor for the majority of the day, would rise to the lead and capture the win leading the final four laps after his teammate Chase Elliott spun out on lap 193. 

2022 Auto Club Speedway Expectations

After a year of teams having information about this vehicle and this new tire, it seems that this race should be a bit tamer compared to last year. For example, in 2020 only one driver failed to finish this race — Christopher Bell, due to a failed engine. Not to mention, besides stage breaks, there was only real caution on the day — a single car spin in turn one on lap 94. Thus, if the race is going to return to normal and stay green for large swaths of the race, then expect one or two drivers to squat on the lead for the bulk of the day. 

The biggest question is how drivers who moved during free agency (Silly Season) will fair this weekend. For example, Kyle Busch is inherited Tyler Reddick’s team at Richard Childress Racing, and it will be interesting to see if Busch can find the magic that Reddick found last year here at ACS. Or, perhaps Reddick can take what he learned here last season and bring that to 23XI Racing as we get our first real good luck at Reddick in the Toyota camp. 

The answers to these questions and more will be gradually revealed, starting Saturday afternoon (2:05 p.m. ET) when the cars hit the track for their lone practice session.