FONTANA, Calif. — When dark clouds ominously obscured majestic Mount Baldy north of Auto Club Speedway early in Sunday’s race, NASCAR’s drivers all realized they were probably in for a short day on a long track. FONTANA, Calif. — When
FONTANA, Calif. — When dark clouds ominously obscured majestic Mount Baldy north of Auto Club Speedway early in Sunday’s race, NASCAR’s drivers all realized they were probably in for a short day on a long track.
Nobody did a better job racing until the raindrops fell than Tony Stewart.
Stewart got his second NASCAR victory of the season when rain shortened the race at Auto Club Speedway by 71 laps, extending the defending Sprint Cup champion’s unusually strong start.
Kyle Busch finished second, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. added to his good start to the season in third.
“You hate to have it end with rain like that,” Stewart said. “But we’ve lost some that way, and we didn’t back into the lead.”
Stewart has won seven of the last 15 races, including Las Vegas last month, in a remarkable stretch of dominance for a driver who rarely gets rolling until summer.
Stewart’s Chevrolet passed Busch 44 laps before the race was stopped when the looming rain clouds finally burst and halted a race run entirely on green.
