Auto Club 400 live updates: Alex Bowman wins his second NASCAR Cup Series race

The Auto Club 400 kicks off in Fontana, Calif. on Sunday as the third race of the Cup Series season. The West Coast race serves as a homecoming for many California natives, including seven-time Cup champion, Jimmie Johnson, who is from El Cajon, Calif.

“Big shoutout to all the fans and all the support,” Johnson said in a video NASCAR posted on Twitter shortly before the race. Johnson shot the video as he was walking into his final driver’s meeting for the Auto Club 400. “Hometown vibes have been incredible. It means the world to me and I look forward to a great race.”

Johnson has the most all-time race wins in the Auto Club 400 with six victories. The veteran driver will end his time competing in the Cup series full-time after this season.

He is joined by five other California natives in Sunday’s 38-man lineup, including Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson, Matt DiBenedetto, Tyler Reddick and Cole Custer.

Updates will be posted regularly on this page, with the most recent up top (refresh this page for the latest). You can also follow Alex on Twitter, @AndrejevAlex. Results will be posted here after the race.

Auto Club 400 results

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Auto Club 400 live updates

Stage 3

6:30 p.m., CHECKERED FLAG: Alex Bowman wins his second career race (Chicagoland 2019). Ryan Blaney had to take a late pit and gave up the second-place spot.

6:23 p.m., Lap 192: Bowman is just praying for no cautions. 6-second lead with 8 laps to go.

6:14 p.m., Lap 177: Short of a caution, it would be hard to see Alex Bowman not win this race. He leads Ryan Blaney by more than 5 seconds.

6:02 p.m., Lap 161: Martin Truex Jr. struggles with long pit stop, his crew couldn’t get a rear tire off promptly, dropping him to 19th.

5:57 p.m., Lap 155: Bowman starting to pull away from the field. He has a 3-plus second lead over Martin Truex Jr., who is in second.

5:46, Lap 140: Bowman settles into the lead with three Toyotas in Truex, Hamlin and Kyle Busch behind him.

5:35, Lap 125: Larson gets the free pass and returns to the lead lap, while Bowman, Johnson, Truex and Hamlin battle for the lead. The field runs three and four wide for a few laps on the restart.

Stage 2

5:27, Lap 121: Ryan Blaney wins Stage 2. He is followed by Bowman, Johnson, Keselowski, Truex, Elliott and Kyle Busch.

5:27 p.m., Lap 119: Keselowski regains spot for final laps of Stage 2.

5:22 p.m., Lap 112: Blaney leads with Johnson closely following for one and two spots. Truex runs up past Keselowski.

5:12, Lap 104: A group vies for positions following top two (Blaney, Johnson). Ultimately, Keselowski finds a hole between Logan and Byron and settles into fourth place after Bowman.

5:09 p.m., Lap 95: On the restart the order is Blaney, Bowman, Johnson, Truex, Logano, Byron, Keselowski, Elliott, Hamlin, Almirola, Harvick, DiBenedetto, Chastain, Austin Dillon, and Jones.

5:05 p.m., Lap 93: A caution is called for Clint Bowyer (first of the day for cause, second of the day after stage break). His left front tire is flat. Blaney leads the field.

5:01 p.m., Lap 87: Truex moves past Logano for fourth. An engine issue will keep Bell out of the remainder of the race. He will finish is 38th.

4:58 p.m., Lap 81: Christopher Bell returns to the garage with smoke trailing from his No. 95 Toyota. Meanwhile, Truex moves up to fifth place.

4:48 p.m., Lap 68: Cars run five wide. Johnson leads on the restart on Lap 67, but is passed by Blaney and Bowman. Blaney is able to side draft off Johnson to propel him to the lead.

4:41 p.m., Lap 64: Teams pit for tire changes, but Kurt Busch remains out (misses his pit stall) to give him the lead. Johnson comes off a quick pit stop to run in second place.

Stage 1

4:36 p.m. Lap 61: Alex Bowman wins the first stage. He is followed by Blaney, Johnson, Almirola and Kurt Busch in the top five.

4:30 p.m., Lap 56: Bowman, Blaney, Johnson remain at front. Kyle Busch gets up to to top-ten, while Christopher Bell went to pit road for new tires following a bad vibration. He loses two laps (running in 31st).

4:20 p.m., Lap 38: Larson hits the wall off a push from Denny Hamlin. Larson goes to pit road to assess damage, but is sent back out after losing two laps. He returns in 36th place.

4:16 p.m., Lap 28: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. does not pit with the fields and leads. He is followed by Bowman, Blaney and Johnson still.

4:13 p.m., Lap 26: Truex and Jones make the first green flag pit stop for tires. Bowman, Chase Elliot and Johnson and Larson follow.

4:10 p.m., Lap 24: All crews stand on the pit wall for Lap 24 in honor of Kobe Bryant.

4:02 p.m., Lap 15: New leaders are Bowman, Johnson and Ryan Blaney. They are followed by Kurt Busch, DiBenedetto and Kyle Larson. Bowyer has dropped back to seventh place.

3:59 p.m., Lap 10: Johnson moves to second place on Lap 9, briefly takes the lead in Lap 10 but settles into second behind Bowyer.

3:54 p.m., Lap 5: Kurt Busch jumps up to second behind Clint Bowyer. Bowman and Johnson follow, respectively. Matt DiBenedetto also makes a move to the outside early to put himself in the top ten. Martin Truex Jr. also makes a big jump, gaining 18 positions.

Pre-race

3:54 p.m.: Green flag is waved.

3:43 p.m.: Jimmie Johnson’s wife, Chandra, and two daughters, Genevieve and Lydia, will wave the green flag to start the race. The field will run four pace laps, with Johnson leading a five-wide salute to fans.

3:38 p.m.: Rain was again reported over the speedway, but so far, the race is carrying on as scheduled. Engines have been fired. Actor David Boreanaz gave the command.

3:30 p.m.: The invocation is delivered with a mention of Kobe and Gianna Bryant, as well as the other victims of the Calabasas helicopter crash.

3:18 pm.: Driver are introduced as covers come off cars on pit road. Jimmie Johnson gets a loud cheer. He will start second. Clint Bowyer won the pole with a qualifying time of 40.086 seconds (179.614 mph). Alex Bowman will start third.

3:07 p.m.: Rain sprinkled briefly over pit road, but the driers are now on the track. Pre-race ceremonies are expected to go as scheduled.

2:45 p.m.: NASCAR suspends the crew chiefs for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Preece for today’s race after finding the JTG Daugherty cars with illegal body modifications (suspension issued this morning). The teams will also be docked 10 points and drop to the back at the start. Brian Burns will serve as crew chief for the No. 37 (Preece) and Eddie Pardue will crew chief for the No. 47 (Stenhouse Jr.) today.

The NASCAR penalty report cited, “Parts, systems, devices, omissions or component failures cannot affect what what should otherwise be the normal airflow over the body of the vehicle.”

This story was originally published March 1, 2020 at 11:45 AM with the headline "Auto Club 400 live updates: Alex Bowman wins his second NASCAR Cup Series race."