Auto Club winners and losers

A look at the winners and losers from Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway…

Kyle Larson: He may have missed out on a Daytona 500 victory, but Larson’s 17th career victory extends a remarkable run. Larson won four of the final five races of 2021, including the season finale at Phoenix Raceway to claim his first Cup championship. After winning the Daytona 500 pole but crashing out in Florida, the California native rebounded with a powerful performance late at Auto Club to head back to victory lane.

Austin Dillon: Dillon had the quieter day of the Richard Childress Racing Chevrolets but certainly the best result. The 2018 Daytona 500 champion capitalized on late restarts and a fast car to finish second, his first top five at Auto Club in eight starts and first overall since the Daytona 500 in 2021.

Erik Jones: Jones led 18 laps on Sunday before finishing third, doubling the his laps-led count from last year in one race. The No. 43 Petty GMS Motorsports team was stout all weekend, notching a second-place starting spot in qualifying.

Daniel Suarez: While he is surely disappointed he didn’t win the race, Suarez was outstanding in the final laps of Sunday’s race. His fourth-place finish ties his best finish with Trackhouse Racing, which he earned at last year’s Bristol Dirt race.

Kevin Harvick: Harvick began the weekend by backing his No. 4 Ford into the Turn 4 wall, spinning within the first two minutes of Saturday’s practice. The team thrashed to repair his primary car and Harvick repaid them by wheeling it up to a seventh-place finish.

Daniel Hemric: After starting fifth and finishing ninth, Hemric turned in what looks like an average started-well, finished-well kind of day. But the defending Xfinity Series