Race 5 is always what I consider the first checkpoint of the season.It is the conclusion of the west coast swing, and once the race is over, everyone sort of has a grasp of who will be the best drivers this season.

Austin Dillon took the green flag from the pole for this race, but he didn’t even lead a lap. He was quickly passed by second place Kevin Harvick, who went on to lead well over 100 of the races 200 laps.

A brief caution came out early after several drivers blew tires, but the first big caution came at lap 47. Kyle Larson, who has found success here at Fontana in the past, blew a tire down the back stretch. He lost control, spun down the track, and careened off the inside wall, and briefly flew into the air. Larson was fortunate he hit a SAFER barrier, because I’m 100% sure that if he had hit anything else he would not have walked away from the crash.

After the ensuing restart Martin Truex Jr. was the leader, but he was soon hunted down and passed by Jimmie Johnson, who was running a special Superman paint scheme. Johnson spent a brief period of time out front, but Harvick soon found his way back to the lead.

On lap 121 the biggest wreck of the day took place. Danica Patrick, who was having a rather good run, was tagged by lapped car Kasey Kahne and sent sailing into the outside wall. Danica lifted into the air upon hitting the wall and spun down the track. After exiting the car Patrick walked back toward the track and pointed at Kahne. I don’t know about you, but if I were running well, and a lapped car wrecked me, I’d feel inclined to sock the guy in the jaw. No punching took place, but Kahne, his crew chief, and his spotter were ‘invited’ to have a discussion with Nascar officials after the race.

On lap 150 Joey Logano, who is already known to make dirty racing choices, tagged Martin Truex Jr. and sent him into the outside wall. No caution was thrown, but Truex, who wound up 32nd, was very angry with Logano post race, and Truex’s crew chief, Cole Pearn, threw a very unfriendly tweet out after the race at Logano.

Several drivers made what they believed would be their last pit stop at lap 158. However, while drivers were ok as far as fuel went, tires were a whole other story. Denny Hamlin won the race off pit road, and he was followed by Joey Logano, Brad Keslowski, Kevin Harvick, and Kyle Busch. Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson had made their pit stops prior to the caution, so they ended up leading the field to the green flag.

However, Kevin Harvick made mincemeat out of the leaders, and after a heated battle with Logano, he was back in the lead. He opened giant lead over Kyle Busch for the next 30 or so laps, and it seemed Harvick was headed for his second win in a row.

But then, Kyle Busch blew a tire on lap 198. Kyle blew the tire in turns 3 and 4, and was passed for second by rookie Chase Elliot as they came through the turn. Just as Busch was about to come down pit road, Nascar threw the caution. I don’t really understand why Nascar threw the caution, because there wasn’t really any debris on the track, and Busch was almost on pit road.

Whatever the reason, the caution waved, and everyone came to pit road. Denny Halmin once again won the race off pit road, and this time Harvick came off second. Thanks to a bad pit stop by his crew, Elliot lost several spots, and restarted 7th.

On the restart Harvick dove beneath Hamlin and took the lead, but Jimmie Johnson, who was third, dove beneath him. For some reason, this was the one restart all day that Harvick didn’t jump in front of everyone, and Johnson passed him as they went into turns 3 and 4. Harvick did everything he could, but Johnson pulled away and won at Auto Club for the sixth time in his career. Elliot wound up in sixth, which was a solid outing for the rookie.