Who won NASCAR’s Pala Casino 400 race last year?

NASCAR returns to Fontana, California for its annual race at the Auto Club Speedway. The Pala Casino 400 will run on Sunday and defending champion Kyle Larson is the pre-race favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook.

A year ago, Larson won the Fontana race, which was run under a different sponsor. For that one year, the race was called the WISE Power 400. The ten previous years it was the Auto Club 400 and the eight years prior it was the Auto Club 500. The original name of the race was the California 500.

In the 2022 race, Austin Cindric won the pole position in qualifying and Erik Jones joined him on the front row. On race day, Tyler Reddick won the first two stages, but a flat left-rear tire cost him on lap 152. Larson started the race at the rear of the field because of unapproved car adjustments but slowly worked his way to the front and took his first lead on lap 167. He edged out Austin Dillon by .195 seconds to win the race.

Five drivers have won the race more than once, including Larson (twice) and Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson, and Kyle Busch (three times). Busch and Kenseth are the only drivers to win the race in consecutive years, with Busch claiming the checkered flag in 2012 and 2014, and Kenseth winning in 2006 and 2007.

The green flag drops at 3:30 p.m. ET for Sunday’s Pala Casino 400 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. The race will air on Fox.