NASCAR Results From Fontana: Richard Childress Racing, Roush Fenway Lead The Way

You already know how the individual drivers finished in Sunday’s NASCAR race at Fontana. But how about the teams? Here’s a look at the four biggest multi-car teams and how they fared at Auto Club Speedway:

Richard Childress Racing (average finish: 9.75)

Team owner Richard Childress won for the first time ever at Auto Club Speedway, thanks to Kevin Harvick – who moved up six spots in the point standings to ninth place after his win.

Clint Bowyer also had a much-needed good day, with a seventh-place finish that helped him gain seven positions to 17th in the standings.

Jeff Burton ran well, but was hit with a speeding penalty and went a lap down at one point in the race. But he rebounded nicely and finished 15th, which allowed him to move up to 25th in the standings.

The news wasn’t as great for Paul Menard, though. His final race of “Menarch” was a quiet one, as he finished 16th and fell from fifth to seventh in the point standings.

Roush Fenway Racing (average finish: 10.75)

Former points leader Kurt Busch’s bad day opened the door for Roush Fenway’s Carl Edwards to take over the Sprint Cup Series points lead following his sixth-place finish.

Edwards snapped an incredible streak of either first- or second-place finishes in five of the last six races, and he was never much of a factor at Fontana. Still, he holds a nine-point lead over Ryan Newman in the standings.

Matt Kenseth led the way for Roush with a fourth-place effort (which moved him to 10th in the points) and Greg Biffle had his second consecutive positive finish, posting an 11th-place result. Biffle, who was once mired toward the bottom of the top 35, gained three more spots and is now 20th.

David Ragan didn’t make much impact, unfortunately, finishing 22nd.

Hendrick Motorsports (average finish: 13)

Sunday was a mixed bag for Hendrick, as Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin were non-factors with an 18th- and 20th-place finish, respectively.

But Jimmie Johnson contended for the victory and finished second, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. continued to show he’s rebounding with a solid 12th-place run.

Johnson leads the way for Hendrick in the point standings, having moved up to fourth after Fontana. Earnhardt Jr. is 12th, followed by Martin (14th) and Gordon (16th).

Joe Gibbs Racing (average finish: 22.3)

Uh oh. Joe Gibbs Racing’s engine woes don’t seem to be going away, and that’s a concern for one of NASCAR’s premier teams.

Denny Hamlin had a motor issue that forced him out of the race on Sunday just after the halfway point, despite a promising day that saw him lead 15 laps. His 39th-place finish dropped him to 21st in the point standings.

Things aren’t much better for Joey Logano, either. Logano changed an engine before the race and made it to the end, but a late restart violation dropped him to a 25th-place finish – another bad day he couldn’t afford.

Logano is now 29th in the point standings, sitting 64 points out of a Chase spot. He’ll likely need to win a couple races and get into the top 20 in points if he hopes to make the Chase as a wild card this season.

Kyle Busch had a good day, though. He led the most laps – 151 of the 200 total circuits around the 2-mile oval – and moved up two spots to fourth in points. Of course, it’s never a truly good day for Busch unless he wins.