It's a huge letdown for the fans whenever a race is shortened by rain, and that’s exactly what happened at Auto Club Speedway in California.  Shortened by 71 laps, it was Tony Stewart claiming his second NASCAR win for 2012.

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With the clouds looking like they could let loose at any minute, Stewart really did have the dominant car of the day, passing Kyle Busch for the lead on lap 85, just 44 laps before the race would be called.  Stewart kept the lead  through some green flag pit stops, and under caution for rain (the only caution of the day), Stewart faked as though he was going to pit his car, but jerked the wheel back on to the track, keeping the lead.

With 71 laps to go, NASCAR stopped the race, and Stewart has his second win of the season, and he was proud to get it. He told NASCAR.com,

You hate to have them end with rain like that. But I’ve lost some that way,The good thing is, we didn’t back into the lead because we stayed out, the leaders came in. I mean, we were leading the thing and had earned that spot. Proud of that.

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Kyle Busch claimed a second place finish, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was third, Kevin Harvick finished fourth, with Carl Edwards rounding out the top 5.

Next the series travels to Martinsville Speedway on April 1st for the Goody’s Fast Relief 500, and I am fairly certain we will see a lot more yellow flags there than we did in California.  FOX will have coverage beginning at 11:30AM (Central).

There’s a good chance we could see Tony Stewart continue his hot streak there.  Outside of Kevin Harvick winning in 2011… Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, and Denny Hamlin have won every race at Martinsville since 2006.

While you are here stop by the VIP REWARDS CLUB and register for The Ultimate NASCAR Weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.  No Limits racing under the lights, and you could be right in the middle of it.  The winner will get 2 tickets for the O’Reilly 300 Friday April 13th, and the Samsung Mobile 500 Saturday April 14th, VIP pit-passes for the entire weekend, and Deluxe hotel accommodations for both nights at The Fairfield Inn by Marriott DFW North Irving.  Take your VIP points and get as many entries as you can.  The more entries you get, the better chances of you winning!

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