Busch Edges Biffle For NASCAR Nationwide Win In Fontana
Kyle Busch picked up his first NASCAR Nationwide Series victory of the season in a wild finish at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA.
By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
(February 20, 2010)
FONTANA,
Calif. -- With a last-lap pass of Greg Biffle, Kyle Busch stole a win
in the Stater Bros. 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Auto Club
Speedway -- a victory that came at the expense of the race's dominant
driver, Busch's teammate, Joey Logano.
Busch
finished .051 seconds ahead of Biffle, who sent Logano -- then the
leader -- up the track after the restart for a
green-white-checkered-flag finish that took the race two laps beyond
its scheduled distance of 150 laps.
Busch
locked onto Biffle's rear bumper to start the final lap, and when
Biffle slipped slightly, Busch dived to the inside. Third-place
finisher Brad Keselowski took it three-wide below Busch in Turn 3 but
couldn't sustain his momentum, and Busch won a drag race off Turn 4 to
edge Biffle.
The
victory was Busch's 31st in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, tying him
with Jack Ingram for third on the career win list. Danica Patrick
finished 31st, three laps down, in her second start in the series.
"We
went off into (Turn) 1, and Joey got loose and slid way across the
racetrack, and I had to turn underneath him and try to not get boxed
in," Busch said. "Then we went down the back, and I was inside of
Biffle, and I'm like, 'Man, I wish I was on the outside right now.'
"Then
we got into (Turn) 3, and Keselowski put his nose in, and I thought we
were going to wreck, but somehow we held on to it. (Biffle) ended up
getting a little bit loose, so I was able to get to his inside. Man, it
was exciting there, coming to the finish."
Logano,
who started from the pole and led 130 laps, had an issue with what he
considered Biffle's aggressiveness on the final restart. Logano and
Biffle had traded shots during a NASCAR Nationwide race at the
California track last October.
"I
don't know what his deal is with me, but for some reason, in
California, he feels like putting me in the fence or hitting me towards
the end," said Logano, who spun through the infield grass on the final
lap but still finished one spot behind fourth-place Carl Edwards. "I
know we were racing hard there at the end, but -- I don't know -- I
think he could have done it a little cleaner than that."
Biffle had a different version of the final restart.
"It
was a rookie mistake," Biffle said. "He spun his tires on the restart
and couldn't get going. … If Joey hadn't spun his tires on that last
restart, I never would have had a chance at him. I had a front-row
seat, and I was inside of him, and he came down the racetrack."
Logano
had a comfortable lead over Busch when NASCAR threw the fourth caution
of the race for Brendan Gaughan's spin in Turn 3 on Lap 144.
Note:
The margin of victory was the 10th closest in NASCAR Nationwide Series
history. … Patrick suffered a pair of pit road speeding penalties and
lost one of her three laps on a pass-through penalty.