Busch Edges Biffle For NASCAR Nationwide Win In Fontana

Polesitter Joey Logano and his the No. 20 Gamestop Toyota lead the field to the start of the NASCAR Nationwide Series Stater Bros. 300 at Auto Club Speedway on Saturday in Fontana, Calif. (Credit: Jeff Gross/Getty Images)By Reid Spencer (Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service)
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.

The crew of the No. 18 Z-Line Designs Toyota perform a pit stop for Kyle Busch during Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series Stater Bros. 300. (Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)"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.

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Unofficial Race Results for the Stater Bros. 300 - Saturday, February 20, 2010
Auto Club Speedway - Fontana, CA - 2 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 152 Laps - 304 Miles - Purse: $1,420,657

Leader
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Driver Rating Winnings Status Tms Laps
1 2 18 Kyle Busch Z-Line Designs Toyota 152 190 5 129.6 $68,845 Running 2 4
2 5 27 Greg Biffle Red Man Moist Snuff Ford 152 175 5 116.9 $58,875 Running 2 12
3 13 22 Brad Keselowski Discount Tire Dodge 152 170 5 106.7 $51,493 Running 1 1
4 4 60 Carl Edwards Copart Ford 152 160 103.7 $36,275 Running
5 1 20 Joey Logano GameStop/Mario Kart Toyota 152 165 10 142.5 $39,200 Running 5 130
6 12 66 Steve Wallace 5 hour Energy Toyota 152 150 85.3 $32,318 Running
7 32 88 Kelly Bires HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 152 146 89.8 $30,118 Running
8 7 32 Brian Vickers Dollar General Stores Toyota 152 142 110.9 $23,175 Running
9 15 12 Justin Allgaier Verizon Wireless Dodge 152 143 5 93.8 $28,778 Running 1 1
10 3 11 Brian Scott # AccuDoc Toyota 152 134 112.9 $24,250 Running
11 10 99 Trevor Bayne Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota 152 130 91.6 $30,918 Running
12 19 01 Mike Wallace Monster Diesel Chevrolet 152 132 5 74.4 $27,618 Running 1 1
13 9 1 James Buescher # Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 152 129 5 88.7 $27,993 Running 1 3
14 20 38 Jason Leffler Great Clips Toyota 152 121 88.7 $27,283 Running
15 27 43 Scott Lagasse Jr. Dr. Gadget/everybodygets1.com Ford 152 118 71.5 $27,998 Running
16 43 09 Scott Riggs RAB Racing Ford 152 115 65.6 $27,038 Running
17 34 15 Michael Annett Pilot Travel Centers Toyota 152 112 76.5 $26,828 Running
18 18 16 Colin Braun # Roush-Fenway Ford 152 109 72.3 $26,893 Running
19 17 98 Paul Menard Richmond/Menards Ford 152 106 79.2 $20,115 Running
20 21 35 Jason Keller TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 151 103 58.7 $21,155 Running
21 37 81 Michael McDowell Crusader Staffing Associates Dodge 151 100 54.7 $26,363 Running
22 29 42 Parker Kligerman # Smith Ironworks Dodge 151 97 59.1 $19,760 Running
23 16 87 Joe Nemechek FrontRowJoe.com Chevrolet 151 94 64.9 $26,543 Running
24 14 62 Brendan Gaughan South Point Hotel and Casino Toyota 151 91 75.2 $25,983 Running
25 35 34 Tony Raines Long John Silver's Chevrolet 151 88 57.1 $26,298 Running
26 11 10 David Reutimann Beringer Toyota 150 85 86.8 $19,270 Running
27 42 40 Mike Bliss Key Motorsports Chevrolet 150 82 63.7 $25,603 Running
28 30 05 Willie Allen 31W Insulation/CertainTeed Chevrolet 150 79 46.4 $19,015 Running
29 39 28 Kenny Wallace Blue Ox/Zimmzang Chevrolet 149 76 41.8 $25,333 Running
30 6 21 John Wes Townley Zaxby's Chevrolet 149 73 66.2 $26,173 Running
31 36 7 Danica Patrick GoDaddy.com Chevrolet 149 70 35.0 $25,113 Running
32 23 70 Mark Green ML Motorsports Chevrolet 149 67 45.9 $18,535 Running
33 40 23 Robert Richardson Jr. 3R Motorsports Chevrolet 148 64 37.2 $24,893 Running
34 41 26 Brian Keselowski Double Tree Suites Dodge 148 61 33.5 $24,783 Running
35 24 24 Eric McClure Hefty Ford 148 58 35.6 $24,673 Running
36 33 73 Derrike Cope Asset Protect Dodge 147 55 32.0 $18,095 Running
37 38 61 Josh Wise Stratosphere Ford 147 52 35.1 $24,443 Running
38 8 33 Kevin Harvick Rheem Tankless Chevrolet 117 49 90.2 $18,015 Engine
39 26 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. # CitiFinancial Ford 117 46 47.5 $24,258 Accident
40 25 56 Kevin Lepage Start Energy Drink Toyota 40 43 41.2 $17,755 Wheel Bearing
41 31 07 Danny Efland Shred 360/M&W Towing Chevrolet 17 40 30.9 $17,695 Engine
42 22 96 Dennis Setzer Stratosphere Dodge 3 37 30.3 $17,615 Vibration
43 28 83 John Borneman III Twisted X Boots/Red Line Oil Ford 2 34 28.9 $17,575 Transmission