NASCAR Busch Series: Kenseth Continues California Dominance

Kenseth will attempt to defend his Auto Club 500 victory and complete the California weekend sweep Sunday from the 25th starting position.

Salem-News.com SPORTS

FONTANA, Calif. - Despite a late charge by Casey Mears, Matt Kenseth led the final 22 laps at California Speedway to win the Stater Bros. 300 on Saturday night and continue his, and Roush Fenway Racing's, dominance of the 2-mile speedway.

Kenseth scored the 12th victory for his team at California Speedway and fifth for him personally - four in NASCAR Busch Series competition and one in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series action.

"That was a lot of fun," said Kenseth, who earlier today was inducted in the California Speedway Walk of Fame in recognition of his victory in last season's Auto Club 500 NEXTEL Cup Series race. "We had some tires that our car liked and some that it didn't like, so we just had to get the right stuff on at the end.

"Without that last caution with 30 to go, we weren't going to win. Once we got that, we had one good set of tires left lying there and I thought we were going to have a fun time. I didn't know if we could beat Kyle (Busch) and Jeff (Burton), and then Casey snuck up there at the end, but I knew it was going to be a good race."

He will attempt to defend his Auto Club 500 victory and complete the California weekend sweep on Sunday from the 25th starting position.

Mears, who failed to qualify last week at Daytona International Speedway, rebounded to finish runner-up to Kenseth in his debut for Hendrick Motorsports in the NASCAR Busch Series.

Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and defending race winner Greg Biffle completed the top five in the 150-lap event.

Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, Denny Hamlin Regan Smith and polesitter Dave Blaney rounded out the top 10.

Stater Bros. 300 Results:

1. Matt Kenseth

2. Casey Mears

3. Kyle Busch

4. Carl Edwards

5. Greg Biffle

6. Kevin Harvick

7. Jeff Burton

8. Denny Hamlin

9. Regan Smith

10. Dave Blaney

11. Tony Stewart

12. David Stremme

13. Joe Nemechek

14. David Reutimann

15. Jamie McMurray

16. Scott Riggs

17. Timothy Peters

18. David Ragan

19. Jeff Green

20. Stephen Leicht

21. Shane Huffman

22. Steve Wallace

23. J.J. Yeley

24. Mike Wallace

25. Marcos Ambrose

26. Kenny Wallace

27. Brent Sherman

28. Jay Sauter

29. Bobby Hamilton Jr.

30. Kertus Davis

31. Jon Wood

32. Brad Keselowski

33. Kyle Krisiloff

34. Ward Burton

35. Sam Hornish Jr.

36. Reed Sorenson

37. Paul Menard

38. Jason Leffler

39. Juan Pablo Montoya

40. Eric McClure

41. Morgan Shepherd

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