Sony HD 500 - California Speedway

Kyle Busch Claims First Win Under the Lights in Fontana
Kyle Busch won the Sony HD 500 at California Speedway, scoring his first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup victory in his 31st career start. Busch held off Greg Biffle in a green-white-checkered finish to win by 0.554 seconds and become the youngest race winner in NASCAR's premiere division. He is 20 yrs., 4 mos. and 2 days old. Donald Thomas won at Lakewood Speedway in Georgia on dirt on Nov. 16th, 1952 at the age of 20 yrs., 4mos. 6 days old, he was four days older than Busch. Busch is also the youngest Bud Pole winner in NASCAR's premiere division, after winning the pole here at California back in February when he was at the age of 19 yrs., 9 mos. and 24 days old. Busch became the third first-time race winner this season, joining Carl Edwards and Kasey Kahne as drivers who have made their initial visits to victory lane in 2005. Busch now becomes the 12th different race winner in the 2005 season. Busch led the most laps in the event, leading the race five times for a total of 95 laps, the most laps that he has led in a single race in his NASCAR NEXTEL Cup career. He became the 11th different driver to lead the most laps in a race this season. This is Rick Hendrick’s 136th victory as a car owner and sixth in 12 races this season. It is the fifth victory for Hendrick at California Speedway, the most of any owner. Busch, the leading Rookie of the Year candidate, now has scored nine top-10 finishes in the 25 races race so far in 2005. Busch’s win gives Chevrolet their 13th victory in 2005, while Ford has 10 and Dodge has two. Greg Biffle finished in the second position, ironically the same position that he finished in Busch’s first NASCAR Busch Series victory. Brian Vickers came home in third, followed by Carl Edwards in the fourth position. Points leader Tony Stewart lead the second-most number of laps on the day – 56 – and rounded out the top five in the finishing order. After California, Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Biffle, Rusty Wallace, and Mark Martin have all clinched a spot in the 2005 Chase for the Championship and Kurt Busch will secure a spot just by starting the race at Richmond. Eleven drivers will be racing for the four remaining unsecured spots in the 2005 Chase to the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup at RIR.

Sony HD 500 Notes

· Race Results · Chevrolet Post-Race Quotes · Ford Post-Race Quotes · Dodge Post-Race Quotes · Point Standings · Owner Point Standings · Starting Lineup · Qualifying Results · Ford Qualifying Quotes · Chevrolet Qualifying Quotes · Dodge Qualifying Quotes · Final Practice · Chevrolet Saturday Quotes · Dodge Saturday Quotes · Practice 1 · Qualifying Order · Dodge Friday Quotes · Ford Friday Quotes · Entry List · Race Notes · Weekend Schedule · MRN Notes · Raybestos Rookie Notes · Stuart Kirby Notes · Bill Elliott Notes · Boris Said Notes · Scott Wimmer Notes · Dave Blaney Notes · Kyle Petty Notes

· Tony Stewart Notes · Jimmie Johnson Notes · Greg Biffle Notes · Rusty Wallace Notes · Mark Martin Notes · Jeremy Mayfield Notes · Kurt Busch Notes · Carl Edwards Notes · Ryan Newman Notes · Jeff Gordon Notes · Matt Kenseth Notes · Jamie McMurray Notes · Elliott Sadler Notes · Dale Jarrett Notes · Dale Earnhardt Jr. Notes · Kevin Harvick Notes · Joe Nemechek Notes · Brian Vickers Notes · Jeff Burton Notes · Kasey Kahne Notes · Kyle Busch Notes · Ricky Rudd Notes · Bobby Labonte Notes · Casey Mears Notes · Mike Bliss Notes · Scott Riggs Notes · Ken Schrader Notes · Sterling Marlin Notes · Jeff Green Notes

Edwards Leads Roush Brigade to Win First Career Pole
Carl Edwards was the fastest of four Roush Racing cars at the top of the starting lineup for tomorrow night’s Sony HD 500 at the California Speedway. Edwards lead a Roush sweep of the first four positions and topped teammates Mark Martin, Kurt Busch and Greg Biffle to win the pole position for the Nextel Cup event. Edwards lapped the California Speedway in 38.906 seconds, at an average speed of 185.061 mph, to win his first career Bud Pole in 38 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races. Kyle Busch holds the track-qualifying record of 38.248 seconds, at an average speed of 188.245 mph, set Feb. 26, 2005. Edwards joins Kyle Busch and Scott Riggs as the first-time Bud Pole winners this season and now becomes the 16th different Bud Pole winner this season. Edwards also became the 10th different Bud Pole winner in the 11 races at California – qualifying was rained out in 1999. This is Edwards’s first top-10 start in three races at California Speedway; he started 19th in each of his other races here. This is the fifth Bud Pole for Ford in 2005, Chevrolet has 10 Bud Poles and Dodge has eight. Qualifying was canceled at Dover in June and Watkins Glen. This is the first time in the modern era that a car owner has scored a 1-2-3-4 sweep of qualifying. The previous best qualifying sweep for a car owner was when Hendrick Motorsports swept the first three starting positions at Michigan in June 2004. Mark Martin posted the second-quickest qualifying lap of 38.854 seconds, at an average of 184.833 mph – and will join Edwards on the front row for the SONY HD 500. It is the fifth top-10 start for Martin this season and his fifth in 11 races at California. Kurt Busch will roll off third, his third top-10 start in seven California races. Greg Biffle starts fourth, posting his third top-10 start in six races at California – all in the past three races. Biffle was the fourth of the five Roush Racing entries to qualify in the top-four. The fifth Roush driver, Matt Kenseth, qualified 23rd. Jimmie Johnson was best-in-class, qualifying in the fifth position as the top non-Roush driver. Jon Wood qualified for his first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race. However, Ricky Rudd, who has been dealing with the loss of his father, is expected to return to the Motorcraft Ford in his place in the SONY HD 500.