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Auto Club 500 - California Speedway
Kenseth Pulls Weekend Sweep at California Speedway
Matt Kenseth speaks softly. He let's his driving do the talking.
He did it again Sunday at California Speedway, repeatedly holding off the challenges of some of NASCAR’s biggest names.
After David Reutimann crashed hard into the outside wall less than 10 laps from the finish, Kenseth returned to the front of the field out of the pits and held off Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Burton for five furious laps over the two-mile track.
He had previously held off hard-charging Kevin Harvick, the Daytona 500 champion, who was also poised to make a run at Kenseth’s Ford down the stretch. Harvick's Chevy, however, had a flat left front tire as the cars were coming to the green flag. His stop knocked him back to 17th finish position.
Kenseth's Sunday win came on the heels of a Saturday night victory in a NASCAR Busch Series race.
Rounding out the top 10 were ageless Mark Martin in fifth, Clint Bowyer sixth, Kurt Busch seventh, Tony Stewart eighth, Kyle Busch ninth and Brian Vickers 10th.
Vickers, who failed to qualify his new Red Bull Toyota for the Daytona 500, was in contention throughout the day.
Kenseth earned his win the hard way, leading the most laps.
The race was only eight laps old when Scott Riggs lost control of his Dodge and slammed into the outside "safer" wall, collecting Jamie McMurray and Reed Sorensen in the aftermath.
Just a few laps after the restart, hard-luck Martin Truex Jr. lost an engine in turn one, trailing smoke like a truck spewing mosquito spray.
Truex's teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a flat tire on the restart and rookie David Ragan spun to bring the caution out again. Earnhardt lost a lap while limping around to his pit.
As some of the lead cars started making pit stops after 50 laps, Sterling Marlin brought out the day's fourth caution when something odd happened to his car on the straightaway. A right rear tire went flat, spinning Marlin's machine into the outside wall.
Harvick, who came out of the pits in third place, was sent to the rear of the field before the restart for speeding on pit road.
Kenseth maintained his lead for just a few laps after the restart when Stewart motored to the front.
Fan favorite Earnhardt fell off the pace with engine problems and ended his day at 70 laps. Kasey Kahne also had engine problems.
Kenseth once again took the lead off pit road after the fifth caution flag fell for debris on the track. Stewart was once again in hot pursuit.
At the midpoint of the race, it was Kenseth, Stewart, Johnson, Bowyer, Gordon, Bobby Labonte, Vickers and Martin.
Jeff Gordon Wins Pole Position in Fontana
Jeff Gordon will start Sunday's Auto Club 500 at California Speedway from the pole position. This is Gordon’s 57th career Bud Pole in 475 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup starts. Gordon qualified with a time of 38.76 seconds, at an average speed of 185.73 mph, to capture his second pole at the Fontana track. He last won the top starting position at California in 1998. Gordon now joins Kurt Busch as the only drivers who have won more than one Bud Pole at California Speedway. Gordon has three wins at California Speedway (1997, 1999, 2004), more than any other driver, however no driver has ever won a California Speedway race from the Bud Pole. Gordon’s average start is now 11.786 at California. Joining Gordon on the front row of the starting grid is Kasey Kahne, who qualified his Dodge in 38.765 seconds, at an average speed of 185.735 mph. Mark Martin will roll off from the third spot while Daytona 500 champion Kevin Harvick will start fourth.
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