Busch wins in Fontana stunner

FONTANA, Calif. – With tires and tempers blowing up all over the track for 400 crazy miles, Kyle Busch stayed calm and relied on his remarkable knack for big finishes at Fontana.

Busch won on this 2-mile oval for the second straight year Sunday, holding off Kyle Larson, Tony Stewart and his older brother Kurt on a frantic two-lap sprint to the finish.

Kyle Busch capably blocked Larson and outlasted a crowded field to win a race featuring a track-record 35 lead changes and numerous tire problems. Busch stayed out of trouble and roared up late for his second straight stunner in Southern California, following up his final-lap surge to victory a year ago.

“Holy cow, what do you expect when you’ve got a green-white-checkered finish and everybody has to come down pit road and put four tires on?” Busch asked after his third career win at Fontana. “That was ‘Days of Thunder’ right there. Unbelievable day.”

Kyle Busch is NASCAR’s fifth winner in five races this season. He led just five laps.

Jimmie Johnson was comfortably in front when he blew a tire with seven laps left, precipitating the wild finish. Jeff Gordon moved in front until Clint Bowyer spun with two laps to go, setting up an overtime finish.

Kurt Busch finished third, with Matt Kenseth in fourth and Stewart in fifth.

1. (14) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 206 laps, 123.1 rating, 47 points, $324,531. 2. (11) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 206, 89.4, 42, $233,450. 3. (17) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 206, 104.5, 42, $169,905. 4. (1) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 206, 117.1, 41, $202,491. 5. (10) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 206, 82.2, 39, $159,538. 6. (25) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 206, 95.7, 38, $148,559. 7. (19) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 206, 111.9, 38, $144,370. 8. (18) A J Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 206, 86.7, 36, $127,853. 9. (30) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 206, 84.1, 35, $134,309. 10. (9) Carl Edwards, Ford, 206, 88.4, 34, $121,270. 11. (20) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 206, 74.4, 33, $148,846. 12. (15) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 206, 83.6, 32, $111,360. 13. (6) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 206, 114, 32, $145,096. 14. (27) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 206, 63.9, 30, $109,210. 15. (31) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 206, 67.7, 29, $125,968. 16. (5) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 206, 100.5, 29, $140,001. 17. (13) Sam Hornish Jr., Toyota, 206, 66.6, 0, $107,410. 18. (34) Cole Whitt, Toyota, 206, 53.3, 26, $94,610. 19. (23) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 206, 59.5, 25, $111,768. 20. (16) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 206, 86.7, 25, $106,110. 21. (36) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 206, 42.3, 24, $107,868. 22. (40) Alex Bowman, Toyota, 206, 46.9, 22, $105,057. 23. (12) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 206, 55.9, 21, $122,718. 24. (3) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 206, 127.4, 22, $155,521. 25. (43) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 205, 43, 0, $90,960. 26. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 205, 94.2, 19, $135,143. 27. (41) David Ragan, Ford, 205, 39.1, 18, $100,235. 28. (28) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 205, 49.4, 16, $99,535. 29. (33) David Reutimann, Ford, 205, 36.7, 16, $91,335. 30. (8) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 205, 63.9, 14, $117,430. 31. (39) Ryan Truex, Toyota, 205, 31.3, 13, $88,885. 32. (42) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 205, 30.4, 0, $95,685. 33. (35) Travis Kvapil, Ford, 205, 30.9, 11, $87,460. 34. (22) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 204, 56.5, 10, $123,085. 35. (37) Brian Scott, Chevrolet, 204, 37.3, 0, $87,035. 36. (4) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 204, 82.7, 8, $127,928. 37. (38) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, 204, 44.2, 7, $86,664. 38. (29) David Gilliland, Ford, 202, 35.6, 7, $88,915. 39. (7) Joey Logano, Ford, 195, 72.1, 5, $116,906. 40. (24) Greg Biffle, Ford, 193, 62.9, 4, $117,490. 41. (26) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 180, 70, 3, $88,315. 42. (32) Parker Kligerman, Toyota, accident, 85, 43.4, 2, $64,915. 43. (21) Aric Almirola, Ford, accident, 68, 53, 1, $98,351.

Average Speed of Winner: 132.987 mph.

Time of Race: 3 hours, 5 minutes, 53 seconds.

Margin of Victory: 0.214 seconds.

Caution Flags: 9 for 42 laps.

Lead Changes: 35 among 15 drivers.

Lap Leaders: B.Keselowski 1-9; C.Bowyer 10; B.Keselowski 11-20; D.Ragan 21; B.Keselowski 22; Ky.Busch 23-26; B.Keselowski 27-43; D.Gilliland 44; L.Cassill 45; J.Johnson 46; B.Vickers 47; J.Johnson 48-57; C.Bowyer 58; B.Keselowski 59; J.Johnson 60-70; R.Newman 71-73; M.Kenseth 74-83; J.Johnson 84-86; M.Kenseth 87; J.Nemechek 88; M.Kenseth 89-90; J.Johnson 91-105; J.Gordon 106-119; R.Sorenson 120; M.Kenseth 121-126; J.Johnson 127-142; J.Gordon 143; D.Reutimann 144; J.Johnson 145-167; J.Gordon 168; J.Johnson 169-193; J.Gordon 194-200; L.Cassill 201-203; Ku.Busch 204-205; Ky.Busch 206.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): J.Johnson, 8 times for 104 laps; B.Keselowski, 5 times for 38 laps; J.Gordon, 4 times for 23 laps; M.Kenseth, 4 times for 19 laps; Ky.Busch, 2 times for 5 laps; L.Cassill, 2 times for 4 laps; R.Newman, 1 time for 3 laps; Ku.Busch, 1 time for 2 laps; C.Bowyer, 2 times for 2 laps; B.Vickers, 1 time for 1 lap; R.Sorenson, 1 time for 1 lap; D.Ragan, 1 time for 1 lap; D.Reutimann, 1 time for 1 lap; J.Nemechek, 1 time for 1 lap; D.Gilliland, 1 time for 1 lap.

Wins: Ky.Busch, 1; D.Earnhardt Jr., 1; C.Edwards, 1; K.Harvick, 1; Bra.Keselowski, 1.

Top 12 in Points: 1. C.Edwards, 186; 2. D.Earnhardt Jr., 185; 3. J.Gordon, 184; 4. Bra.Keselowski, 182; 5. M.Kenseth, 179; 6. J.Johnson, 165; 7. Ky.Busch, 158; 8. R.Newman, 150; 9. A.Dillon, 150; 10. J.Logano, 146; 11. D.Hamlin, 140; 12. J.McMurray, 138.