Kenseth nets first Busch win of season

FONTANA, Calif. (AP) -- Matt Kenseth held off a challenge by Michael Waltrip on a restart with seven laps to go Saturday and went on to win the Californiaspeedway.com 300 Busch Series race.

Kenseth had built a lead of nearly 2 seconds over Waltrip before Tony Raines was knocked into the wall by another car on lap 139 of the 150-lap event, bringing out the last of six caution flags. That gave Daytona 500 winner Waltrip one last shot at the leader.

On the restart on lap 144, Waltrip's Chevrolet drew alongside Kenseth's Ford, but the leader was able to stay ahead and steadily increased his lead. The winning margin was 0.882 seconds -- about 10 car-lengths.

Kenseth, a part-time Busch Series racer and the Winston Cup points leader, averaged 129.419 mph.

"I was concerned about Michael," Kenseth said. "It was a good race when we got side-by-side. Luckily, I had enough power under the hood to get away from him."

Waltrip said, "I'm glad I made Matt work for it a little bit, but he was just a little better than I was."

Kenseth lost ground under a caution flag when he left the pits on lap 42 with a loose lugnut and had to pit again on the next lap to get it tightened. He came out 17th, the last car on the lead lap.

"Since we still had a lot of laps left, I didn't feel too bad going to the back," Kenseth said. "I knew if we kept running good and got a couple of yellows, we'd be able to catch up."

The winner got to the lead on lap 97, lost it only briefly when he pitted on lap 110 led the final 32 trips around the 2-mile oval. He led a total of 47 laps in the race.

It was the 13th Busch victory for Kenseth and his first in four races this season.

Pole-starter Kevin Harvick was third, giving Winston Cup regulars a sweep of the top three positions. Part-time Busch Series competitors from the Cup series -- known as "Buschwhackers," have now won eight of nine races this season.

Kasey Kahne was fourth, followed by series leader Todd Bodine, Jamie McMurray, Jason Keller, Shane Hmiel and David Green, the only Busch regular to win this year.

Bodine increased his points lead from 78 to 99 over runner-up Ron Hornaday Jr., who finished 10th. Dave Green is third, 102 points behind.

CaliforniaSpeedway.com 300 Results
At California Speedway, Fontana, Calif. Lap Length: 2 miles
Finish	Start	Driver	Make	Laps	Earnings
1.	19	Matt Kenseth	Ford	150	$67,975
2.	2	Michael Waltrip	Chevrolet	150	$53,770
3.	1	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	150	$55,635
4.	9	Kasey Kahne	Ford	150	$44,620
5.	14	Todd Bodine	Chevrolet	150	$37,350
6.	25	Jamie McMurray	Dodge	150	$26,350
7.	21	Jason Keller	Ford	150	$36,300
8.	23	Shane Hmiel	Chevrolet	150	$28,600
9.	10	David Green	Pontiac	150	$32,800
10.	3	Ron Hornaday Jr.	Chevrolet	150	$28,350
11.	4	David Reutimann	Chevrolet	150	$24,450
12.	15	Ashton Lewis Jr.	Chevrolet	150	$26,300
13.	27	Coy Gibbs	Chevrolet	150	$27,405
14.	28	Scott Wimmer	Chevrolet	150	$31,375
15.	31	Steadman Marlin	Dodge	150	$21,050
16.	26	Mike Wallace	Chevrolet	150	$25,625
17.	13	Mike Bliss	Chevrolet	149	$24,295
18.	12	Bobby Hamilton Jr.	Ford	149	$29,670
19.	6	Brian Vickers	Chevrolet	149	$29,795
20.	11	Scott Riggs	Ford	149	$30,220
21.	5	Stacy Compton	Chevrolet	149	$24,145
22.	16	Kevin Grubb	Dodge	149	$21,670
23.	8	Johnny Sauter	Chevrolet	148	$22,050
24.	32	Damon Lusk	Dodge	148	$19,375
25.	38	Chase Montgomery	Pontiac	148	$28,870
26.	30	Carlos Contreras	Ford	147	$19,125
27.	35	Troy Cline	Chevrolet	147	$19,000
28.	39	Bruce Bechtel	Ford	146	$20,875
29.	18	Jeff Streeter	Chevrolet	143	$18,750
30.	41	Larry Gunselman	Pontiac	140	$20,745
31.	22	Tony Raines	Chevrolet	139	$18,500
32.	24	Randy LaJoie	Chevrolet	132	$22,390
33.	7	Chad Blount	Dodge	132	$20,730
34.	20	Stanton Barrett	Ford	129	$25,620
35.	37	Lance Norick	Dodge	108	$20,010
36.	33	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	94	$19,900
37.	36	Hermie Sadler	Chevrolet	90	$19,790
38.	43	Chris Bingham	Ford	86	$17,685
39.	40	Mike Harmon	Chevrolet	74	$17,650
40.	29	Kerry Earnhardt	Chevrolet	58	$19,610
41.	42	Morgan Shepherd	Chevrolet	36	$17,560
42.	34	Jason Schuler	Ford	33	$17,515
43.	17	Joe Nemechek	Chevrolet	8	$17,483
Average Speed of Race Winner: 129.419 mph. Time of Race: 2 hours, 19 minutes, 5 seconds. Margin of Victory: 0.882. Caution Flags: 6 for 30 laps. Lead Changes: 10 among 5 drivers. Lap Leaders: K. Harvick 1-15; M. Waltrip 16-31; M. Kenseth 32-33; M. Waltrip 34-42; K. Harvick 43-51; S. Compton 52; K. Harvick 53-87; M. Waltrip 88-96; M. Kenseth 97-109; S. Hmiel 110-118; M. Kenseth 119-150. Top 10 in Points: T. Bodine - 1,275; R. Hornaday Jr. - 1,176; D. Green - 1,173; S. Hmiel - 1,165; M. Bliss - 1,130; J. Keller - 1,117; J. McMurray - 1,107; K. Kahne - 1,054; S. Riggs - 1,053; J. Sauter - 1,046.