Roush-Hour Traffic

A week ago, Matt Kenseth flew through the infield grass and then hit the wall in the Daytona 500 after getting a controversial shove from Tony Stewart.

Sunday, Kenseth tore through the infield turf again -- this time in celebration on his way to Victory Lane at California Speedway.

Kenseth, extending the stranglehold that the Roush Racing Fords have over Fontana, climbed all the way from the 31st starting spot to win the Auto Club 500 Nextel Cup race, averaging 147.852 mph. Three other Roush drivers finished in the top 10 as well.

No NASCAR driver had won from that deep in the starting grid since the speedway opened in 1997. The victory also was the first for the Wisconsin native since he won in Bristol, Tenn., last August, his first victory in Fontana and the initial victory for the new Ford Fusion.

Kenseth, the 2003 Nextel Cup champion, and his team managed the feat by repeatedly adjusting his car’s handling and with the help of late caution flags, the last of which forced a two-lap overtime shootout.

“All the stars aligned for us,” said Kenseth, 33, acknowledging, “We didn’t have the most dominant car.”

The dominant car was another Roush Ford driven by Greg Biffle, who was cruising toward a repeat of his Fontana victory a year ago until his engine failed with only 25 laps to go, opening the door for Kenseth.

“It’s frustrating,” said Biffle, who led 168 of the 250 laps at the two-mile, D-shaped California Speedway. “We didn’t have an engine failure all season last year.”

It was one of the few disappointments for Roush. Another Roush driver, Carl Edwards, finished third in his Ford, behind runner-up Jimmie Johnson, who drives a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Roush teammates Jamie McMurray and Mark Martin took sixth and ninth, respectively, also in Fords.

When the season opened at Daytona International Speedway, there was widespread agreement that this year’s Cup field was the most evenly matched in history. That still might be true, but not at Fontana.

Besides Kenseth’s victory, Biffle won the Stater Bros. 300 Busch Series race for Roush on Saturday, and teammate Martin won the Racetickets.com 200 Craftsman Truck Series race Friday.

“Man, it’s just such a pleasure to come to California,” team owner Jack Roush said.

The sweep also provided Roush Racing with a dose of redemption from its poor showing at Daytona, where its top finisher was Martin in 12th.

Kasey Kahne finished fourth in an Evernham Motorsports Dodge, and Jeff Burton was fifth in a Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.

For Johnson, the El Cajon, Calif., driver who won the Daytona 500, his second-place finish here not only kept him on top of the Nextel Cup points chase, it also gave his team another psychological boost in the face of losing its crew chief, Chad Knaus.

Knaus was suspended for four races after NASCAR officials found that Johnson’s car had an illegal rear-window setup during qualifying for the Daytona race.

“This was a true test of the depth of our race team,” Johnson said. “With the circumstances we have been through, this second is very gratifying. I gave it a shot, but [Kenseth] had a better car than me at that point.”

It was a disappointing day for pole-sitter Kurt Busch, who finished 16th. His Penske Racing teammate, Ryan Newman, finished 20th in a Dodge.

Kenseth’s hopes for winning the Daytona 500 abruptly ended when he was hit by Stewart, the defending Cup champion who this month had complained about his rivals’ overly aggressive driving.

That issue apparently dissipated Sunday, with few incidents and no major collisions at the California Speedway, where there is better spacing between the cars.

Stewart, meanwhile, made a strong run for the lead in his Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet despite an early flat tire. But he suffered engine failure with 37 laps to go and finished last in the 43-car field.

Biffle finished next to last, and is off to a poor start in the points battle after finishing second to Stewart last year. But Kenseth said there was no need to console Biffle, because there was “no doubt that Greg’s going to make the chase” for the Cup title again, he said.

Casey Mears, the Bakersfield driver who finished second in the Daytona 500, finished seventh in his Dodge owned by Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. And Mears is now second in the points standings behind Johnson, with Kenseth third.

“We’ve got to work at it and see where we can improve, but it’s a great finish for us,” Mears said.

There were seven caution flags in the race, and 18 lead changes among nine drivers.

The Nextel Cup series resumes March 12 at Las Vegas.

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Victory lane

Top three finishers in Sunday’s Auto Club 500 race at California Speedway in Fontana:

1. MATT KENSETH

* Car: Ford

* Prize money: $324,991

* Starting position: 31

2. JIMMIE JOHNSON

* Car: Chevrolet

* Prize money: $235,936

* Starting position: 3

3. CARL EDWARDS

* Car: Ford

* Prize money: $165,550

* Starting position: 22

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Fontana winners

Winners at California Speedway. Note: In 2004, Jeff Gordon won the Auto Club 500 in February, and Elliott Sadler won the Pop Secret 500 in September:

*--* YEAR WINNER CAR 1997 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 1998 Mark Martin Ford 1999 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 2000 Jeremy Mayfield Ford 2001 Rusty Wallace Ford 2002 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 2003 Kurt Busch Ford 2004 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 2004 Elliott Sadler Ford 2005 Greg Biffle Ford 2006 Matt Kenseth Ford

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