Kenseth rules Fontana

Matt Kenseth opened this Nextel Cup season fending off questions about why NASCAR had suspended his crew chief for breaking the rules during qualifying for the Daytona 500.

Kenseth also was docked 50 championship points, and the 2003 Cup champion then saw a strong Daytona finish vanish on the last lap in a multi-car crash.

But Kenseth put Daytona firmly behind him Sunday by keeping his Ford Fusion ahead of five Chevrolets and winning the Auto Club 500 for the second consecutive year at California Speedway.

The victory, the 15th of Kenseth’s career, completed a weekend sweep in Fontana for the Wisconsin driver and what is now Roush Fenway Racing. Kenseth also won the Stater Bros. 300 Busch Series race Saturday night.

“It’s pretty awesome to do a double here,” said Kenseth, who held off Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson after a restart with four laps left in the 250-lap race.

“The car was really good all day,” said Kenseth, who also led the most laps, 133.

Jeff Burton of Richard Childress Racing was fourth and Mark Martin of Ginn Racing fifth as the race, which began just before 1 p.m., ended under the lights.

For a while, it appeared that Kenseth’s biggest threat would be another Chevy driver, Daytona 500 winner Kevin Harvick, who was closing fast on Kenseth in the final laps until an accident involving David Reutimann and Bobby Labonte set up the last restart.

Just as the field was preparing to take the green flag, Harvick’s car suffered a flat left front tire, forcing him to pit. The Bakersfield native finished 17th.

“It has been one of those weeks,” Harvick said. “A flat tire yesterday in the Busch race and a flat tire today.”

But Gordon, who started on the pole, said he wasn’t sure Harvick or anyone else could have caught Kenseth.

“We really never had anything at the end for Matt,” said Gordon, the fastest qualifier and the only three-time Cup winner at California Speedway, where no driver has ever won a Cup race from the pole.

Harvick edged Martin a week earlier to win the Daytona 500, but their finishes Sunday gave Martin the early lead in this year’s championship battle.

Martin has 335 points, followed by Burton at 330 and Gordon at 309. The last time Martin, 48, led the series was in mid-2002.

Kenseth won in front of 87,000, according to NASCAR, and the 92,000-seat grandstands were noticeably undersold. More than 10,000 spectators typically watch the race from the infield.

Neither of last year’s two Cup races at Fontana were sellouts either, which has raised questions about whether Southern California can support two races a year, especially since the next series race will be in Las Vegas in two weeks.

The track itself doesn’t disclose attendance, but speedway President Gillian Zucker said it was higher than a year ago, despite added competition from Sunday’s Academy Awards telecast.

“We’re really proud of the job we’ve done,” she said. “I think it was a great day.”

Kenseth arrived in Fontana without his crew chief, Robbie Reiser, after Reiser and four other crew chiefs were suspended by NASCAR for cheating during qualifying for the Daytona 500.

Roush Fenway is appealing, but Chip Bolin was Kenseth’s interim crew chief.

“Chip did a wonderful job,” Kenseth said. “Our pit stops were good all day.”

Kenseth’s victory also was the first win for Roush Fenway, formed this month when a group led by John Henry, principal owner of the Boston Red Sox, acquired half of Roush Racing.

“We’ll dedicate my part of this victory to John,” co-owner Jack Roush said.

With about 100 laps remaining, it appeared that Tony Stewart’s Chevrolet might be the strongest car, and the Joe Gibbs Racing driver led 28 laps.

But Stewart made a costly mistake -- he sped down pit road and was penalized -- which forced him to the rear of the field.

He rallied to finish eighth, but the 2002 and 2005 Cup champion still has never won at California Speedway.

Brian Vickers, meanwhile, gave Toyota its best finish yet in the automaker’s debut year in the Cup series. He finished 10th in a Red Bull Camry.

David Gilliland, the Riverside native who captured headlines by winning the pole at the Daytona 500, was a lap down for much of Sunday’s race and finished 25th.

Johnson, the reigning series champion, finished 39th last week at Daytona because of a crash, which ended his streak of 105 consecutive weeks in the top 10.

But the El Cajon, Calif., native bounced back with his third-place finish, led 31 laps and is 15th in points heading to the third of the series’ 36 races, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 11.

There were 28 lead changes among 12 drivers and nine caution periods for 37 laps.

james.peltz@latimes.com

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Top finishers

Matt Kenseth gave Roush Fenway, which was formed this month, its first victory in Sunday’s Auto Club 500. The top 10 finishers (starting positions are in parentheses):

*--* PL ST DRIVER CAR 1 (25) Matt Kenseth Ford 2 (1) Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 3 (23) Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 4 (8) Jeff Burton Chevrolet 5 (3) Mark Martin Chevrolet 6 (6) Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 7 (18) Kurt Busch Dodge 8 (11) Tony Stewart Chevrolet 9 (12) Kyle Busch Chevrolet 10 (15) Brian Vickers Toyota

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Los Angeles Times