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No bumping Busch this time

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Times Staff Writer

Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards picked up where they left off a week ago, except this time Busch couldn’t be caught and won his seventh NASCAR Nationwide Series race in dominating fashion Saturday night.

Driving in NASCAR’s second-level series ahead of tonight’s top-tier Sprint Cup race, Busch kept his Toyota ahead of Edwards’ Ford to win the Camping World RV Service 300 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana.

Brian Vickers was third and Jeff Burton fourth.

The victory extended Busch’s remarkable season. In addition to his Nationwide wins, the 23-year-old Las Vegas native also has eight Cup wins and three Craftsman Truck Series wins -- a total of 18 victories in NASCAR’s national series.

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“We certainly had a great race car tonight; it was phenomenal,” said Busch, who drives for Joe Gibbs Racing. “It was going to be a great battle if [Edwards] was able to get up there.”

Edwards never could. Despite several restarts after caution periods, the Roush Fenway Racing driver never challenged Busch for the lead.

Busch’s Toyota “had a ton of steam,” Edwards said. “There wasn’t anything I could do. That car was spectacular.”

The two drivers arrived in Southern California after a controversial finish a week ago in Bristol, Tenn., where Edwards won the Cup race after bumping Busch -- who had been dominant there too - out of the lead.

But Saturday night, Busch started from the pole and led 144 of the race’s 150 laps.

Clint Bowyer finished seventh and retained his lead in the Nationwide point standings, but the title hopes of second-place Brad Keselowski hopes took a blow when mechanical woes left him with a 33rd-place finish in the race.

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james.peltz@latimes.com

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