Fontana: Busch, Toyota spank NASCAR field

Give Kyle Busch credit for being a quick study.

Nudged out of the way and deprived of a win by Carl Edwards in last Saturday's Sprint Cup race at Bristol, Busch didn't let Edwards anywhere near his rear bumper in the closing laps of Saturday night's Camping World RV Service 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Auto Club Speedway.

Kyle Busch (No. 18) and Carl Edwards (No. 60) cross the finish line under caution as their rivalry continued in the Camping World RV Service 300

Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR

After a restart with eight laps remaining, Busch pulled away, as he had done consistently all night long, to hold off his nemesis and win the race under caution when Josh Wise wrecked on the white-flag lap.

The victory was Busch's seventh of the season in the series and the 18th of his career. Busch now has 18 victories in NASCAR's top three series this season — eight in Cup, seven in Nationwide and three in the Craftsman Truck Series. He now has won in all three series at Auto Club Speedway along with Mark Martin. Those seven Nationwide wins combined with eight NASCAR Sprint Cup victories and three wins in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series gives Busch a total of 18 wins this season which is now an official all time NASCAR record.

Busch led 144 of the 150 laps and became the first driver to win from the pole in 17 Nationwide events at the two-mile track.

"This thing was flawless tonight," Busch said of his No. 18 Toyota. "It was just amazing."

Edwards' runner-up finish allowed the defending series champion to retain third place in the standings, 222 points behind Clint Bowyer, who finished seventh. Brian Vickers ran third, followed by Jeff Burton, Jamie McMurray and Joey Logano.

Debris from Jason Leffler's Toyota caused the fourth caution of the race on Lap 138 and set up an eight-lap run that ended short of the finish line, thanks to Wise's accident. Busch pulled away to a lead of more than .6 second on Lap 143 and remained comfortably ahead the rest of the way until the race was slowed by the fifth and final caution.

Busch dedicated the victory to crew chief Jason Ratcliff, who, along with six other members of the Joe Gibbs Racing organization, is serving an indefinite suspension for trying to manipulate horsepower readings two weeks ago at Michigan. Doug Hewitt is serving as crew chief for the No. 18 Toyota during the suspension.

Note: An electrical problem forced Brad Keselowski to the garage on Lap 106, and after repairs, he returned to the track 21 laps down. With a 33rd-place finish, Keselowski remained second in the series standings but 204 points behind Bowyer.

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