Racebeat (04/28/03)
by Rich Romer

NASCAR Winston Cup: Kurt Busch became the first two-time Winston Cup winner of the season, passing Jamie McMurray 12 laps from the end of the Auto Club 500 at California Speedway. The 24-year-old "Young Gun" regained the form he showed late in the 2002 season, when he won three of the last five races. Since winning last month at Bristol, Busch had slumped a bit, finishing ninth in Texas, 19th in Talladega and 28th in Martinsville. But his win Sunday on the 2-mile California oval gave the youngster five wins and three runner-up finishes in his last 15 starts.

Busch led briefly in the middle of the race and stayed close to the leaders for most of the 250-lap event. Meanwhile, McMurray, Bobby Labonte and Rusty Wallace were battling for the top spot most of the second half. McMurray and Labonte, who swapped the lead several times in the late going, were battling ahead of Busch when the last of eight caution flags came out after Dale Jarrett hit the wall to start a nine-car accident on lap 230. Busch and Wallace took advantage of the situation to pass Labonte as they raced back to the flagstand to take the yellow. Wallace tried hard to track down the leaders after the ensuing restart on lap 238.

On the second lap after the green flag waved, Wallace, who now has gone 72 races without a win since his victory here in 2001, dove low on the banked oval and nearly got past McMurray and Busch. But Wallace's Ford got a little high in the second turn, and Busch nosed under him and drove past both Wallace and Labonte to take the lead for the first time since lap 145. The Las Vegas, Nev., native then pulled steadily away as Labonte and Wallace battled side-by-side for second. Labonte got the runner-up spot by a few feet but crossed the final line 2.294-seconds -- about 20 car-lengths -- behind Busch's Roush Racing Ford.

The winner, who now has six wins in his career, averaged 140.111 mph. Bill Elliott finished fourth, followed by McMurray, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip, John Andretti and series leader Matt Kenseth. Kenseth, Busch's teammate, stayed in front of Earnhardt in the standings but had his lead cut from 51 to 44 points. Jeff Gordon, who finished 11th Sunday, remained third, with Busch moving from fifth to fourth. A different driver had won in each of the first nine races, but Busch's victory left intact the record of 10 consecutive different winners at the start of the season, set in 2001. Tony Stewart, the defending Winston Cup champion, led 100 of the first 128 laps before driving slowly to the garage with a broken rod in his engine. Stewart and McMurray were locked in a battle for the top spot, swapping the lead several times before smoke and oil began pouring from Stewart's No. 20 Chevrolet. Pole-winner Steve Park brought out the first yellow of the day. He slipped to fifth after taking the green flag for the start and suddenly veered right, knocking Ryan Newman hard into the wall and sending his own car spinning down the track. Both drivers eventually got back into the race but finished 40th and 42nd, respectively.

NASCAR Busch Series: Matt Kenseth held off a challenge by Michael Waltrip on a restart with seven laps to go and went on to win the 1-800-PIT-SHOP.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.