Notebook: Reutimann OK after hard crash

FONTANA, Calif. -- David Reutimann was glassy-eyed and sore after enduring the hardest hit of his career on Sunday at California Speedway, but the rookie driver insisted he was OK.

"I am fine," said Reutimann, who spent over a half-hour in the infield medical center. "NASCAR just likes to triple-check, so that is what we had going on."

Reutimann was tapped from behind by Greg Biffle on Lap 240 of the Auto Club 500, sending him hard into the Turn 3 wall. His No. 00 Toyota was so badly damaged it took his crew an hour to repair it sufficiently to load onto the transporter.

"I don't know. Somebody got into us getting [into Turn 3], and I thought I was low, and I can't say for sure what exactly happened," Reutimann said. "All I know is the end result. Thank the Lord I am OK and no one else was in it."

Reutimann is one of only three Toyota drivers to make both races this season, but he has failed to finish either one of them after crashing out at Daytona and Fontana.

Martin takes Nextel Cup points lead, first for Ginn Racing

Mark Martin finished fifth in his second race with Ginn Racing, giving him the points lead. Ginn Racing -- formerly MB2 Motorsports -- hasn't led the standings at any point in its 10-year history.

Mark Martin last held the points lead in 2002, when he led the standings with eight races to go. He finished second that season to Tony Stewart.

Martin was strong all day at Fontana, spending 170 laps in the top 10 and leading a lap for a second consecutive race. He led one lap at Fontana, giving him a five-point lead over Jeff Burton, who finished fourth.

Attrition, Attrition, Attrition

No fewer than 10 drivers -- nearly a quarter of the field -- failed to finish the race.

Fontana isn't known for multi-car crashes, but a three-car crash occurred on Lap 8 when Scott Riggs spun and took Jamie McMurray and Reed Sorenson with him.

"I think I had it missed and then somebody hit us in the right-rear and it was all over from there," said Sorenson, who finished 43rd. "We hit the outside wall. It was a short day here for us. We'll try to get back out there and pick up a few points if we can and then head on to Las Vegas."

Dark clouds, silver lining

Jeff Gordon won the pole, but he was so concerned with the handling of his car during Saturday's practices, he switched to teammate Jimmie Johnson's setup and promptly spent the first of several early cautions trying to loosen the car up.

"We just overtightened the car from practice," Gordon said. "I think the overcast really hurt us more than we thought it was going to."

Gordon, at one time running outside of the top 25, battled back to finish second.

"The biggest difference was it was warm [Saturday], probably 25 degrees warmer," Gordon said. "[Sunday], the conditions were great, but the conditions we had set up for weren't right. It took us a while to make those adjustments and once we did it, we were a top-three or four car the rest of the day."

Dodging trouble all day

Kurt Busch had an uneventful day, finishing seventh -- a welcome change from Daytona, where he wound up 41st.

"We're cool with a finish like this, no mistakes all day and we didn't get caught up in traffic and get bottled up," Busch said. "To come home seventh and race our way to that position felt good."

Busch, like several others, lost a lap when the caution flag flew in the middle of green-flag stops, but was able to regain his spot on the lead lap.

"We got caught by an early yellow and that put us on the tail end of the lead lap for the longest green run of the race, almost," he said. "We raced our way back into the lucky dog spot and got our lap back, then raced our way back through the pack."

For Burton, green was keen

Jeff Burton was another driver who wasn't happy to see the yellow flag with 25 laps to go. Right behind Kenseth when the field took the green for the final time, Burton spun the tires and wound up fourth.

"That long, green-flag run, we were really fast," Burton said. "We were mowing them down, big-time.

"I wish those last two cautions would have never come out. We would have had a great chance, I think. But all in all, it was a good day."