MEXICO CITY -- Scott Pruett went from having what looked like a sure victory Sunday to finishing in a battered third place in the Nationwide Series Corona Mexico 200 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

Official Results

Corona Mexico 200

Pos.	Driver	Make
1.	Kyle Busch	Toyota
2.	Marcos Ambrose	Ford
3.	Scott Pruett	Dodge
4.	Carl Edwards	Ford
5.	Patrick Carpentier	Dodge
6.	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet
7.	Scott Wimmer	Chevrolet
8.	Brad Keselowski	Chevrolet
9.	Mike Bliss	Chevrolet
10.	Steve Wallace	Chevrolet

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But it didn't come close to erasing the bitter hurt Pruett still feels from losing his Mexico stock-car debut a year ago in this event when teammate Juan Montoya knocked him out of the way and into fifth position on Montoya's way to the first NASCAR win that Pruett so dearly covets.

On Sunday, the run to the finish looked eerily similar to last year, as Pruett, this year driving the No. 40 Dodge for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates rather than the No. 41 he had a year ago, looked a sure bet to win; and then in the last 10 laps lost two positions.

He was passed first by eventual winner Kyle Busch, on Lap 72 of 80 (watch video); and then three laps later by Tasmanian Marcos Ambrose.

"Last year hurt worse, no question," Pruett said with a weary smile. "You know, we just didn't have a good enough car [Sunday]. We knew we had a good car -- don't get me wrong -- but last year we had a great car.

"And that's the difference between winning and getting a top-three or a top-five."

As good as Pruett looked in leading twice for a race-high 36 laps and, when yellow after yellow fell in the race's last 40 laps, being in position to go all the way on fuel, Pruett admitted his car wasn't good enough to win.

"It was an OK car," Pruett said. "The Fastenal Dodge ran good all day long; unfortunately we just missed the setup a little bit. I was sliding way too much -- loose getting in [to the turns] -- so we took a pretty big gamble and took some spring rubbers out of the rear, and that's why we pitted early so we could do it under the yellow.

"That helped a little bit, but not enough. I was holding on pretty good, and then when Kyle came up behind me, he shoved me a few times letting me know he was getting pretty anxious to go; so instead of getting turned around and my car tore up like last year, I gave way a little bit.

"I thought I could hold on, but then Marcos came up, too."

Pruett said the three caution flags that waved in the last 28 laps doomed him. He pitted for the last time on about Lap 40, and as everyone trailed in behind him his tires had a few more laps on them than the competition.

"We could have won if there had been no more yellows [because] at that point we could make it on fuel and we were in position," Pruett said. "But when all those yellows kept coming, we had, I think seven or more laps of green-flag running on the tires.

"So I knew it was gonna be close, but again, even though we made those changes to the car, it just wasn't enough to give me a strong enough car to really fight hard enough."

Pruett's lead over Busch with 20 laps to go was 6.550 seconds, which he expanded to 6.622 seconds a lap later. He said even that wasn't a sure thing.

"Best case, they would have caught me a half-second a lap," Pruett said. "And if they were seven [seconds] back, at that point it would have been close. But when it gets close to the end of a run like that, everybody keeps holding onto their cars, so you get a better chance of getting the guys, early in a tire run."

Busch passed Pruett in the beginning of the back side of the course, but after the race appeared to misunderstand Pruett's situation.

"You know, Pruett had a little mishap there in Turn 4 and I was able to get by him," said Busch, who pulled out to a second-and-a-half-second lead in only four laps. "It looked like his car was fading back a little bit, but our car stayed pretty decent there, that whole time. This Toyota was awfully strong."

Even in saying his car was falling off, Pruett did well to hold off a charging Carl Edwards, who scored a second consecutive top-five finish here in his No. 60 Ford, over the last five laps.

Pruett ran the last six laps of the race with his rear-bumper cover detached save for the right end and with it flapping in the wind, but NASCAR disregarded it. Ambrose said he had nothing to do with the loose panel and that he thought Edwards had made the contact that caused it.

Pruett started on the outside of the front row, next to surprising first-time Nationwide Series pole winner Colin Braun, and took the lead for the time on the second lap, for 15 laps.

Even with the early pit stop, Pruett never fell further back that 14th, which helped him maintain his confidence.

"We could carve our way up through there," Pruett said. "But we were taking big gambles with the car -- changing tire pressures and pulling spring rubbers, so we were struggling. But we were swinging for the fence with everything we could.

"The Ganassi guys did a good job and for Fastenal, this is their best finish [in the Nationwide Series]; so we were giving it all we got. We just ran out of car and out of tire, and like I said, Kyle was shoving on me pretty hard and instead of getting turned around, I thought better of it, and finished third."

Despite what it looked like, Pruett said his last 10 laps weren't the hardest he'd ever driven in holding off Busch, then Ambrose and then Edwards in succession.

On the last lap of the race, Pruett's lap was the slowest of the top-six finishers, but he held his ground.

"I remember the first [NASCAR] race I ever drove, at Richmond; I drove 110 percent all day long and finished 30th [actually 27th, in May 2000], and I thought I was gonna give up racing," Pruett said. "I mean, it was the most horrible day in my whole life.

"But between [Saturday] and [Sunday], with the Grand-Am car and this [Nationwide] car, it was some hard racing. The last 20 laps [Sunday], the fans had to be entertained because we were holding on and everybody was scraping and trying to get the most out of it that they could -- and take advantage of the other drivers.

"But like I said, it was a fun day -- maybe not a great day, but a fun day."

It was the second such day in a row for Pruett, who maintained his lead, with co-driver Memo Rojas, in the Grand-Am Rolex Series Daytona Prototype championship that he won in 2004 and has been second in the three years since.

"[Sunday] was a good run, but not a great run," said Pruett, who finished second the day before as the defending champion of the Mexico City Grand-Am Rolex Series race. "We'll do it all again in Montreal."

Pruett competed a year ago in the series' event in Montreal, where he finished 14th in the same No. 41 Dodge he raced in Mexico.