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Kyle Busch had an Avg. Running Position of 1.133 at Fontana in August '08, leading all but six laps.

Busch, Biffle deserving of special mention at Fontana

By Jarrod Breeze, NASCAR.COM
February 19, 2009
10:19 AM EST

type size: + -

Of the 17 races at the Southern California track in Fontana now known as Auto Club Speedway, 10 have been won from a top-five starting position including the past eight in a row, but only one winner has started on the pole: Kyle Busch in August 2008.

More about Busch, his victory and recent history at Fontana:

3Different cars and teams for which he has drove in the past three races. He finished second in the No. 5 Chevrolet of Hendrick Motorsports in September 2007, and was runner-up in February '08 in the No. 32 Braun Racing Toyota before stepping into the No. 18 Toyota of Joe Gibbs Racing that he will drive this week.

4Consecutive top-three finishes, the longest consecutive top-five streak.

144Laps led, most in any one race.

One driver who will not be in the race is the all-time leader in series wins at Fontana: Matt Kenseth, who won three times in a five-race period from 1999-2003 -- twice in the No. 17 Chevrolet of Reiser Enterprises before the team became a part of Roush Racing -- and most recently in February '07. Kenseth also has the most top-fives with seven and is tied for most top-10s with 10.

Also not entered is this race's defending winner, Tony Stewart, who like Busch dominated in a JGR Toyota, leading 136 laps. In fact, until last year only two other drivers had led more than 100 laps: 1998 winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. (141) and February 2005 winner Mark Martin (102).

But one driver back after not competing in either race in 2008 is Greg Biffle, who also has an interesting history at Fontana:

3Wins, most of any driver entered in this year's race. Biffle swept the 2004 season and won the February race in 2006. He hasn't won in the series since, a span of 75 races.

7Top-10s, one for each lead-lap finish (out of 10 starts).

353Laps led, most of any driver.

Coverage of the second race of the 2009 Nationwide Series season, the Stater Bros. 300 (Entry List ), begins at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday (ESPN2).

By the Numbers: Fontana

3Drivers who were not full-time regulars in the Cup Series who posted a top-10 finish in either of the two races last year: Stephen Leicht, Joey Logano and David Stremme. Leicht, who finished 10th in the February race, made only five series starts all season. In the August race, Logano finished sixth in his first start at Fontana and Stremme, who made the most series starts among the three with 32, was 10th.

6.0Average place of finish for Kevin Harvick, best of any driver with more than two starts. Despite not having won at Fontana in 12 races, he's tied for the most top-10s with 10 and is second with six top-fives. Harvick has made five starts in his own car and has four top-10s including his first top-five (third) in this race last year.

10Lead-lap finishes, in as many starts, for Jeff Burton. He has a win (September 2007), three top-fives and five top-10s in his past five races, and five top-fives and seven top-10s overall. The number closest to Burton with as many lead-lap finishes as starts is seven, shared by three drivers: Kasey Kahne, Clint Bowyer and David Reutimann.

12Place of finish in last year's August race for Mike Bliss, his best in seven starts and first at Fontana in the No. 1 Chevrolet, his current ride. Bliss has made the fourth-most starts without a top-10 finish: Mike Wallace (12), Stanton Barrett (10) and Kertus Davis (eight). Barrett and Davis also are entered in this year's race.

15Starts by Jason Keller, most of any driver. Keller has one top-five and four top-10s, but only one (sixth in September 2005) since the beginning of 2004. Keller, who has only led one of 2,240 laps at Fontana, is tied with Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick for most lead-lap finishes with 11. His average finish is 15.4. Keller also is the series' all-time leader in starts with 458.

32Best finish (twice) in five starts for Brad Keselowski, both coming in February races. He has made three starts in the No. 88 Chevrolet of JR Motorsports with two DNFs including this race last year (transmission) and has never completed more than 128 of the 150 laps in any of those three races.

The Wow Factor

6Consecutive wins from Jack Roush-owned cars from 2003-06, beginning with the former Reiser Enterprises' No. 17 driven by Matt Kenseth. Greg Biffle (twice in the No. 60, once in the No. 16), Mark Martin (No. 9, now the No. 6) and Carl Edwards (No. 60) also won for Roush during that period. Kenseth won again in February 2007, making it seven out of eight for Roush and his last series win at Fontana to date.

The Super Looper

150.0Driver Rating for the winners of the past two races, Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart. Mark Martin (February 2005) is the only other driver to achieve a perfect Driver Rating at Fontana since the Loop Data statistics became available.

Driver Rating at Fontana (since 2005)

Pos.	Driver	Rating	Starts	Wins	Top-5s	Top-10s	Led

1.	Jeff Burton	119.0	6	1	3	5	122
2.	Tony Stewart	116.5	4	1	1	2	158
3.	Kyle Busch	114.9	6	1	4	4	213
4.	Carl Edwards	109.1	8	1	5	6	101
5.	Matt Kenseth	108.8	5	1	1	4	59
6.	Brian Vickers	106.7	3	0	1	2	37
7.	Greg Biffle	105.5	6	1	3	3	112
8.	Joey Logano	104.9	1	0	0	1	0
9.	Kevin Harvick	103.6	7	0	3	6	36
10.	Clint Bowyer	102.4	7	0	3	5	22

• Loop Data Statistics: Season-to-Date Box Score

Blast from the Past

2Career wins for Hank Parker Jr., his first coming at Fontana in 2001 in the No. 36 Chevrolet of Cicci-Welliver Racing. Parker won at Pikes Peak the following year but made only seven more series starts after 2002 and none since 2005.

Series winners at Fontana

Year	Winner	Make	Year	Winner	Make

1997	Todd Bodine	Pontiac	2005	Mark Martin	Ford
1998	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	2005	Carl Edwards	Ford
1999	Matt Kenseth	Chevrolet	2006	Greg Biffle	Ford
2000	Matt Kenseth	Chevrolet	2006	Kasey Kahne	Dodge
2001	Hank Parker Jr.	Chevrolet	2007	Matt Kenseth	Ford
2002	Scott Riggs	Ford	2007	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet
2003	Matt Kenseth	Ford	2008	Tony Stewart	Toyota
2004	Greg Biffle	Ford	2008	Kyle Busch	Toyota
2004	Greg Biffle	Ford

Also

Travel Log: Fontana

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Nationwide Series

Driver Standings

Pos.	Driver	Points	Behind

1.	Tony Stewart	190	--
2.	Carl Edwards	175	-15
3.	Clint Bowyer	175	-15
4.	Kyle Busch	165	-25
5.	Greg Biffle	160	-30
6.	Brian Vickers	155	-35
7.	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	146	-44
8.	Jason Keller	143	-47
9.	David Ragan	142	-48
10.	Matt Kenseth	139	-51