Kenseth kept his cool and his Ford Fusion in front for the second time this weekend, he landed the NASCAR Busch Series race last night. "It's a special win," noted Kenseth in victory lane. "It's not the same without Robbie (Reiser) though. Robbie built this team." Kenseth's crew chief is still sidelined by penalties assessed by NASCAR at Daytona.

The race started under cloudy skies with temperatures in the low 50Fs. As late afternoon approached, many of the teams were facing needed setup changes to tighten up or loosen their cars while others were running hotter than expected -- possibly due to the unleaded fuel used this weekend -- whatever the causes, Kenseth seemed to be the one who had minor changes and no major problems.

After last Sunday's celebration, today turned out to be heartbreak for Harvick when a tire went flat just as the field returned green flag racing on lap 248, taking the Richard Childress Racing Chevy out of the final picture.

"It is a little disappointing, the thing was really good. Man what a great job this Shell-Pennzoil did. This Chevrolet was really fun to drive today," commented Harvick. "To come to California where we have struggled before and have a chance to win, is awesome. We just had some bad luck. There is nothing we can do about that."

Earlier, Harvick had the comeback of the race having received a penalty for speeding on pit road -- one of three handed out today, including David Gilliland and Tony Stewart -- and yet Harvick gained back the lost time and on lap 241 had closed the gap to 0.7 seconds.

"I thought I was going to have a problem because I really thought the 29 (Harvick) was going to run me down," Kenseth said. "Then, he had his problem and Jeff (Gordon) moved up to second and I thought he might run me down. But we got a real good restart and, after that, we were OK."

Harvick's fate was sealed on lap 244 when Greg Biffle appeared to have nudge David Reutimann sending the Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota driver hard into the wall between turns three and four and even with the safety barrier, Reutimann's Camry had major front damage plus a fire. His spotter kept him alert by chatting with him to get out of the car.

NASCAR and the speedway's safety crews were very quick in getting to Reutimann, who even though had the wind knocked out from under him, the MWR driver did climb out on his own and was helped to the waiting ambulance. He was treated and released from the infield medical center.

Also involved were Ricky Rudd and Bobby Labonte in what was the ninth caution in the 250 lap race. No one was injured.

The field took three laps under the yellow once the engines were fired up with the green-white-checkered rule. Burton was second at the green flag but wheel spin allowed Gordon and Johnson by.

The two Hendrick Motorsports teammates finished on the podium, with Gordon second and reigning champion Johnson third. RCR's Burton came home fourth.

"I know that it's early in the season, but we're trying to build a championship right now - not just with points, but with the team. I feel like last year was a building year for us and this year is a year to see what we're made of and to see if we're going to pull off this championship," said Gordon. "We were in the top five pretty much all day long and with a few adjustments here and there, we were in between maybe being able to win and finishing second or third."

2006 champion Johnson stated: "The great thing was that I had an awesome race car. Regardless of whether I started 40th or 15th or wherever it was on a restart, I could drive right up inside the top-five, to top-three. I am really; really proud of my guys and the car they gave me."

The first caution also involved cars coming together when Scott Riggs got loose in the second turn collecting Jamie McMurray and Reed Sorenson after hitting the wall.

The two Dale Earnhardt, Inc. drivers were out of the race due to engine failures: Martin Truex, Jr. and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Apparently a mechanical failure did in Sterling Marlin who spun due to the breakage into the wall and down onto the apron. Marlin, who had just completed a pit stop, was uninjured.

Through it all, Kenseth kept the pressure on even when others held the lead and more remarkable, the RFR driver started back in 25th on the grid. It was the end that counted and even though he lead the most laps, being there at the end was the key to scoring the back-to-back Cup series February victory at the California Speedway; his 15th Cup career win.

There were 13 leaders, including the race winner, they were: Gordon, Johnson, Burton, Mark Martin, Clint Bowyer, Stewart, Kyle Busch, Biffle, Harvick, Kyle Petty, Kasey Kahne and Dave Blaney.

Ginn Racing's new driver now leads the standings with a fifth place finish today and Martin is only scheduled to run selected events. Perhaps that will change even though today, Martin gave a firm "No" when asked.

"Man, this is just awesome. We had a couple of difficulties here today, we had a very fast car. There were times we were as fast as the leaders, there were a couple times we were a little faster. All in all, I think we have potential here to get up there and win a race. We have shown that the last two weeks," Martin said. "I am loving this and I am rolling, man."

Second in the points is Burton followed by Gordon, Harvick and Roush's rookie racer David Ragan, who ended 16th today as the top rookie in the race.

Notably, Toyota's debut in Fontana netted them their highest finish in their first year racing in Nextel Cup. Brian Vickers landed tenth in the second race this year for the marquee, the first for Vickers and Team Red Bull.

"Everybody did such a good job - Team Red Bull and Toyota -- everybody involved, this is really our first intermediate track for us and for Toyota. To come out of it with a top-10 -- I don't think it could have been any better," remarked Vickers.