Danica 31st; Busch wins Nationwide

FONTANA, Calif. - Danica Patrick accomplished one of her goals by finishing the race. She is still a long way from the lead packs in NASCAR.

Kyle Busch barely overtook Greg Biffle out of the final turn of a green-white-checker finish to win by .051 seconds in the NASCAR Nationwide race at California yesterday, with Brad Keselowski right behind them.

It was a heartbreaking loss for Busch's Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Joey Logano, who led 130 laps and was up front when the final caution came out. He finished fifth.

Patrick was 31st, three laps off the pace. But unlike last week at Daytona, where she got caught up in a 12-car crash just past the halfway point, she was racing at the finish on the slick two-mile superspeedway where she was originally scheduled to race for the first time. And she made progress during a trying 300 miles, though she wasn't involved in the exciting finish.

On the final restart, created after Brendan Gaughan spun out on lap 145 to bring out a caution, Biffle quickly pushed by Logano and Busch followed him. Busch then got around Biffle on the final turn and beat him for his 31st Nationwide victory.

Logano was trying to win from the pole at California for the second time in a row. But Busch still gave the Gibbs team its fifth consecutive Nationwide victory in Southern California.