Logano takes advantage of late crash, wins at Fontana

FONTANA, Calif. -- Resurrecting his hopes after sustaining early damage to his No. 20 Toyota, pole-sitter Joey Logano won Saturday's Copart 300, an event he described as "the most fun race I've ever had in my life."

For others, particularly Nationwide Series points leader Kyle Busch and his relief driver, Denny Hamlin, the race at Auto Club Speedway was anything but a barrel of laughs.

Taking over for Busch after 39 laps -- because Busch had a case of the flu that wouldn't let up -- Hamlin collided with Greg Biffle off Turn 4 while fighting for the lead on Lap 141, exited the race with an irreparable car and was credited with a 31st-place finish.

The accident put a substantial dent in Busch's points lead over third-place finisher Carl Edwards, who now trails Busch by 155 points with five races left in the season. Brad Keselowski, who rallied from a slow restart on a green-white-checkered-flag finish that took the race two laps beyond its scheduled distance, finished fifth and is third in points, 227 behind Busch.

Logano rallied from 25th position after Biffle forced him into the backstretch wall while Biffle was passing for the lead on Lap 50 of 152.

"I didn't think we had a shot at it after Biffle decided to put us in the wall," said Logano, who pulled away from runner-up Brian Vickers after the final restart on Lap 151. "Apparently, that was the only way he thought he could beat us, but you can't put this 20 team down.

"We never quit, kept digging all day. I definitely didn't think we had a shot at it. It was just amazing. ... That was the most fun race I ever had in my life. I went through a point there where [I said to myself] 'I don't have a shot at this' to 'Try to salvage a top 10 out of it' to bringing home a W."

Though 19-year-old Logano got his second consecutive Nationwide win, his fifth this season and the sixth of his brief career, the race ended in controversy, with Logano's father, Tom Logano, confronting Biffle as the driver sat in his car on pit road.

"Oh, yeah, I saw him flip me off, yeah," Biffle said later in a radio interview with PRN. "They've got short memories, you know? They don't remember last week [at Kansas] when they smashed my left front fender in. See? It's all about theirselves -- and it's not always about you.

"He was lucky that he had time to fix it. I got mine smashed in on the last run of the day. I didn't have time to fix mine. I fell back and finished wherever I did." (Biffle finished fifth in the Nationwide race at Kansas).

NASCAR pulled Tom Logano's hard card (annual credential) after the incident; Logano will have to stand in line for a paper credential until NASCAR deems otherwise.

Kevin Harvick ran fourth Saturday, and rookie Michael Annett came home sixth, his best result in his 30 Nationwide starts.

Busch's flu symptoms worsened during Saturday's Sprint Cup Series practice, prompting the driver change under the first caution of the race, on Lap 39.

"It's just temperature," Busch said after the switch with Hamlin. "When I get in the car and I get hot, I start not being able to see exactly straight. The car was really good, though. ... Unfortunately, I didn't feel it was in my best interest or the team's best interest to win this race to keep going.

"More laps and getting hotter in the seat probably would have diminished my performance a little."

Busch was confident he'd be back in the seat of his No. 18 Toyota for Sunday's Pepsi 500 Sprint Cup race.

Asked if he had a relief driver lined up just in case, Busch said, "Not yet -- I think I can do it."

Note: NASCAR spokesperson Ramsey Poston said the sanctioning body is looking into Biffle's radio transmissions from the race. A lap before Biffle nudged Logano into the wall, he reportedly threatened to do so. Dave Rogers, Logano's crew chief, referred to the radio chatter after the race.

"It's just terrible that you transport two cars [the Nos. 18 and 20] all the way across the country to come out and have a good, clean race, and a driver brags on his radio that the 20 car better have casters, because I'm going to fence him -- and then pulls up and fences us. ...

"I'm sure NASCAR will review the tape and the audio. During the race I went down and talked to a NASCAR official, and I said, 'This isn't right. He's bragging about it.' And then he does it. And at that point the message is conveyed. ... It's a shame that people race like that, but it is what it is."

• Video: Biffle wrecks Logano