Those were the keys to winning in NASCAR Nationwide competition at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., on Saturday. And Busch should know. His win of the Royal Purple 300 at the track that day was his sixth Nationwide win at ACS, his 54th-career series victory and the ninth-straight Nationwide win for Joe Gibbs Racing at Auto Club.

“Great home game for us,” Busch went on to say, pointing out that the Southern California area is home base for Toyota North America, Toyota Racing development and his sponsor Monster Energy.

Series points leader Sam Hornish Jr. was the only driver able to keep up with Busch on a consistent basis throughout the race. Hornish, himself, led several laps and for most of the race, he and Busch occupied the top-two positions in the running order.

“Sam — he’s put on a whole new game this year,” Busch said of his closest competitor.

With a second-place race finish, Hornish moved out to a 28-point lead in the championship standings over Regan Smith.

“It feels really good,” Hornish said of being in command of the points lead. “We started off the year just the way we wanted to and have made sure we took care of the car throughout the first five races as well as we could. We wanted to get out of the box good and I preached that to the team in the off-season. We wanted to get through the first five races in good standing and I am real happy with the way Greg Erwin and the guys on the team have been performing and the job they are doing for me.”

Smith finished the race third to Busch and Hornish after overcoming a flat tire that brought out a debris caution on lap 33 of the 150-lap race.

The day was a good one for Busch as both a driver and car owner. The car he owns, the No. 77 driven by Parker Kligerman, finished fourth. Austin Dillon rounded out the top-five.

Busch and Hornish were both accompanied at the front by teammates early on in the race — Busch with fellow-JGR drivers Elliott Sadler and Brian Vickers and Hornish by Penske Racing teammate and reigning Sprint Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski. But the teammates didn’t have quite as flawless of a race.

Keselowski dropped back through the field because of a handling issue at one point. After his crew made improvements to the car with each pit stop, Keselowski got back to the front by staying out during a late-race caution for track position. But the strategy put him in fuel mileage mode, and he dropped back again, winding up 19th at the finish.

Sadler saw his primary ignition box catch fire within the first 25 laps of the race, causing him to fall off the pace. He was able to switch boxes, though, and move back up into the top-10, finishing in the seventh spot.

Vickers car, meanwhile, suffered from an overheating issue that sent him to pit road and out of the race on lap 52.

“It’s a shame,” Vickers said. “We had a car capable of winning. We were just one adjustment away. Now, we’re in the garage.”

– Photo courtesy of Getty Images for NASCAR

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“Dreams are made of cars like this,” Hornish said in victory lane.

The win also handed Hornish sole possession of the Nationwide Series points lead. He headed into the race in a tie with Justin Allgaier atop the standings. Allgaier finished the race 15th.

Kyle Busch was second, Brian Vickers finished third, Trevor Bayne fourth, and Elliott Sadler rounded out the top-five.

“We’re definitely getting better,” Sadler said of getting used to his new Joe Gibbs Racing team and crew chief Chris Carrier.

With the starting grid for the race set by 2012 owner’s points when rain modified the weekend’s schedule, Vickers started from the pole. He led most of the early laps of the race before losing the top spot to Brad Keselowski on lap 24.

“The guys did a good job,” Vickers said. “We started out too tight.”

Keselowski continued to lead until a competition caution on lap 35, giving up the first two positions to Trevor Bayne and Regan Smith who got off pit road first and second by taking only two tires.

Bayne pitted again during the next caution that came out just before lap 60 while others stayed out, causing him to get shuffled back to 15th for the restart. Right after the race returned to green, Hornish raced from third to the lead, and that was when his dominance up front began.

When the yellow flag waved again on lap 81, Bayne moved back to the front with the pit stratecy of taking fuel only. Kyle Larson used the same strategy to get off pit road in the second spot. But right after the following restart, the two drivers made significant contact while racing for the lead, allowing Vickers and Austin Dillon to move into the top-two spots and bringing out another caution.

A few laps after the race went back to green, Hornish moved back into the lead and began pulling away from the rest of the field. Everyone was bunched back up by another yellow flag for debris on lap 139, and Busch got off pit road first to assume the lead. Hornish restarted third after spending a little extra time on pit road, making sure he got as much fuel as possible.

Busch and Vickers then spend several laps battling for the lead unktil Hornish got by Vickers for the second spot with 49 laps to go. A couple of laps later he got by Busch for the lead.

Hornish stayed up front the rest of the way, holding Busch off on a couple of additional restarts to claim the win and keep Busch shut out of Nationwide Series victory lane at his home track.

“Had a really good race car,” Hornish said. “The guys at Penske Racing gave me a great race car. It was great on restarts.”

Finishing sixth through 10th were Dillon, Regan Smith, Alex Bowman, Brian Scott and Travis Pastrana.

– Photo courtesy of Getty Images for NASCAR

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