For many drivers, picking up the first win of a new season is one of the toughest feats to accomplish in racing. After being victorious 21 times overall last season with the World of Outlaws, Joey Saldana certainly knew the way to the winners circle heading into 2010. He came close to winning each of the first four races this season, finishing in the runner-up spot in three of those.

Saldana broke though in a big way on Saturday night at Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, California before a huge crowd to score his first A-Feature win of the season to earn $10,000 in the 35-lap contest aboard the Budweiser Maxim. It was the 60th A-Feature triumph of his career with the World of Outlaws.

"It was a great effort by my team," said Saldana. "We blew up in the dash and they worked hard to get the motor changed, so we really didn't get to work on our car too much. My car was pretty good for 35 laps and the motor held in there. It was a total team effort by everyone involved."

For Saldana, the win was his third at Thunderbowl Raceway with the World of Outlaws, which is the most of any driver dating back to the series debut at the track in 2003. The second generation driver scored his first victory at the track in 2007 and followed that up with a triumph last season at the high-banked 1/3-mile. He used a couple of strong starts to jump to the lead over pole sitter Tim Kaeding.

"It's very hard to win out here," shared Saldana. "Last year we won the second race of the season and it just rolled. Once you win one, it seems like it comes easier and easier. It seems like you are not thinking about winning as much and worrying about racing. Now, we can focus on racing and hopefully win some more."

Polesitter Jamie McMurray, driver of the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet, leads the field at the start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Auto Club 500 as actor and former wrestler Steve Austin waves the green flag at Auto Club Speedway. (CreditBy Reid Spencer (Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service)
FONTANA, Calif.— A career came full circle for Jimmie Johnson, who won his first NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Auto Club Speedway in 2002 and on Sunday claimed his fifth victory at the 2-mile track and the 48th of his career — matching the No. 48 on his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

After gaining the lead in the Auto Club 500 during a fortunate exchange on pit road, the four-time defending series champion held off Kevin Harvick during a 20 lap green-flag run to the finish. Harvick had narrowed a one-second lead to .311 seconds on Lap 246 of 250 before a brush with the wall slowed his progress.

Jeff Burton ran third, followed by Mark Martin and Joey Logano. Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth, Clint Bowyer, Tony Stewart and Greg Biffle completed the top 10.

With the win, Johnson tied Herb Thomas for 12th on the career victory list and showed the rest of the field that he’s back on course after a 35th-place finish in the season-opening Daytona 500.

The key sequence came on Lap 223, when Brad Keselowski spun his Dodge off Turn 4 after contact with David Reutimann’s Toyota and brought out the sixth and final caution of the race. Johnson was on pit road when NASCAR called the caution but beat the pace car to the scoring line at the exit.

Polesitter Joey Logano and his the No. 20 Gamestop Toyota lead the field to the start of the NASCAR Nationwide Series Stater Bros. 300 at Auto Club Speedway on Saturday in Fontana, Calif. (Credit: Jeff Gross/Getty Images)By Reid Spencer (Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service)
With a last-lap pass of Greg Biffle, Kyle Busch stole a win in the Stater Bros. 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Auto Club Speedway -- a victory that came at the expense of the race's dominant driver, Busch's teammate, Joey Logano.

Busch finished .051 seconds ahead of Biffle, who sent Logano -- then the leader -- up the track after the restart for a green-white-checkered-flag finish that took the race two laps beyond its scheduled distance of 150 laps.

Busch locked onto Biffle's rear bumper to start the final lap, and when Biffle slipped slightly, Busch dived to the inside. Third-place finisher Brad Keselowski took it three-wide below Busch in Turn 3 but couldn't sustain his momentum, and Busch won a drag race off Turn 4 to edge Biffle.

The victory was Busch's 31st in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, tying him with Jack Ingram for third on the career win list. Danica Patrick finished 31st, three laps down, in her second start in the series.

"We went off into (Turn) 1, and Joey got loose and slid way across the racetrack, and I had to turn underneath him and try to not get boxed in," Busch said. "Then we went down the back, and I was inside of Biffle, and I'm like, 'Man, I wish I was on the outside right now.'

"Then we got into (Turn) 3, and Keselowski put his nose in, and I thought we were going to wreck, but somehow we held on to it. (Biffle) ended up getting a little bit loose, so I was able to get to his inside. Man, it was exciting there, coming to the finish."

John Force is back in the winner's circle at the 50th Winternationals - NHRA Media Photoby Phil Burgess, National DRAGSTER Editor
NHRA's winningest driver, John Force, got back into the winner's circle after a 20-month drought and was joined by Larry Dixon and Mike Edwards in collecting season-opening Full Throttle Drag Racing Series wins at the 50th Anniversary Kragen O'Reilly NHRA Winternationals presented by Valvoline.

The victory at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, during a weekend filled with nostalgic moments and memories, is Force's record 127th and it came in his 203rd career final, but his first since the 2008 Topeka event, 623 days ago. The Top Fuel win by Dixon also marked a bit of a comeback as his team didn't even qualify at last year's race, where qualifying was shortened by rain. Edwards' win continued the dominance that the reigning Pro Stock world champ showed in closing out his successful 2009 campaign.

NHRA Media Photo - Cory McClenathanPOMONA, Calif. – Larry Dixon joined Robert Hight and Mike Edwards as the provisional pole-sitters after the second of three days of qualifying at the season-opening Kragen O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Valvoline on Friday.

Dixon assumed the provisional No. 1 qualifying position in Top Fuel from Thursday pace-setter Cory McClenathan with a 3.795-second pass at 317.79 mph. The run all but ensures that Dixon will be in the show a year after the eventual Series runner-up DNQ’d at last year’s rain-soaked Winternationals, his first race for Al-Anabi Racing.

“We’re going to race this year so I’m thrilled about that…” Dixon said. “Today’s probably more realistic of what we’ll see during the weekend. Alan (Johnson) and Jason (McCulloch) made the adjustments (after the car smoked the tires Thursday) and it stuck so that’s nice.”