Kyle Busch ended up taking the checkered flag at Fontana for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at California, but not without some high drama, as Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano put their rivalry on the line, storming down the final stretch and crashing out to give Busch the win.
Hamlin crashed hard and ended up being taken to the hospital, while Joey Logano got into a scuffle for the second week in a row, brawling with Tony Stewart, who confronted the 22-year-old after he was blocked coming out of a caution restart earlier in the race.
According to FoxSports.com. Hamlin was airlifted away after the crash and Logano was able to finish third before being confronted by Stewart, who then threatened Logano in a post-race interview for blocking him hard out of one of the late restarts, saying he should learn a lesson. Hamlin and Logano got into it last week at Bristol and now their rivalry has taken another turn after the contact on the final lap at the Auto Club 400.
Stewart said in a post-race interview that "I'll bust his ass," while referring to Logano, who later told reporters he was just trying to get position out of the restart. Dale Earnhardt Jr. made a late push and finished second, putting him into first place in the Sprint Cup series standings. Busch led 125 of the 200 laps in the race and made the most of the crash at the end, pulling aside and out of the way as the two crashed.
Earlier in the week Hamlin and Logano downplayed any issues from last week's race, although the final lap may bring about some new heat in the rivalry. Hamlin was able to get out of his own car, but then went down on the track as medical personnel arrived and he was airlifted away to the hospital
The report says NASCAR officials will review the video on Stewart and Logano about possible penalties and could release that later in the week. The crash came as Logano and Hamlin were side by side coming down the stretch and spun out of control, as Hamlin hit the wall and Logano pushed aside. Stewart was the defending champion at the race and ended up finishing 22nd.
Logano tossed his water bottle at Stewart in the confrontation and punches were thrown on both sides. The two have a connection, as Logano was the driver who replaced Stewart on the Joe Gibbs Racing team. Carl Edwards finished fourth, Kurt Busch finished sixth, while Matt Kenseth, Paul Menard, Kasey Kahne and Ryan Newman rounded out the top 10.