* SPRINT CUP

Kasey Kahne waited nearly two years between signing with NASCAR's winningest team and finally climbing into his new ride.

So far, the wait was hardly worth it.

Kahne opened the season with a month of wrecks, mistakes and disappointing results for Hendrick Motorsports, culminating in a collision with Regan Smith that ruined last week at Bristol. He's 32nd in the Sprint Cup Series points standings, and his car is down to 34th in owner points, theoretically putting Kahne in position to lose a guaranteed spot in the field if he has another wreck or awful performance in today's Auto Club 400 (11:30 a.m., KXLY) at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif.

It's a tense situation to navigate so early in the NASCAR season, but the former boy wonder still radiated quiet confidence while working with his team at his hauler in Fontana.

"I would be (down) if my cars were slow, but everything has been so good," Kahne said. "My team is so good. There's really no reason to be down, other than we're not in the position we want to be in."

Even though Kahne has had more knee surgeries (three) than Sprint Cup victories (one) since September 2009, he's determined to get his season back on track in Fontana, where he qualified fifth Friday on the track where he won in 2006.

Such is the self-confidence of the former Rookie of the Year from Enumclaw, Wash., who has earned 12 wins and more than $49 million before his 32nd birthday next month.

"Some of it may be bad luck, and then some of it may be me making mistakes," Kahne said. "Some of it's been luck, and I've messed up, but wrecking has been the problem. Everyone in NASCAR has wrecks. As far as the racing stuff, from the cars to the pit stops to the team and the engines, the car is awesome."

Kahne wrecked out of the Daytona 500, finishing 29th. He got into the wall early in Phoenix, saying he "made a big mistake," and finished 19th in Las Vegas despite setting the track speed record when he qualified on the pole.

Last week was the most disappointing result yet - and his third straight poor finish after starting in the top 10.

He wrecked just 24 laps in at Bristol Motor Speedway when he passed the much slower Smith, but then made a little contact when he mistakenly thought he had room to move down the track, triggering the crash.

"I could have helped the situation, my spotter could have helped the situation and Regan could have helped the situation," Kahne said. "That's just kind of the way it goes. It's racing at Bristol, and I feel like I probably should have been more aware of it and knowing I was racing Regan Smith, and that we're 20 laps in, and he will wreck everybody if he can."

Kahne's car is just above the top-35 cutoff for an automatic spot in the 43-car field. If he falls below 35th at Fontana, he would be forced to qualify for upcoming races, which alters teams' preparation schedules for every weekend and could even keep Kahne out of a race if he has a weak qualifying run - an improbable fate for a Hendrick car.

Kahne dismisses the notion he's trying too hard since joining Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the high-profile Hendrick team, saying he's not doing anything new in his mental preparation. Kahne has run extremely well outside his wrecks, leaving even his most ardent fans to wonder if he's just snake-bitten.

But Kahne doesn't hear much of that negativity on Twitter, where his more than 162,000 followers keep him upbeat in a rough stretch of his career. He happily acknowledged a newfound addiction to tweeting on Friday - but only after filming an anti-texting-while-driving public service announcement.

After Friday qualifying; race Sunday

At Auto Club Speedway

Fontana, Calif.

Lap length: 2 miles

(Car number in parentheses)

1. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 186.403 mph.

2. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 185.534.

3. (55) Mark Martin, Toyota, 185.534.

4. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 185.51.

5. (5) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 185.51.

6. (39) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 185.328.

7. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 185.199.

8. (20) Joey Logano, Toyota, 185.195.

9. (14) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 185.185.

10. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 185.123.

11. (15) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 185.052.

12. (99) Carl Edwards, Ford, 185.

13. (56) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 184.724.

14. (88) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 184.53.

15. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 184.322.

16. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 184.068.

17. (2) Brad Keselowski, Dodge, 184.044.

18. (10) David Reutimann, Chevrolet, 183.913.

19. (31) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 183.744.

20. (30) David Stremme, Toyota, 183.397.

21. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 183.379.

22. (78) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 183.052.

23. (51) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 182.681.

24. (42) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 182.56.

25. (22) A J Allmendinger, Dodge, 182.542.

26. (47) Bobby Labonte, Toyota, 182.445.

27. (27) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 182.366.

28. (43) Aric Almirola, Ford, 182.094.

29. (9) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 182.007.

30. (26) Josh Wise, Ford, 181.087.

31. (83) Landon Cassill, Toyota, 180.85.

32. (98) Michael McDowell, Ford, 180.61.

33. (13) Casey Mears, Ford, 180.542.

34. (36) Dave Blaney, Chevrolet, 180.433.

35. (23) Scott Riggs, Chevrolet, 180.356.

36. (49) J.J. Yeley, Chevrolet, 180.297.

37. (33) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 179.609.

38. (34) David Ragan, Ford, 179.466.

39. (19) Mike Bliss, Toyota, 179.296.

40. (93) Travis Kvapil, Toyota, 178.864.

41. (38) David Gilliland, Ford, 178.602.

42. (32) Ken Schrader, Ford, Owner Points.

43. (74) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 179.131.

n Failed to Qualify

44. (7) Robby Gordon, Dodge, 178.47.

45. (87) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 178.443.

46. (37) Timmy Hill, Ford, 177.936.

* NATIONWIDE

Joey Logano won the Royal Purple 300 at Auto Club Speedway.

Logano is the first Sprint Cup Series driver to win a Nationwide race this season. His 10th career Nationwide win Saturday also extended Joe Gibbs Racing's streak of eight consecutive Nationwide victories in Fontana.

After starting from the pole, Logano reclaimed the lead after a restart with 12 laps to go. He held off a tight pack including Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who finished second, and third-place Brad Keselowski.

At Auto Club Speedway

Fontana, Calif.

Lap length: 2 miles

(Start position in parentheses)

1. (1) Joey Logano, Toyota, 150 laps, 149 rating, 0 points.

2. (10) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 150, 116.9, 43.

3. (3) Brad Keselowski, Dodge, 150, 125.3, 0.

4. (7) Brian Scott, Toyota, 150, 108.5, 40.

5. (4) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 150, 102.4, 39.

6. (14) Brad Sweet, Chevrolet, 150, 87.9, 38.

7. (6) Kenny Wallace, Toyota, 150, 92.9, 37.

8. (15) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 150, 102.5, 0.

9. (5) Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, 150, 108.1, 36.

10. (8) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 150, 100.7, 0.

11. (16) Michael Annett, Ford, 150, 85.9, 33.

12. (17) James Buescher, Chevrolet, 150, 86.8, 0.

13. (11) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 150, 91.1, 31.

14. (9) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 150, 93.2, 31.

15. (13) Jason Bowles, Toyota, 150, 79.7, 29.

16. (22) Tayler Malsam, Toyota, 150, 72.5, 28.

17. (18) Mike Bliss, Toyota, 150, 76.6, 27.

18. (19) Mike Wallace, Chevrolet, 150, 72, 26.

19. (20) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 149, 72.6, 25.

20. (28) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 148, 64.7, 24.

21. (35) Robert Richardson Jr., Chevrolet, 148, 58.9, 23.

22. (33) Benny Gordon, Chevrolet, 148, 55.2, 22.

23. (32) Joey Gase, Ford, 148, 50.9, 21.

24. (31) Erik Darnell, Chevrolet, 147, 56.8, 20.

25. (24) Blake Koch, Chevrolet, 147, 63.9, 19.

26. (25) Eric McClure, Toyota, 146, 44.7, 18.

27. (27) T.J. Bell, Chevrolet, 145, 47.1, 17.

28. (39) Daryl Harr, Chevrolet, 145, 44.9, 16.

29. (34) Tim Schendel, Chevrolet, 145, 39.6, 15.

30. (12) Cole Whitt, Chevrolet, accident, 142, 75, 14.

31. (40) David Green, Dodge, suspension, 139, 36.5, 13.

32. (2) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, engine, 112, 104.4, 13.

33. (38) Kevin Lepage, Chevrolet, rear gear, 82, 38.1, 11.

34. (37) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, engine, 66, 47.2, 10.

35. (21) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, engine, 63, 59, 9.

36. (29) Tim Andrews, Ford, vibration, 22, 47.5, 8.

37. (43) Scott Riggs, Chevrolet, rear gear, 9, 39.8, 0.

38. (36) Chase Miller, Chevrolet, vibration, 8, 40, 6.

39. (30) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, electrical, 6, 38.1, 0.

40. (41) Mike Harmon, Chevrolet, rear end, 5, 31.4, 4.

41. (23) Scott Speed, Chevrolet, vibration, 4, 34, 0.

42. (42) John Jackson, Toyota, fuel pump, 3, 30.9, 2.

43. (26) Jeff Green, Toyota, vibration, 2, 29.3, 1.

Top 10 in Points: 1. E.Sadler, 214; 2. R.Stenhouse Jr., 196; 3. A.Dillon, 187; 4. T.Bayne, 180; 5. S.Hornish Jr., 160; 6. C.Whitt, 151; 7. M.Annett, 148; 8. T.Malsam, 144; 9. J.Allgaier, 126; 10. M.Bliss, 119.

* INDYCAR

The first test of IndyCar's new engine competition was no contest at all.

Will Power set a series track record in qualifying for today's season-opening Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (9:30 a.m., KXLY, ESPN 700), where Chevrolet easily handled Honda in the first real test of the season.

Power ran a 1:01.3721 over the winding 1.8-mile temporary course through the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., beating Penske Racing teammate Ryan Briscoe, who qualified second at 1:01.5357. But, more interesting, was that Chevrolet swept the top five qualifying spots.

After Saturday qualifying; race Sunday

At St. Petersburg street course

St. Petersburg, Fla.

Lap length: 1.8 miles

(Car number in parentheses)

1. (12) Will Power, Dallara-Chevrolet, 105.585 mph.

2. (2) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Chevrolet, 105.305.

3. (28) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Chevrolet, 104.631.

4. (27) James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Chevrolet, 104.567.

5. (3) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Chevrolet, 104.518.

6. (77) Simon Pagenaud, Dallara-Honda, 104.332.

7. (9) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 104.916.

8. (26) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Chevrolet, 104.872.

9. (11) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Chevrolet, 104.736.

10. (10) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 104.589.

11. (38) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 104.477.

12. (14) Mike Conway, Dallara-Honda, 103.666.

13. (5) E.J. Viso, Dallara-Chevrolet, 103.656.

14. (8) Rubens Barrichello, Dallara-Chevrolet, 104.179.

15. (15) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 103.512.

16. (18) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 104.09.

17. (98) Alex Tagliani, Dallara-Lotus, 103.431.

18. (4) J.R. Hildebrand, Dallara-Chevrolet, 103.775.

19. (67) Josef Newgarden, Dallara-Honda, 103.324.

20. (19) James Jakes, Dallara-Honda, 103.635.

21. (78) Simona de Silvestro, Dallara-Lotus, 103.149.

22. (83) Charlie Kimball, Dallara-Honda, 102.786.

23. (22) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Lotus, 103.058.

24. (20) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Chevrolet, 102.274.

25. (6) Katherine Legge, Dallara-Lotus, 100.989.

26. (7) Sebastien Bourdais, Dallara-Lotus, 98.651.