It doesn’t happen here often, which is why this sort of steady national drumbeat of criticism aimed at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana (nee’ “California Speedway) is out there.

But they had a nice race here at Fontana tonight. A fun race. An interesting race that wasn’t determined until the final lap.

With two of the best drivers in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup going nose-to-tail for most of the final 38 laps.

Matt Kenseth won, holding off Jeff Gordon in a riveting duel.

Kenseth was running third, behind Gordon and Greg Biffle, when the final caution flag of the night came out — after Kevin Harvick’s motor exploded and he got into the wall on Lap 207.

The yellow flag sent the field into the pits, where some key events unfolded:

–Biffle,  usually one of the most skilled of drivers, overshot his pit box by a few inches and parked atop an air hose.  He had to back up to free the hose, killing precious seconds. He exited the pits in third place and, afterward, said, “I should be fired.”

–Kenseth’s crew, led by chief Drew Blickensderfer, got Kenseth fueled and changed four tires — and onto the track about a car-length-and-change ahead of Gordon. Meaning Kenseth went from third to first thanks to a pit stop. He didn’t pass either guy ahead of him at speed.

Kenseth up front proved critical. Gordon gave chase, and was almost on his bumper a time or two with 25 laps to go, but Gordon’s Hendrick Chevrolet never had a decent chance of passing Kenseth’s Roush Ford, and then he began to fade. By the time Kenseth took the checkered flag, for only the 18th time in his career — but second time in eight days, counting that fluky victory at Daytona last week — he was 1.464 seconds ahead.

Gordon had trouble being gracious. “I feel like if they didn’t get out front (out of the pits) it would have been a different race. They’re off to a great start. I think they’re going to be real strong this year. I have so much respect for Matt. We’ve had our differences over the years but I’ve always had a ton of respect for what kind of NASCAR driver he is.

“I tell you, you know, you can say that the pit crew won him the race tonight, but Matt didn’t make one mistake.  I put a lot of heat on him. I drove as hard as I’ve driven in a long time. He didn’t make any mistakes.  Maybe one little slip-up, but just wasn’t enough for me to do anything with him.”

For his part, Kenseth was both modest and a bit dull, which is what Matt Kenseth is all about.

“I thought (Gordon) was going to pass us,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s a bad habit or not. Some people call me a pessimist. I think I’m more of a realist. When we took off, the run before that, we got out in the lead. We ran some real fast laps. We left Jeff by, I don’t know,  15 or 20 car lengths, second or something like that. In the middle of that run, he just ran me right down, drove by me, took off. Greg drove by me, took off. I couldn’t do any better.

“I don’t know what (bit of equipment the crew) adjusted (on the last stop). They got us in front again, which obviously was a big key. Right away I could feel it was better. I didn’t think it was that much better. I was getting looser when we ran. With as many laps left, I honestly thought we were going to be too loose at the end and (Gordon) was going to catch us. I couldn’t get away from him. Then he ran down and right on my bumper. I thought that was about over. But I guess they tightened his (car) up a little bit and it got tight. I was able to hang on. These things are sensitive. They (Kenseth’s crew) made the perfect adjustment, had the perfect pit stop.”

Kyle Busch, who finished third, just ahead of Biffle, put it in perspective.

“I had the best seat in the house for that battle,” between Kenseth and Gordon, he said. “It was pretty cool to see those guys racing like that. It was a good show for the fans. Their first good race they’ve had out here in a while. They stuck with the weather.  That was cool to have all them here, too, being able to watch those guys, two superstars putting on a show like that.”

Track officials announced the crowd at 73,000, which seemed generous on the high side. But, without question, it was a much bigger crowd than most of us expected, particularly when there was talk a few days ago of ticket pre-sale of only about 25,000. Track president Gillian Zucker was almost beaming in pleasure when she appeared in the media room for a lengthy interview session during the first half of the race.

It would seem the track partnering with Stater Bros. was important; anyone who bought $75 worth of groceries got free tickets to the Sunday race. Also, the track discounted some $55 seats down to $35.

So if 60,000 people showed up (probably a more realistic number), that still is a good turnout on a day when it was cool and a bit soggy and the economy is in the tank. (The race went to yellow four separate times because of light rain.)

Anyway, a good day, at Fontana, and that hasn’t always been the case. Particularly not the past few years.

Now the NASCAR show goes on to Las Vegas, where Kenseth will go for three victories in a row — after not winning at all the previous 36 races.

I actually enjoyed being here, which isn’t something I could say very often in the previous 14 or 15 NASCAR main events I saw here.