| | | | | | THE USUAL | Usual Nationwide suspects contending at Phoenix again | |
| | By Amanda Brahler / SceneDaily.com Clint Bowyer has been on the move since opening the Nationwide Series season with a 25th-place finish at Daytona. For a driver expected to challenge defending series champion Carl Edwards for the 2008 title, that was not the start Bowyer expected.
But seven races into the season it is Bowyer, not Edwards, atop the points standings. Since Daytona, Bowyer has one win and five top-10 finishes -- four in the top five -- and he leads second-place Edwards by 57 points going into Friday night’s Bashas’ Supermarkets 200 at Phoenix International Raceway.
Bowyer won the spring race at Phoenix last year and, not surprisingly, likes to race at the one-mile track.
“Phoenix is a fun racetrack, and I really enjoy racing there,” Bowyer said. “I think Phoenix is the way tracks are supposed to be. It’s tight in (turns) one and two, but three and four is a big sweeping corner. Both ends of the race track are completely different. It’s just a lot of fun to race on. You can pass and make things happen there.”
Bowyer has four top fives in six races at PIR. Besides his win in the 2007 race, Bowyer won the pole and finished third in the fall race.
“We’ve obviously had good handling race cars, and that goes a long way,” Bowyer said. “You kind of control your destiny at a place like Phoenix.”
Kyle Busch was on the pole for Bowyer’s win, then won in the fall. Despite dominant runs throughout the first six races of the season, Busch didn’t get his first Nationwide win of 2008 until last week at Texas.
Busch is driving for multiple teams this season and returns to the No. 18 Toyota of Joe Gibbs Racing on Friday. Busch also has had success at Phoenix with two poles, a win and three top 10s in five races.
Edwards ran away with the 2007 Nationwide Series championship but is winless this year -- although he has a Sprint Cup Series-best three wins. Edwards has a Nationwide win and top-10 finishes in all six of his starts at PIR.
“It will be great to run under the lights at Phoenix,” Edwards said. “I love Phoenix; it’s the first track I ever ran on pavement. It’s very fast, and it’s about time to get my No. 60 Ford Fusion into victory lane. Our goal is to win races and ultimately win another championship. I am confident we can get the ball rolling this weekend.”
| | Posted April 11, 2008 , 4:35 pm EST
Last Updated April 11, 2008 , 4:38 pm EST | | | | | | | | | | |
