| | | | | |  | | CIA Stock Photo | Kyle Busch does his celebratory burnout after winning Friday night's Nationwide race at Phoenix. | | | | TWO IN A ROW | Busch holds off Edwards to win second Nationwide race | |
| | The Associated Press AVONDALE, AZ -- Kyle Busch beat Carl Edwards out of the pits on their final stop, then held off the defending NASCAR Nationwide Series champion in overtime for his second straight victory Friday night at Phoenix International Raceway.
A series of late-race caution flags on the mile oval hampered Edwards, who appeared to have a faster car at the end and remained winless in 2008 in the series formerly known as Busch.
Busch, who got his first Nationwide victory of the season last week in Texas, dominated, leading 133 of the 202 laps. But Edwards wrested the lead from Busch on lap 159 and steadily pulled away, building a lead of more than 3 seconds before debris brought out the sixth of nine cautions on lap 178.
The leaders pitted a lap later and Busch's Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota barely beat Edwards' Roush Fenway Racing Ford onto the track and held the lead, although Edwards did nose ahead momentarily on lap 197 before the final caution came out on lap 199 when Jeff Burton hit the wall.
That necessitated one more restart and Busch was able to hold off Edwards by about two car-lengths for his 13th Nationwide win and second in a row at Phoenix.
"He had a great, great car and it was just a great night for us," Busch said. "Luckily, we kept getting those cautions and we kept getting a little two-lap jump on him. He had a better car on longer runs. We got good restarts and it was good he gave me a lot of room to race him."
Busch, who moved from fifth to third in the season points, said the other key to this victory was getting out of the pits first on the last stop.
"It was much easier trying to race up front than having to pass him," Busch noted.
Edwards agreed, saying, "He got us off pit road and that hurt us a little bit.
"I had the fastest race car out there tonight," he added. "Circumstances put us second. It's too bad somebody has to finish second in a race like this. I don't think I made any mistakes or could have done anything differently. I just needed another lap."
Before leaving the postrace press conference, Edwards, who has three victories in seven Sprint Cup events heading into Saturday night's Phoenix race, said, "Tell (Busch) I'm coming for him tomorrow."
Denny Hamlin finished third, followed by former series champion Kevin Harvick, David Ragan, Mike Bliss and Stephen Leicht. Series leader Clint Bowyer, who fell from fifth to 13th when he was penalized late in the race for speeding on pit road, wound up eighth and now leads Edwards by just 24 points.
| | Posted April 12, 2008 , 4:22 pm EST
Last Updated April 12, 2008 , 4:23 pm EST | | | | | | | | | | |
