Backstretch Motorsports

Kyle Busch gave fans of the NASCAR Nationwide Series a case of déjà vu as he scored a dominant victory for the second straight week.

After picking up his first win of the season in NASCAR’s Nationwide Series last Saturday at Texas, the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry driver staved off a determined challenge from Carl Edwards to win Friday night’s Bashas’ Supermarkets 200 at Phoenix International Raceway.

In a green-white-checkered-flag finish that took the race two laps beyond its scheduled 200 laps, Busch crossed the finish line .241 seconds ahead of Edwards. The victory was Busch’s 13th in the series and the fourth for Toyota this season. The 22-year-old led 133 laps on the evening.

Denny Hamlin ran third, followed by Kevin Harvick and David Ragan. Mike Bliss, Stephen Leicht, points leader Clint Bowyer, David Reutimann and David Stremme completed the top 10.

Edwards passed Busch for the lead on Lap 159 and gradually pulled away to a lead of more than three seconds before a caution for debris slowed the field on Lap 178. That brought the lead-lap cars to the pits for their final stops.

Busch and Edwards each took four tires, with Busch beating the defending series champion out of the pits for a restart on Lap 184. The green-flag run ended before one lap was complete, when Marcos Ambrose spun Landon Cassill in traffic to bring out the seventh caution of the race.

“Those boys won the race for us on pit road,” said Busch, who was able to hold off Edwards on restarts after three subsequent cautions.

“He (Edwards) had a great, great racecar that might have been better than this Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry here. He had a great racecar, but it’s a good thing we had all those cautions that gave us a chance to get a two-lap bump on him.”

Busch held the lead for a restart on Lap 189, and as Edwards was beginning to close in on the No. 18 Toyota, Jason Leffler’s spin brought out the eighth yellow flag of the night. The final caution occurred on
Lap 198 when Jeff Burton’s No. 29 Chevrolet banged the wall.

Though Edwards closed in on the final lap, he couldn’t overtake Busch before time ran out.

“It’s too bad somebody’s got to lose a race like that,” Edwards said. “It was fun, but it’s too bad we had to run second. That last caution hurt us a little, and he got us off pit road (on Lap 180). We came in first and went out second.”

Race Results
Phoenix International Raceway
Bashas’ Supermarkets 200
UNOFFICIAL Provided by NASCAR Statistics Friday, 4/11/2008 @ 9:20 PM US UNOFFICIAL
Fin Str Car Driver Team Lap Pts BPts Status TLd LLd
1 1 18 Kyle Busch Interstate Batteries Toyota 202 195 10 Running 4 133
2 3 60 Carl Edwards World Financial Ford 202 175 5 Running 5 38
3 6 20 Denny Hamlin Z-Line Designs Toyota 202 170 5 Running 2 18
4 5 33 Kevin Harvick Camping World Chevrolet 202 160 Running
5 16 6 David Ragan Discount Tire/Coats Ford 202 155 Running
6 19 1 Mike Bliss Miccosukee Resorts Chevrolet 202 150 Running
7 22 21 Stephen Leicht Racing Gearz-The Game 202 146 Running
8 10 2 Clint Bowyer Camping World/Winegard 202 142 Running
9 12 99 David Reutimann Best Western/Aaron’s Dream 202 138 Running
10 14 64 David Stremme Atreus Homes & Communities 202 134 Running
11 13 40 Dario Franchitti # Fastenal Dodge 202 130 Running
12 2 88 Brad Keselowski NAVY Chevrolet 202 132 5 Running 2 9
13 15 25 Bobby Hamilton Jr. John Morrell Off the Bone Ford 202 124 Running
14 21 38 Jason Leffler Great Clips Toyota 202 121 Running
15 24 7 Mike Wallace GEICO Toyota 202 118 Running
16 30 66 Steve Wallace Atreus Homes & Communities 201 115 Running
17 11 59 Marcos Ambrose Kingsford with Hickory/Bashas’ 201 112 Running
18 17 32 James Buescher Great Clips Toyota 201 109 Running
19 23 47 Kelly Bires Clorox/Bashas’ Ford 201 106 Running
20 26 28 Kenny Wallace U.S. Border Patrol Chevrolet 201 103 Running
21 25 9 Chase Miller # Ragu Dodge 201 100 Running
22 18 5 Landon Cassill # National Guard Chevrolet 201 97 Running
23 8 27 Brad Coleman Scott Tissue/Bashas’ Ford 201 94 Running
24 27 41 Kyle Krisiloff Polaroid Dodge 200 91 Running
25 33 01 Kertus Davis RACEGIRL Chevrolet 200 88 Running
26 28 81 D.J. Kennington Northern Provincial Pipe Lines 200 85 Running
27 20 22 Robby Gordon Supercuts Dodge 199 82 Running
28 29 61 Kevin Lepage Ford 199 79 Running
29 31 24 Eric McClure Hefty Brand Chevrolet 199 76 Running
30 38 4 Robert Richardson Jr. JVC Chevrolet 194 73 Running
31 4 29 Jeff Burton Holiday Inn Chevrolet 192 75 5 Accident 1 4
32 7 11 Jason Keller America’s Incredible Pizza 181 67 Engine
33 34 83 Johnny Borneman III Red Line Oil Ford 167 64 Running
34 32 89 Morgan Shepherd Victory in Jesus Racing Dodge 127 61 Handling
35 35 52 Derrike Cope Best Western Hotels Chevrolet 55 58 Ignition
36 9 16 Jamie McMurray CitiFinancial Ford 39 55 Accident
37 37 37 John Young BodiPro Portable Body Gym Ford 32 52 Accident
38 40 90 Johnny Chapman MSRP Motorsports Chevrolet 19 49 Vibration
39 39 91 Larry Gunselman MSRP Motorsports Chevrolet 16 46 Brakes
40 41 84 Mike Harmon Elite 2 Racing Chevrolet 12 43 Vibration
41 42 0 Mike Potter Lori Morgan, LLC Chevrolet 9 40 Engine
42 36 05 Brett Rowe CertainTeed/31W Insulation 7 37 Handling
43 43 55 Scott Gaylord Bennett Classics Museum Ford 2 34 Engine

# = Rookie, Fin = Finish, Str = Start, Pts = Total Points, BPs = Lap Leader Bns Pts, TLd = Times Led, LLd = Laps Led
Average Speed: 98.764 MPH Time of Race: 02 Hrs, 02 Mins, 43 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.241 Seconds
Lead Changes: 14 among 5 drivers Cautions: 9 for 36 laps Attendance: 32,000