Defending NASCAR Nationwide Series champion Carl Edwards will have to make up 56 points on current championship leader Clint Bowyer to become the second driver in five years to earn back-to-back series titles.
Edwards scored a Phoenix International Raceway victory that marked his third straight top-two finish by .096 of a second over Denny Hamlin Nov. 8. Edwards’ sixth 2008 victory trimmed Bowyer’s advantage from 91 to 56 points and he will ride a string of eight top-five finishes into the season closing event at Homestead-Miami Speedway Nov. 15.
His season record now includes a total of 18 top-five and 21 top-10 finishes. Bowyer scored a fourth-place Phoenix finish that marked his second straight top-10 effort. He has registered five top-five and a total of nine top-10 finishes in the past 10 races. He first took over the championship lead on March 22 with a second-place finish at Nashville Superspeedway and has held point following the past 30 series events. Bowyer is in search of his first series title and finished ninth in last season’s Homestead-Miami race.
Edwards placed fourth at Homestead-Miami last season and is attempting to post his third straight top-two finish and fourth straight top-three finish in the final standings. Kevin Harvick took third in Phoenix and Kyle Busch completed the race top five in a Braun Racing entry. Hamlin engineered his 10th top-five and 13th top-10 finish of the season in his 18th start.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has taken a win and a total of four top-10 finishes in his past five starts. Harvick earned his second top-five finish in his past four series starts and has taken eight top-five and 11 top-10 finishes this season. He has started 22 events this season. Busch advanced from seventh to sixth in the series standings with his third consecutive top-five finish and his fifth top-10 finish in his past six races. That stretch has included three victories.
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