Carl Edwards won Saturday’s Able Body Labor 200 to postpone Kyle Busch’s formal Nationwide Series championship clinching party for one week.
But Busch still had cause for celebration. With a 190-point lead entering next Saturday’s season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Busch needs merely to start the Ford 300 to claim his first title in one of NASCAR’s top three national touring series.
“That’s 25—25 [career Nationwide] wins,” said Edwards, who beat runner-up Kevin Harvick to the finish line by 2.415 seconds. “I know Kyle’s almost clinched the championship, but that’s what we came here to do, to win this race.” NASCAR
Busch was involved in an early-race crash when he got loose and made contact with Clint Bowyer. He spun around and tapped the wall, sustaining damage to the front and rear left panels of his car. Busch pitted several times during cautions for repairs and then knifed his way through the field to move up to the third spot with fewer than 40 laps to go. He experienced motor problems shortly after and faded from there to finish ninth.
If Busch would have finished seventh or better, regardless of Edwards’ performance, he would have captured the series title before next week’s season-finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Reed Sorenson finished third, followed by Bowyer and Brad Keselowski. MiamiHerald.com
Keselowski and Hamlin had a lot more to say after the race, thanks to the Lap 157 incident that started with Hamlin bumping Keselowski and ducking beneath him. Keselowski retaliated in the corner and turned Hamlin’s No. 20 Toyota.
Hamlin kept the car off the wall but had to pit and restarted at the back of the field on Lap 164. He finished 12th.
NASCAR Nationwide Series: Able Body Labor 200 at Phoenix - Race Results
“On the last restart there, Denny got into the back of me and pushed me up the track,” Keselowski said. “I was going to return the favor. When he did it to me, I saved it. When I did it to him, he didn’t save it. We just got into a pushing match. I don’t really don’t hold any grudges. I don’t know why he wanted to do that. But whatever, that’s just how racing is, I guess.
Hamlin implied he’d have a shot at revenge in next Saturday’s race.
“I can sit here and bash him for the next 20 seconds or so and give you all a bunch of sound bites,” Hamlin said, “but I’m just happy that I signed up for next week’s Nationwide race, and you know in turn, there’s a lot of guys that owe him. There’s a lot of guys that have a lot of chips that they’re going to cash in, I’m just going to be the first to the pay window.’’ NASCAR
