It’s been a Kyle Busch kind of weekend at Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway, so far.
Last night, Kyle Busch Motorsports provided the truck that propelled Erik Jones to become the youngest winner in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Saturday afternoon, Busch dominated the ServiceMaster 200 to claim his 12th win of the season.
After steering his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry to his 10th NASCAR Nationwide Series pole of the season, Busch led the first 79 laps, only interrupted by a caution on Lap 3, when Eric McClure spun in Turn 4.
Trevor Bayne briefly took the lead for two laps, before Busch regained control on Lap 82 and led through the event’s second caution on Lap 106. Keselowski in the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang also took a jab at the front, but it was short lived following the restart and pit stops, until Busch reclaimed control on Lap 120 for 13 laps, before Brad Sweet’s spin in Turn 3 brought out the third caution of the race on Lap 130.
Varying pit strategies scrambled the running order as five drivers — Bayne, Sam Hornish Jr., Justin Allgaier, Regan Smith and Brian Scott — opted not to pit under the yellow, leaving Busch to take the green from the sixth spot on new right-side tires.
Busch, who fought his way back to the front from sixth retook command on Lap 154 from Allgaier and never looked back beating Allgaier, who passed championship point’s leader Austin Dillon on the final lap by 4.347 seconds.
“It was certainly a great day for us,” Busch said. “It’s a testament to (crew chief) Adam Stevens and the group of guys that he’s got around us that do such a great job for us and work real hard and give us some great equipment.”
Dillon scored his 13th top-five of the year by taking third, Regan Smith fourth and Hornish Jr., who now sits eight markers in the rears behind Dillon for the championship lead.
Busch led 169 laps en route to his 12th NASCAR Nationwide Series victory in 25 starts this season. Busch extended his series record for wins in the series to 63. The pole was Busch’s 10th of the season — on nine occasions this season, he has converted the top starting spot into a victory.
Matt Kenseth was sixth followed by Trevor Bayne, Elliott Sadler, Kevin Harvick and Ryan Blaney comprised the remainder of the top-10.
Hornish debriefed with the media following the race saying, “Eight points is a little more than what I wanted to overcome next week. It’s been a hard-fought weekend for us, we’re just gonna go and have a bunch of fun and see what we can do.”
After leading early in the race, Brad Keselowski’s day took a dramatic turn on Lap 143, when Brian Scott lost control of his No. 2 Whitetail Chevrolet Camaro and made contact with the rear of Keselowski’s Mustang. The contract turned the reigning Cup champion around in Turn 3 and made hard contact with the outside wall. Despite the damage Keselowski returned to competition and finished 19th, one lap down.
Other notables in the top-20: Alex Bowman (11th), Michael Annett (14th), Ryan Red (15th), Drew Herring (16th) and Jeffrey Earnhardt (20th).
In the race for the Nationwide Series owner’s championship, Penske Racing leads Joe Gibbs Racing by four markers with Joey Logano tapped to drive the No. 22 Ford next weekend and Busch gunning for a career-high 13 victories in one season. Busch accomplished that feat in 2010, but went winless in 2013.
The 33rd and final race of the 2013 NASCAR Nationwide Series will close at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway next weekend for the Ford 300 set for Saturday, November 16 live on ESPN.
