Kyle Busch
Nationwide: Busch ran the Combos scheme on his No. 18 Toyota in Phoenix. He has never lost while running the Combos car, which was a stat he wished to keep. He started on the outside of row one to pole-sitter Carl Edwards so he wouldn't have to go far to get the checkered flag. He took the lead on lap one and pretty much stayed there the entire race. He ran in to some trouble on a late-race restart and was black-flagged when he jumped the restart, losing the lead to Brad Keselowski. With seven laps to go he was 10th, with five to go he was second and eventually he took the checkered flag for the 32nd time in his Nationwide career.
Cup: Busch started 17th and led 113 laps. He made his way to the front slowly and was in the top 10 for most of the day. On lap 296 he finally took the lead away from Jimmie Johnson who had been leading for 113 laps. On lap 372, with six laps left, a caution came out. When most of the other drivers took two tires, Busch took four, causing him to come out of the pits eighth. He never recovered and finished the race in the same place.
Kurt Busch
The older Busch had a hard day in the desert. He started 19th and on lap 15, after getting loose and getting into Kasey Kahne he was then hit by Denny Hamlin. He spent much of the next several laps on Pit Road. He finished in 35th place, 12 laps down.
Photo courtesy: Farrah Kaye
This article originally published at LV NASCAR Examiner and republished with author's permission.
