Although Kyle Busch was unable to clinch the Nationwide championship last weekend at Phoenix, he will secure the title once he takes the green flag in Saturday's season-ending race at Homestead.

Carl Edwards postponed Busch's inevitable championship by leading the most laps and winning at Phoenix. Busch, who finished ninth and surprisingly did not lead a lap, left Phoenix with a 190-point lead over Edwards. If Busch would have held an advantage of 195 points or higher, he would have clinched the title there.

Edwards led the most laps with 109 and easily beat second-place Kevin Harvick at the finish by 2.415 seconds to cut Busch's lead to 190 points.

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.

Hamlin lapped the one-mile oval at 133.968 m.p.h. (26.872 seconds), which surpassed Kyle Busch's 2004 track record. The pole victory was Hamlin's second this year and the 14th of his Nationwide career. He also won the pole in last year's fall race at Phoenix.

Carl Edwards, the defending race winner, qualified 0.13 seconds behind Hamlin to claim the outside pole.

Kyle Busch is on the brink of winning his first NASCAR national touring series championship.

Busch won last Saturday's race at Texas and widened his lead to 272 points over Carl Edwards, who finished ninth. If he finishes 15th or better, 16th or higher with at least one lap led, or 18th and the most laps led this weekend at Phoenix, he will wrap up the Nationwide Series title.

Busch started sixth, but blew by pole sitter Matt Kenseth for the lead after 10 laps. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver then led 179 laps in the 200-lap race to claim his series-high eighth victory of the season and the 29th of his career. Busch joined Brendan Gaughan as the only drivers to win four NASCAR races in a row at Texas. Gaughan picked up four straight Truck Series victories here from 2002-03.

"We out-wrestled all these guys today," Busch said. "This track is fun. It's fun when you have good cars of course." Busch is now two-for-two this weekend at Texas. He bumped Ron Hornaday Jr. out of the way for the lead with less than 50 laps to go, and then held off a hard-charging Matt Crafton at the finish to win Friday's truck race here. Busch will attempt to become the

Kenseth lapped the 1.5-mile oval at 187.201 m.p.h. (28.846 seconds) for his second pole of the season and the 16th of his Nationwide career. His first pole here came in 2001.

"[The car] always has a lot of speed, so hopefully it will handle like we need it to for 300 miles tomorrow," Kenseth said.

After taking their final week off of the season, the Nationwide Series returns to action this weekend at Texas. Kyle Busch finished second in the October 24 race at Memphis and extended his lead to 215 points over Carl Edwards.

Busch has won the last three Nationwide races at Texas. In April, he led a track-record 178 of 200 laps. Busch also became the first driver to win from the pole in 17 races there.

The 254-lap race at Memphis featured numerous accidents, including two caused by Keselowski when he bumped Justin Allgaier from behind and later got into the back of Carl Edwards.

On the final lap, Busch made contact with Keselowski while the two were battling for the lead, but Keselowski managed to hold on and cross the finish line 0.09 second ahead of Busch.

Allgaier lapped the 0.75-mile oval at 118.100 m.p.h. in his No.12 Penske Racing Dodge for his first career Nationwide pole. It came in his 36th start.

Scott Wimmer will start alongside Allgaier on the front row after posting a lap at 117.739 m.p.h.

Kyle Busch gave his championship hopes in the Nationwide Series a big boost by winning last Friday's race at Lowe's. Busch led 137 of 200 laps and easily held off Mike Bliss at the finish to end an 11-race winless streak in the series.

Busch padded his lead to 195 points over Carl Edwards with just four races remaining.

With showers approaching the 1.5-mile track, Busch moved into the lead for good after a cycle of green-flag pit stops was completed with 55 laps remaining.

He easily held off Mike Bliss at the finish by nearly two seconds to end an 11-race winless streak in the series.

Edwards, currently second in points, lapped the 1.5-mile oval at 183.799 m.p.h.

(29.380 seconds) for his sixth pole of the season and the 17th of his Nationwide career. Edwards made his qualifying lap midway through the 49-car session, and knocked off his Roush Fenway Racing teammate Matt Kenseth from the pole.

Carl Edwards kept his title hopes very much alive in the Nationwide Series after last Saturday's race at California.

Current points leader Kyle Busch, who suffered from flu-like symptoms throughout the weekend at California, got relief from Denny Hamlin early in the 300-mile race. Hamlin moved into the lead shortly after, but lost his chance to win the race for Busch when he made contact with Greg Biffle and then slammed the wall in the final laps.

Logano, who earlier was involved in an accident with Greg Biffle, took the lead from Brad Keselowski during a green-white-checkered finish. He then held off Brian Vickers for his fifth victory of the season and the sixth of his Nationwide Series career.

Vickers finished second, while Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick and Keselowski completed the top-five.

Logano lapped the two-mile track at 181.164 m.p.h. (39.743 seconds) for his fourth pole of the season and the seventh of his Nationwide career.

Kyle Busch grabbed the outside pole to give Joe Gibbs Racing the front starting row. Busch qualified 0.07 seconds behind Logano.

Kyle Busch is looking to widen his points lead over Carl Edwards this Saturday at California.

Busch put on a dominating performance last week at Kansas, but after a late- race restart, Joey Logano passed Busch for the lead with four laps remaining. It was the fourth time this season that Logano has taken the lead away from his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate with less than 10 laps to go and then go on to victory.

Kyle Busch once again dominated a Nationwide race, but after a late-race restart, Logano passed Busch for the lead with four laps remaining. It was the fourth time this season that Logano has taken the lead away from his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate with less than 10 laps to go and then go on to victory.

The 19-year-old driver recorded his fourth victory of the season and the fifth of his Nationwide career.

Kligerman, a development driver for Penske Racing, lapped the 1.5-mile oval at 172.778 m.p.h. (31.254 seconds). He became the 10th driver in series history to win the pole in his first start. Scott Speed took the pole in his debut in March at Las Vegas.

"I was trembling after that one," Kligerman said. "That was so fast in [turns] three and four, that's ungodly fast, you shouldn't be doing that." On Thursday, Kligerman picked up his eighth win on the ARCA Series this season at Kansas. He is 15 points behind leader Justin Lofton heading into that series' final race of the season next weekend at Rockingham, NC.

Clint Bowyer comes home to Kansas after winning last Saturday's Dover 200. Bowyer, the 2008 Nationwide Series champion, picked up his second victory in just nine starts this season. He also won in July at Daytona.

Growing up in nearby Emporia, KS, Bowyer looks forward to his annual trip home.

Busch, who won at Dover one year ago, had the dominant car for the first half of the 200-lap race but Bowyer came on strong shortly after the midway point and took over from there.

Bowyer, the 2008 Nationwide champion, recorded his second win in his ninth start this season. The Richard Childress Racing driver also posted his eighth career victory, including a win here in September 2006.

Busch, the current points leader, turned a blazing lap around the one-mile track at 154.110 m.p.h. (23.360 seconds) in his No.18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota for his third pole of the season and the 18th of his Nationwide career. He started on the pole and won the fall race here one year ago.

"The [car] has been good this weekend, and we just have to make sure we keep it that way throughout this race," Busch said.

After taking a week off, the Nationwide Series returns to action on Saturday at Dover.

Second-place Carl Edwards is currently 201 points behind leader Kyle Busch, but Edwards might be staging another late-season rally based on his most recent performance.

Bires will drive a Nationwide entry for team owner Dale Earnhardt, Jr., beginning in 2010. He will replace Brad Keselowski, who will move over to Penske Racing at season's end to drive the No.12 Dodge in next year's Sprint Cup Series campaign.

"Kelly is a talented young driver, and we want to give him the opportunity to showcase that talent," Earnhardt, Jr. said in a team statement.

Edwards, who continues to drive with a broken right foot after a Frisbee accident last week, qualified a disappointing 39th earlier in the day but had to start from the rear of the 43-car field after his team changed the spark plugs prior to the start of the race.

The Roush Fenway Racing driver beat Kevin Harvick out of the pits and took the lead for the first time during a caution with 24 laps to go. He held off Harvick at the finish by 1.17 seconds for his fourth victory of the season and the 24th of his Nationwide career.

Hamlin, a native of nearby Chesterfield, VA, turned a lap around the 0.75-mile track at 124.384 m.p.h. (21.707 seconds) for his 13th career Nationwide pole, including his second at Richmond. His first pole here came in the 2007 spring race.

"I qualified on the pole here in the Nationwide Series before, and I think I was in the fence 30 laps in, so hopefully we'll have a different outcome this time." Hamlin won at Richmond in May 2008.