Following a two-week break, the Nationwide Series returns to action with their first short-track race of the season at Bristol.

Carl Edwards heads to Bristol with a 41-point lead over Brad Keselowski. Saturday's Nationwide race will be the first time Edwards and Keselowski compete against each other since their confrontation in last week's Sprint Cup race at Atlanta.

Harvick led the most laps with 83, but a lengthy pit stop early in the race shuffled him back in the field. He took the lead for good when he passed Denny Hamlin just after a restart with 25 laps to go.

Harvick recorded his 35th career victory in the series.

On lap 84, Patrick bumped into Michael McDowell and then slammed into the wall coming out of turn two. McDowell slid up the track and made contact with Patrick again when he hit the wall. She took her car to the garage with heavy damage to the front end of it.

"The car in front of me was going really slow, and I caught him down the front straight," said Patrick, who was running 27th at the time of the incident. "He was just going slow, so I went to go underneath him as he drifted up to the wall, and then he turned down in. I guess I probably should have seen all the tape on the left rear bumper and said, 'I probably shouldn't be on the left rear bumper.' Sure enough, he turned down and then took us both out." Patrick made her last Nationwide star

Keselowski knocked Kevin Harvick off of the pole with a lap of 185.427 m.p.h.

"I don't know how it worked out, but the car must have been that good," said Keselowski, who claimed his fourth career pole in the series.

Danica Patrick's learning curve in NASCAR continues this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Patrick finished 31st in her second Nationwide Series start last Saturday at California.

Blickensderfer is replacing Mike Kelley as the crew chief for Edwards' No.60 Nationwide team, effective immediately.

Kelley will assume the role of competition director for Roush Fenway's Nationwide effort. Mike Beam held the position, but Roush has elevated Beam to speedway specialist in the racing organization's research and development department.

Busch grabbed the lead from Greg Biffle as they came out of turn four on the final lap and then beat him to the finish line by 0.05 seconds for his third victory at California and the 31st of his Nationwide career.

A late-race caution for an incident involving Brendan Gaughan setup a green- white-checkered finish.

Logano, who was the second driver to make his attempt in the 49-car qualifying field, turned a blazing lap at 181.283 m.p.h. for his second consecutive pole at California and the eighth of his Nationwide career. The 19-year-old started on the pole and won here last October.

"I'm pretty much in love with that race car; it's pretty fast every time I get out of it, and it's won a lot of races," Logano said. "Hopefully, we can bring the [car] to Victory Lane here again." Logano's teammate, Kyle Busch, captured the outside pole after posting a lap at 179.906 m.p.h. to give Joe Gibbs Racing the front starting row. Busch will start on the front row in a Nationwide race at California for the fourth consecutive time.

Danica-mania, part two.

Once again, Danica Patrick will be the center of attention in the garage this weekend at California where she will compete in her second Nationwide Series race.

Patrick made a dauntless attempt to avoid the incident, which was triggered after Josh Wise got loose and spun. She clipped Wise and then made contact with Colin Braun before slamming into the wall.

Her car spun down to the infield grass where she came to rest.

According to NASCAR's rule book, the starting lineup for the first Nationwide race of the season was determined by last year's owner points, previous drivers and owners who won a race, past series champions and a qualifying draw.

Kyle Busch, the 2008 champion, will start on the pole, while Carl Edwards will start alongside him on the front row for the DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was awarded the third starting spot, followed by Kevin Harvick and John Wes Townley.

Danica-mania continues at Daytona.

Danica Patrick, the center of attention during this year's Speedweeks, will make her much-anticipated Nationwide Series debut at Daytona. Patrick and her JR Motorsports team made the decision shortly after her stellar performance in the 80-lap ARCA race at Daytona. She overcame a spin just past the half-way point to finish sixth.

But after racing sensation Danica Patrick's announcement on Monday that her much-anticipated Nationwide Series debut has been bumped up one week earlier to Saturday's DRIVE4COPD 300 season-opener at Daytona, the main topic for Speedweeks now should be "girl, have at it." Patrick initially was scheduled to make her Nationwide debut with JR Motorsports -- a team co-owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- in the February 20 race at California, but her schedule now has changed due to her stellar performance in the ARCA event at Daytona this past weekend.

Yes. "Go Daddy Girl" quickly

Patrick announced on Monday she will make her Nationwide Series debut in Saturday's DRIVE4COPD 300 season-opener at Daytona.

She originally was scheduled to make her series debut in the February 20 race at California, but after an impressive performance in the ARCA event over the weekend at Daytona, her foray in NASCAR's second-tier circuit has been bumped up one week.

Patrick, who has become the center of attention in the opening days of Speedweeks at Daytona, started 12th and held her pace until lap 54 when former Formula One star Nelson Piquet Jr. tapped her right front fender and put her into a spin on the frontstretch. She managed not to hit anything before her No.7 Chevrolet slid on the infield grass.

After pitting twice for repairs during the caution, Patrick restarted at the tail end of the lead lap but charged through the field within the final 15 laps before nipping Ricky Carmichael at the line to finish sixth. She became the highest finishing female in a race at Daytona since Shawna Robinson's second-place run here in the 1999 ARCA event

Patrick, the most popular star in the IndyCar Series, lapped the 2.5-mile superspeedway in her No.7 Chevrolet at 179.788 m.p.h. She was the 10th driver to make her qualifying attempt in the 47-car field.

The JR Motorsports driver has been the center of attention in the opening days of Speedweeks at Daytona. She is scheduled to kick off her 12-race Nationwide Series schedule February 20, but her series debut could come one week earlier in the season-opener at Daytona, depending on her performance in the ARCA event.

Kidd replaces Dave Rogers, who recently was appointed as crew chief for Kyle Busch's No.18 car in the Sprint Cup Series. Kidd spent the past four years at Richard Petty Motorsports, where he previously served as race engineer for Elliott Sadler's No.19 car.

"We're excited to have Kevin join our team here at JGR," team president J.D. Gibbs said in a statement. "We already have a great team in place, and Kevin will provide great leadership to them. His experience and knowledge should help keep us up front where our sponsors deserve to be each week." Sprint Cup regulars Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin, as well as Nationwide newcomer Matt DiBenedetto are expected to share driving duties with JGR's No.20 team this coming season.

The track is operated by the Wisconsin State Fair Park Board, which has spent the last six months in negotiations with four potential promoters. The truck race at Milwaukee was scheduled for June 18, with the Nationwide event slated the following day.

NASCAR is looking to replace the Milwaukee dates.

Busch held off a hard-charging Carl Edwards in the last laps of a fitting conclusion, as the top two drivers in points finished first and second, respectively, in the season-ending race.

"It was a little nervy," Busch said of his battle with Edwards for the lead in the closing laps. "I knew Carl was coming on fresh tires, because he was really fast. I was hoping Jeff Burton could hold him up long enough in order to help burn his tires off a little bit before he got free and then chased me down." During the sixth caution for an incident involving Erik Darnell, Busch and Burton pitted, while Edwards remained on the track and took the lead. When the race resumed, Busch knifed his way through the field and then grabbed the top position from Edwards wi

Edwards, who won last week's race at Phoenix, turned a lap at 168.366 m.p.h. (32.073 seconds) for his series-leading seventh pole of the season and the 18th of his career.

Ryan Newman qualified 0.07 seconds behind Edwards to claim the outside pole. Jeff Burton took the third spot, while Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Joey Logano and Kyle Busch rounded out the top-five.

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