BUSCH

• Hamlin takes pole for Nationwide race at Phoenix

  
  

  Avondale, AZ (Sports Network) - Denny Hamlin won the pole for Saturday's Hefty Odor Block 200 Nationwide Series race at the Phoenix International Raceway. Hamlin, who went out 38th in the 50-driver qualifying order, turned in a lap around the one-mile track in 27.085 seconds (132.915 m.p.h.).

  The pole victory was Hamlin's first of the season and the 12th of his Nationwide career.

  "It was a good lap for us at that time of the day," Hamlin said. "I would have liked to gone earlier to see how fast we could have really gone." Carl Edwards will start second after posting a time of 27.161 seconds. Edwards is currently 91 points behind Clint Bowyer with just two races to go.

  "It's an important race for us, obviously," Edwards said. "As long as we start up front and have a good pit stall, it's going to be good." Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick will start on the second row, while Mike Bliss and Jamie McMurray will make up row three.

  Scott Lagasse, David Ragan, David Stremme and Josh Wise will start seventh through 10th, respectively. Bowyer will roll off 12th.

  Edwards has finished no worse than eighth in seven Nationwide starts at Phoenix. He won the fall 2005 race there.

  Bowyer, meanwhile, has scored four-straight top-10 finishes at Phoenix, including a victory there in April 2007 Last Saturday, Busch scored the victory at Texas and tied Sam Ard's 1983 series record for most wins in a season with 10. Busch acknowledged Ard's accomplishments in the series and also pledged to donate $100,000 to assist Ard and his wife, Jo, with their medical and financial situation. Ard, the 1983 and '84 series champion, suffers from Alzheimer's disease, while his wife is losing her eyesight.

  Busch is looking to break Ard's record this weekend at Phoenix, where he has won the last two Nationwide races.

  The green flag is scheduled to drop Saturday around 4:30 p.m. (et).

  11/08 14:36:51 ET