Times wires
Saturday, February 26, 2011
AVONDALE, Ariz. — Kyle Busch became the first driver in a national NASCAR race to win wire-to-wire in nearly eight years Saturday.
It wasn't as easy as it looked, not with his car getting loose and Carl Edwards bearing down over the final few laps.
Busch dominated from the pole early and held off Edwards late, leading all the way to win the Bashas' Supermarkets 200 and set up the chance for a perfect weekend at Phoenix International Raceway.
"It came down to the end of the race, and Carl was alongside of me and we were racing really hard trying to beat each other, and I was like, 'Man, just beat him back to the start-finish line, man, just beat back to the start-finish line,' " Busch said. "I was just trying to hold on for as long as I could."
Busch, 25, is the first green-to-checkers winner in a major NASCAR race since Dale Earnhardt Jr. in a Nationwide race at Daytona in 2003.
The trucks winner Friday night, Busch can make it three straight in today's 500-mile Sprint Cup race, where he'll start fourth. The only driver to win all three major NASCAR races in one weekend? Busch, in August at Bristol.
"We made a run," Edwards said. "I did everything but move him out of the way, and I thought about that, but he did a great job."
DIXON SETS TOP FUEL MARK: Larry Dixon put together a pass of 3.770 seconds at 324.98 mph to break the Top Fuel national record at the NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, Calif. "That run (Saturday) was just spectacular from my standpoint," Dixon told NHRA.com. Cruz Pedregon (4.015 seconds at 313.22 mph) led Funny Car and Erica Enders (6.553, 211.69) was fastest in Pro Stock.
EAST BAY RACEWAY: Jack Nosbisch Jr. won the 40-lap Late Model feature late Friday at the Gibsonton track.