DAYTONA BEACH, Florida — A little drama has been added to Kyle Busch’s (No. 18 NOS Toyota) quest for his first NASCAR national series championship.
After adding to his track record consecutive win streak at Texas Motor Speedway last Saturday (now at four), Busch led the NASCAR Nationwide Series standings by 272 points over second-place Carl Edwards (No. 60 Valvoline/O’Reilly’s Ford).
However, that lead – and the title-clinching scenarios for Busch at Phoenix International Raceway – will more than likely change following a penalty levied against his Joe Gibbs Racing team.
His No. 18 car was found to have an unsecured weight issue during pre-race inspection last Friday at Texas. Penalties are usually handed down by NASCAR on the Tuesday following the event where the infraction occurred.
Regardless of the penalty outcome, the main scenario remains in place for Busch to clinch the 2009 title: He needs to leave Phoenix with a standings lead of at least 195 points over the second-place driver.
Edwards’ second-place slot isn’t set in stone, either. Brad Keselowski (No. 88 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet) is third, but has been chasing down Edwards like, well, a greased cheetah strapped to a bullet train.
Keselowski was 200 points behind Edwards after the July race at O’Reilly Raceway Park. Coming to Phoenix, he’s cut that deficit to 20 points, the closest he’s been all year to the runner-up position.
Should he capture the second slot, Keselowski would be the first series-only regular to finish that high in the standings since reigning series champion Clint Bowyer (No. 29 Holiday Inn Chevrolet) did so in 2005.
