Kyle Busch Dominates and Takes the Win at Phoenix After the Rains Come

         After dominating the race and staying in front of the field, Kyle Busch was able to take his third straight win at Phoenix in the Nationwide Series. The race did not run the complete scheduled distance after the rains came with only thirty two laps to go. Busch was in the lead then and was able to wait out NASCAR's decision before he was crowned victor. Busch never really struggled during the race. He didn't start on the pole after sweeping the poles last year at the track, but he quickly took the lead from Brad Keselowski in the event. From there, Busch played the strategy just right and stood on top when NASCAR finally decided the race could not continue on. The race was practically dominated by Cup regulars with Keselowski starting on the pole and Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, and others running at the front, but the Nationwide regulars still made sure they had to fight for the lead. Along with all these battles, the leaders definitely had to battle the radar. Throughout the event, it seemed like rain was just around the corner and the field was battling hard to make sure they were the ones up front when the race was finally called. Yes, Kyle Busch dominated the race and the racing lacked at certain points, but the factors facing the field during the race kept the field completely on edge just waiting for a mistake to happen. 

         Brad Keselowski started on the pole. It was his second pole of the weekend at Phoenix. The race went green and Keselowski immediately jumped out to the lead as he was able to lead the first lap. He drove away slightly, but Kyle Busch was able to catch him and pass him for the lead on lap 6. From there, Busch seemed to run away as the laps clicked by. The field behind him battled hard, but the lead pack was staying pretty calm early on. The race went green until the first caution waved on lap 20. Brad Keselowski bumped Daryl Harr entering turn 1. Harr went around and up the track. He backed into the outside wall and the back of his car flattened completely. He rolled around once more and came to a stop with heavy race ending damage. Harr was okay, but his car wasn't. Joey Gase received the lucky dog. Brad Keselowski received some damage from the contact and he was forced to come down pit road for front nose repair. Some other drivers decided to come down for their first stops of the race. Chase Elliott, Regan Smith, Brendan Gaughan, and others made their way down for tires and fuel while most of the leaders stayed on track. It would be interesting to see if these few drivers made it back to the front.

        The race went back green and Kyle Busch was able to hold onto the lead. On the restart, the field began to battle hard for positions on track. No accidents occurred, but they came very close several times. Brad Keselowski, who restarted twenty seventh after pitting, began to charge towards the front of the field. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch continued to hold the lead over Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth. The laps steadily clicked through the afternoon as Kyle Busch held station at the top of the field. Pretty soon, the race began to creep towards halfway, which meant the race would be official if rain began to fall on track. Before the race reached halfway, the first round of green flag pit stops of the race began around lap 77. The lead lap drivers began to file down pit road before Kyle Busch came down a few laps after the rest of the drivers came down. As Busch returned to speed, the second caution of the race waved on lap 90. Derrike Cope lost a tire in turn 3 and went up the track. He slammed the outside wall hard and came to a stop with heavy damage at the top of the turn. Cope was fine, but he wouldn't return to the race. Kyle Larson received the lucky dog. The timing of the caution caused quite a predicament for some of the drivers. Busch, Kevin Harvick, and others had managed to pit and stay on the lead lap, but most of the drivers who had pitted were a lap down. A few drivers had managed to stay out because they had pitted during the first caution. This allowed Regan Smith, Chase Elliott, Brendan Gaughan, and Brad Keselowski to come down pit road under the caution and remain near the top of the standings. All the drivers who had pitted under green would take a wave around and make it back on the lead lap, but this would force them to start behind slow cars. Busch, Harvick, and others would also still be at the front of the field and on the lead lap. This would be a very key restart for the field considering the race would be close to halfway.

        The race went back green and Kyle Busch was able to take the lead from Kevin Harvick, but the battle was behind the leaders. The drivers who took the wave around were fanning out behind the slower lap cars. Cars were running two and three wide around the track and the battles were extremely fierce. Eventually, the field evened out and the lead lap was basically together. Through all this, Kyle Busch continued to lead the field around the Phoenix mile. Busch ran away from the field slightly before the third caution of the race waved on lap 134. Jamie Dick lost an engine on the frontstretch of the track. His car began to smoke heavily and he was forced to pull down pit road. The problem resulted in the end of the race for Jamie and a bad finish to go along with it. Chris Buescher received the lucky dog. The caution brought, possibly, the final stops of the race for the Nationwide Series. The entire field came down pit road with Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Chase Elliott, and almost all the rest of the lead lap drivers taking two tires and fuel. This put Busch back in front once again, but he would have a vicious pack of drivers looking to chase him down for the win.

        The race went back green and Kyle Busch began to battle hard with Brad Keselowski for the lead. Busch was eventually able to jump ahead of Keselowski and dash away from the field. The positions behind Busch began to swap, but he seemed to not be bothered by those position swaps. Soon, the laps began to click through the afternoon and only fifty remained. Busch was leading, but the rain was quickly coming. The field looked on edge as only forty laps remained. A few laps passed by as the drops began to fall around the track. Just as they started to fall, the fourth and final caution of the race waved on lap 165. Ryan Reed broke loose exiting turn 2. His car slid down track at near full speed. He couldn't get it stopped in time and he piled into the inside wall hard. Reed's car rolled to a stop on the inside of the track with race ending damage. Reed was okay after the accident, but for the second race in a row he had a destroyed race car. The track crews pulled his car back to the garage, but the rain began to fall pretty quickly. On lap 169, NASCAR brought the cars to pit road and the teams placed covers on all vehicles in the field. It rained pretty hard for a few minutes, but the rains stopped. NASCAR's Air Titans went on track and they were making quick work of the wet track. It looked like the race would go back green, but the rain started to fall harder after the track was almost completely dried. NASCAR had no choice but to call the race after only one hundred and sixty eight laps. This handed the win to Kyle Busch and gave him his third straight win at the Phoenix mile. It was a dominant victory for Busch as he continues to add to his statistics in NASCAR's lower series.

        Kyle Busch is a strange breed of driver. He loves to race stock cars, but that is one of the most common things. He loves to race hard every single lap and he does it so differently. He loves to charge and make known to everyone watching and driving that he means business. He also loves to dominate NASCAR's lower series and tear up all kinds of records along the way. No, he hasn't won a championship in NASCAR's highest series, but his achievements in NASCAR speak for themselves. Finally, only Kyle Busch can fit his nickname: “Rowdy.” All this just goes to show how good Kyle Busch is and show how close he is to winning a Cup championship. In just a few years, he will be standing on top of the Cup mountain. But, of course, Busch wasn't the only story in this race. Brad Keselowski received damage early in the event and he fought back for a well deserved third place finish. In terms of the Nationwide regulars, Elliott Sadler finished the highest with a sixth place finish after having a pretty respectable race. Regan Smith, who leads the points, finished eighth with second place in points at the moment, Trevor Bayne, finishing one spot ahead. These three drivers along with Ty Dillon, Chase Elliott, and the rest of the Nationwide regulars seem to be in a heated contest for the championship, but we are only two races in. The series heads next week to the hot spot for gambling and auto racing in the United States: Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Will Kyle Busch take two in a row, will Regan Smith lengthen his hold on the championship standings, or will another driver take over for Smith? We will have to wait a week to find out. 
(More Stats Down Below!)




Cautions:
1st Caution: Lap 20- Brad Keselowski bumped Daryl Harr in turn 1 and Harr backed into the outside wall hard.

2nd Caution: Lap 90- Derrike Cope lost a tire in turn 3 and slammed the wall hard.

3rd Caution: Lap 134- Jamie Dick lost a motor on the frontstretch of the track.

4th Caution: Lap 165- Ryan Reed broke loose exiting turn 2 and slammed the inside wall hard.

Lucky Dogs:
1st Caution: Joey Gase
2nd Caution: Kyle Larson
3rd Caution: Chris Buescher
4th Caution: Mike Bliss

Top 5 Finishers:
1st: Kyle Busch
2nd: Kevin Harvick
3rd: Brad Keselowski
4th: Kyle Larson
5th: Matt Kenseth

Notables Not in Top 5:
6th: Elliott Sadler
7th: Trevor Bayne
8th: Regan Smith
9th: Chase Elliott
10th: Ty Dillon
12th: James Buescher
16th: Brendan Gaughan
22nd: Ryan Reed




Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Statistics:
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nationwide-series/leaderboard/leaderboard-live.html
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nationwide-series/lapbylap/view-all-laps.html
http://racing-reference.info/race/2014_Blue_Jeans_Go_Green_200/B
-Image:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_606w/2010-2019/Wires/Online/2014-03-02/AP/Images/NASCAR%20Nationwide%20Phoenix%20Auto%20Racing.JPEG-0dda5.jpg