Kyle Busch Barely Bests Austin Dillon to Take the NASCAR Nationwide Series Pole at Phoenix

         With a time of 26.982 seconds (133.422 mph), Kyle Busch was able to beat Austin Dillon by five thousandths of a second to take his tenth NNS pole of the season. Busch went out thirty first and laid down a fast lap for the provisional pole, but he had eleven fast drivers behind him. Brian Scott, Trevor Bayne, Kevin Harvick, Austin Dillon, and the other drivers behind Busch were not able to best his lap and he took the pole. It was definitely a great feat for Busch considering all the great drivers he had to beat. The qualifying session also allowed the championship battle to continue to heat up. Points leader Austin Dillon came out of the session with a second place starting part while his closest competitor, Sam Hornish Jr., left the session with a sixth place starting spot. With only six points separating them and only two races remaining, the battle is about to reach its climax and it should be amazing to watch. The session was probably one of the best of the year. There fast cars all over the field, drivers sliding around the race track, and even a huge crash for one driver. All in all, it was a very good session and one that could ultimately decide how the championship battle ends up.

         Derrike Cope was the first driver on track. He would pick up the action early in the session with a huge amount of trouble. Entering turn 1 on his first lap, Cope's car broke loose. It went around and slid up the track. The car piled into the outside wall back end first and the whole rear end crumpled up. Cope's car slid to a stop just on the exit of the turn. He was able to jump out of his car okay, but the entire car was destroyed. He is locked into the field for the race, but he might not have a back-up car and he might not be able to find one in time for the race. After Cope's crazy crash on the first run of the session, the track was cleaned up and the session continued on pretty calmly. For the first twenty two drivers, the pole switched back and forth a good bit and no driver had taken control. That was until Sam Hornish Jr. went out twenty third and took the provisional pole. He was in control for a few drivers before his teammate, Brad Keselowski, took the provisional pole six drivers later. Keselowski looked to be in control, but Kyle Busch quickly changed that as he took the provisional pole two drivers later. Now, eleven drivers remained and Busch would have to wait them out. Soon, only five drivers remained to surpass Busch, but all of them had a chance. Regan Smith, Kevin Harvick, Justin Allgaier, and Austin Dillon were unable to, but Brian Scott still remained. Scott went out and just barely missed Busch's lap, but that was enough to put Busch on the pole for the tenth time this season. It has been a very dominating year for Busch, but others behind him will look to finish the year just as strong. 

        I know nobody likes hearing this statistic, but here it is. In the nine races Kyle Busch has all ready started this year from the pole in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, he has won eight of them with the exception being a second place finish at Atlanta. That looks really disconcerting if you want somebody else to win the race today, but it still could be a crazy race and have a different winner. After hearing that statistic, it just adds to what Kyle Busch has been able to do this year in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. In only twenty four races, he has eleven wins, nineteen top 5s, and twenty top 10s. It is a very impressive statline for Busch after a tumultuous season in the series last year with his own team. Like I stated earlier, the championship battle also heated up with this session. Austin Dillon and Sam Hornish Jr., the top two drivers in the race for the championship, start second and sixth, respectively. With these two being so close, it should be a great battle to gain the momentum heading into the final race of the year at Homestead. Plus, other drivers like Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Matt Kenseth, and Ryan Blaney will look to take a win in a series other than their main series. With all these drivers looking for a win, it should be a great fight in the penultimate round of the regular season. I hope you guys are able to see the battle for the win at Phoenix and, ultimately, a continuation of the very heated championship battle between Austin Dillon and Sam Hornish Jr. Boy, it is really going to be a good final two weeks of the season. 
(More Stats Down Below!)




Top 5 Qualifiers (With Times):
1st: Kyle Busch     26.982 (133.422 mph)
2nd: Austin Dillon     26.987 (133.398 mph)
3rd: Kevin Harvick     27.011 (133.279 mph)
4th: Brad Keselowski     27.016 (133.254 mph)
5th: Brian Scott      27.054 (133.067 mph)

Notables Not in Top 5 (With Times):
6th: Sam Hornish Jr.     27.079 (132.944 mph)
7th: Matt Kenseth       27.099 (132.846 mph)
11th: Regan Smith       27.250 (132.110 mph)
14th: Trevor Bayne     27.316 (131.791 mph)
16th: Elliott Sadler      27.349 (131.632 mph)
19th: Travis Pastrana        27.444 (131.176 mph)

Go-or-Go Homers (With Times):
7th: Matt Kenseth      27.099 (132.846 mph)
9th: Ryan Blaney      27.170 (132.499 mph)
18th: Ryan Reed       27.421 (131.286 mph)
20th: Kevin Swindell      27.470 (131.052 mph)
24th: Mike Harmon      27.713 (129.903 mph)
25th: Josh Wise      27.730 (129.823 mph) 
29th: Joey Gase       27.795 (129.520 mph)
30th: Jamie Dick      27.833 (129.343 mph)
31st: Jeff Green       27.872 (129.162 mph)
40th: Blake Koch       27.972 (128.700 mph)
41st: Morgan Shepherd       28.196 (127.678 mph)
42nd: Dexter Stacey       28.650 (125.654 mph)

DNQs: Morgan Shepherd* and Dexter Stacey
(*: If Derrike Cope does not have a back-up car or can't find a back-up car after his crash, Morgan Shepherd will be in the race.)





Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Statistics:
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nationwide-series/leaderboard/leaderboard-qualification.html
http://www.jayski.com/nationwide/2013/pdfs/nns-32phx2013lineup.pdf
http://racing-reference.info/getqualify/2013-32/B
-Image:
http://thefinallap.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/2013-nationwide-dollar-general-200-phoenix-kyle-busch-pole-030213.jpg?w=549