McMurray resilient in Phoenix
Jamie McMurray beat Kyle Busch on Saturday, winning the NASCAR Busch Series race at Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, Ariz.
They swapped the lead twice in the final 27 laps. But McMurray used a surprising outside pass on a restart 10 laps from the scheduled finish to grab the lead from Busch for the final time in the Bashas’ Supermarket 200.
Busch, who dominated the race, leading 151 of the first 190 laps, got a last chance to get back past McMurray’s Dodge after Shane Hmiel and Kevin Harvick collided, igniting a multi-car crash with four laps to go in regulation.
Without time to restart the race before lap 200, NASCAR finished with a green-white-checker, two-lap overtime that began on lap 204. But McMurray, who led four times for 47 of the 205 laps on the 1-mile oval, easily held off the rookie this time as Busch found himself having to fend off series leader Martin Truex Jr. to hold on to second place.
“That was a great win for us,” said McMurray, a Nextel Cup regular who got his sixth Busch win, second of the season and first in the developmental series for Chip Ganassi Racing. “Our car was fast from the time we unloaded it for our test out here and it was super today.”
No more mulligans
When Nextel Cup leader Kurt Busch was hit by engine failure at Atlanta Motor Speedway and finished 42nd last Sunday, the mishap tightened NASCAR’s new 10-race championship format. It also meant each of the 10 drivers in the title chase has had at least one finish of 30th or worse in the first seven events.
“That about evens things up,” said Busch, who had not finished worse than sixth since the championship format began. “Now everybody has had at least one big problem. But, with three races to go, you can’t afford any more.”
Heading into today’s Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, the top five drivers in the championship are separated by just 98 points. Jimmie Johnson is second, followed by four-time champion Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Johnson trails Busch by 59 points and has made up six places and 188 points by winning three races in a row.
Bourdais takes pole in Mexico
Champ Car points leader Sebastian Bourdais broke teammate Bruno Junqueira’s Mexican Grand Prix qualifying record and won the pole for the season finale in Mexico City.
Bourdais covered the 2.8-mile road course on softer tires after using hard-compound rubber for the second-fastest time Friday. His time of 1 minute, 25.919 seconds Saturday topped Junqueira’s 2-year-old track record of 1:25.941.
The Newman-Haas teammates will share the front row for the race because Junqueira led the qualifying Friday. Frenchman Bourdais had a fast lap of 116.733 mph and Junqueira’s Cosworth/Lola went 115.889.
Bourdais gained a point to raise his series-leading total to 336, putting him 22 ahead of Junqueira.
Bourdais, rookie of the year last season, needs a finish of ninth or better to win the crown.
Rookie Justin Wilson and Jimmy Vasser share the second row today.