Their cars parked amongst Ironwood, Catclaw and Saguaro, all so indigenous to the upper edge of the Sonoran Desert of Phoenix, Arizona, tens of thousands of fans trudged through the sand and gravel and into the glowing 75,403-seat race venue that is the Phoenix International, Speedway on Friday evening, April 11, 2008 to watch the eighth round of the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series. And from their respective vantage points — from the grandstands or from atop the fabled Monument Hill (which rises just outside of turn four) — they watched Kyle Busch win his second consecutive NASCAR Nationwide Series race in six days. It took 2:04:58 of elapsed time, 202 laps and a record nine caution periods to finish it off, but when all was said and done inside the billiard chalk blue walls that surround the1.0-mile tri-oval, it was Busch who was triumphant in the end, meeting his crew, literally, at the finish line stripped across the 1,179-foot, 3-degreebanked frontstretch.

“It was just a great night for us,” said Busch to ESPN, who after running front corner panel to front corner panel with Carl Edwards for the last 40 laps, kept getting the better of the Roush-Fenway driver on a slew of caution-induced back-to-green restarts. “We had a great race car there, but luckily we kept getting those cautions where we could at least get another two lap jump or so, because our car was good on the two lap jumps, but he had us there from about five to about 15 [lap runs]. Then, from about 15 to 45, we had him.”

From the drop of the green flag it Brad Keselowski getting the holeshot on Busch from outside front row, lead the first eight laps of the race before Busch took over. From there, Busch took the race by the throat until lap number 74 when, after pitting for new tires, Carl Edwards when whizzing by to take the lead. Busch would regroup, and the two would duel ferociously as the race wound down to its twilight stage, the telltale moment coming with just 22 laps to go when a NASCAR mandated “debris on the track” caution flag sent Edward and Busch — rear TV panel to front fender — headfirst down pit lane. Good Year tires, lug nuts, air hoses and pit crewmembers out of the way, Busch beat Edward back out onto the track, and from there, it was just a matter of getting a few caution flags and executing a few deft restarts out of the way to maintain the lead. A spin by Jeff Burton with three laps to go set up a green-white-checker finish, but even so, Busch threw the transmission of his Toyota through it’s gear patterns to handily beat Edwards, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick and David Ragan back to the lone checkered flag — and victory.

“Yeah, these boys won the race for us on pit road,” said Busch of his Joe Gibbs Racing crew that put him back out onto the Phoenix tarmac ahead of Edwards at the bitter end. “They did an awesome job being able to get us out first.”

Round eight of 35, Busch’s victory in Phoenix now thrusts him from fifth to third in the NASCAR Nationwide Series point’s race. All this withstanding, Busch’s charge now leave many to wonder if the 22 year-old, a driver who has been reticent to say he will stay in for the Nationwide Championship should the situation present itself, is truly in it to win it.

“Oh, the consideration is there,” he replied when questioned about the rapidly unfolding scenario. “These guys are having a great time, so I’m proud of that. But for us it’s a race-by-race deal. If I went out and won these next eight races in a row, we might revaluate it. You know it’s still great to come out and race in the Nationwide Series. I have such a blast.”

To that end, heading into the next round of the NASCAR Nationwide Series, Clint Bowyer sits atop the NASCAR scoring sheets with 1,189 total points. Second overall and 24 pints behind is Carl Edwards. Busch is third, with David Raga and David Reutimann, fourth and fifth, respectively. The next round on the NASCR Nationwide schedule is slated for April 20, 2008 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodrigues in the sprawling metropolis that is Mexico City, Mexico.