Edwards wins Phoenix Nationwide

From second place on the grid, Edwards led the race for the first time on lap 13 after overtaking polesitter Denny Hamlin on the first restart. Hamlin eventually reclaimed the lead until Edwards had another shot at him on the restart following the third caution of the day.

Once up front again, the Roush Fenway driver stayed in control and went on to take a comfortable win - the 25th of his Nationwide Series career. However, his championship hopes are virtually over now, as Busch just needs to start the season finale at Homestead in order to win his maiden NASCAR title.

"Well, we kept [Kyle Busch] from having the trophy for one more week," said Edwards. "There's something to be said about that. In the end you race for a couple of different things. You race for the championship for sure, but you really race for wins and the win feels good, no matter what.

"I'm proud of my guys. And those guys on the #18 team, they've have done a really good job every one. If they do seal [the title] next week, like it looks they're going to deserve it. They've performed very well."

Kevin Harvick finished second, coming close to scoring back to back wins after taking victory on Friday night in the Truck Series race at Phoenix, where his Kevin Harvick Inc team-mate Ron Hornaday won the series title.

Reed Sorenson claimed yet another good result by finishing third for Braun Racing, while Clint Bowyer recovered from an early incident with Busch to finish fourth.

The points leader hit on some early drama when he spun on lap nine at Turn 2 after losing control of his car, hitting both the outside and inside walls, although without extensive damage. Bowyer spun beside him but just managed to avoid hitting him.

The Joe Gibbs racer managed to remain on the lead lap while his team carried out the necessary repairs in the pits, and despite a less than perfect car he was able to move up in the order again. He would eventually get in a position to clinch the title, but then he lost ground in the closing laps and dropped down to ninth place at the flag.

Earlier this week,Busch was given a 25 point penalty for a technical infraction at Texas, a punishment that actually prevented him from celebrating the title at Phoenix.

Brad Keselowski rounded out the top five after having yet another controversial run-in with Denny Hamlin. On the penultimate restart of the race Hamlin made contact with Keselowski while battling for position, and the JR Motorsports driver immediately returned the favour, getting Hamlin loose and then tapping him again and causing him to spin.

"On the restart there, from what I can tell, Denny got into the back of me and pushed me up the track," said Keselowski."I was going to return the favour and when he did it to me I saved it, when I did it to him, he didn't save it. We just got in a pushing match."

Hamlin, who could only manage to finish 12th after his spin, warned Keselowski he could receive payback next weekend at Homestead.

"I'm just happy I'm signed up for next weekend's Nationwide race and you know, in turn, there's a lot of guys that owe him," said Hamlin. "There's a lot of guys that have a lot of chips that they're going to cash in. I'm just going to be the first in that window. I'll take care of him. I've got him."

The two drivers later met at the Nationwide truck but their exchange did not go any further.

Pos  Driver             Car        Laps
 1.  Carl Edwards       Ford       200
 2.  Kevin Harvick      Chevrolet  200
 3.  Reed Sorenson      Toyota     200
 4.  Clint Bowyer       Chevrolet  200
 5.  Brad Keselowski    Chevrolet  200
 6.  David Ragan        Ford       200
 7.  Matt Kenseth       Ford       200
 8.  Mike Bliss         Toyota     200
 9.  Kyle Busch         Toyota     200
10.  Steve Wallace      Chevrolet  200
11.  Jason Keller       Ford       200
12.  Denny Hamlin       Toyota     200
13.  James Buescher     Chevrolet  200
14.  Trevor Bayne       Toyota     200
15.  Scott Wimmer       Chevrolet  200
16.  Justin Allgaier    Dodge      200
17.  Kenny Wallace      Chevrolet  200
18.  David Reutimann    Toyota     200
19.  Brendan Gaughan    Chevrolet  200
20.  Michael Annett     Toyota     198
21.  Tony Raines        Chevrolet  198
22.  Mike Wallace       Chevrolet  197
23.  John Wes Townley   Ford       197
24.  Kevin Conway       Chevrolet  196
25.  Michael McDowell   Dodge      195
26.  John Borneman III  Ford       194
27.  Jason Leffler      Toyota     187
28.  Eric McClure       Ford       158
29.  Jeremy Clements    Chevrolet  96
30.  Paul Menard        Ford       95
31.  Nick Joanides      Chevrolet  95
32.  Ken Butler III     Chevrolet  86
33.  Josh Wise          Chevrolet  65
34.  Mark Green         Chevrolet  49
35.  Danny O'Quinn Jr   Chevrolet  29
36.  Joe Nemechek       Chevrolet  26
37.  Kevin Hamlin       Ford       17
38.  Alex Tagliani      Dodge      14
39.  Terry Cook         Chevrolet  12
40.  Johnny Chapman     Chevrolet  10
41.  Casey Atwood       Chevrolet  4
42.  Dennis Setzer      Dodge      3
43.  Chris Cook         Toyota     1