Biffle holds on in Phoenix

A spate of late caution periods played into Greg Biffle's hands Friday night, as the driver of the No. 16 Ford held off Jason Leffler to win the Bashas' Supermarkets 200 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Phoenix International Raceway, team owner Jack Roush's 100th victory in the series.

Biffle beat Leffler to the stripe by 0.339 seconds in a green-white-checkered-flag finish to win his second Nationwide race of the season and the 20th of his career. Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick completed the top five.

Biffle and Leffler finished 1-2 on old tires after 14 of 17 lead-lap cars came to the pits for at least two tires under caution on Lap 181.

In a dramatic reversal, Kyle Busch, who finished 10th, wrested the series points lead from Carl Edwards, who came home 33rd. Busch leads Edwards by 47 points as the series heads for Talladega on April 25.

The fortunes of Busch and Edwards turned radically near the midpoint of the race. Busch had lost two laps during a green-flap pit stop on Lap 50 because of a slow leak in the right front tire of the No. 18 Toyota.

Busch regained one lap under green, passing Edwards on Lap 95. At that juncture, Edwards reported a skip in his engine, which his team was unable to repair under caution. Busch regained his lost lap with a free pass as the first car one lap down under the fourth caution of the race on Lap 109.

Moments after the restart on Lap 114, Edwards brought his car to the garage where the crew diagnosed a problem with a valve spring on the No. 60 Ford. Edwards lost 25 laps while the team, led by Roush, rigged a makeshift repair for the broken part.

While Edwards languished in the garage, Busch took advantage of his free pass, working his way back to eighth before NASCAR called the fifth caution of the race for debris on Lap 149. He restarted eighth on Lap 154 after a pit stop and gained two more spots on that circuit, before John Wes Townley's crash caused the sixth caution.

Busch faded in the closing laps to post his 10th-place finish.

Results

FIN ST CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR PTS/BNS LAPS STATUS
1 4 16 Greg Biffle Ford CitiFinancial 195/10 203 Running
2 8 38 Jason Leffler Toyota Great Clips 170/0 203 Running
3 7 88 Brad Keselowski Chevrolet Delphi 165/0 203 Running
4 2 20 Joey Logano Toyota Sport Clips 165/5 203 Running
5 6 33 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Rheem Tankless Water Heaters 155/0 203 Running
6 12 6 David Ragan Ford Discount Tire 150/0 203 Running
7 14 62 Brendan Gaughan * Chevrolet South Point Hotel & Casino 146/0 203 Running
8 42 12 Justin Allgaier * Dodge Verizon Wireless 142/0 203 Running
9 10 1 Mike Bliss Chevrolet Miccosukee Resort & Gaming 138/0 203 Running
10 5 18 Kyle Busch Toyota Z-Line Designs 139/5 203 Running
11 27 47 Michael McDowell * Toyota Pacific Packaging Group 130/0 203 Running
12 41 66 Steve Wallace Chevrolet US Fidelis 127/0 203 Running
13 16 32 Burney Lamar Toyota Dollar General 124/0 203 Running
14 3 198 Paul Menard Ford Richmond / Menards 121/0 203 Running
15 23 10 Brian Scott Toyota Great Clips 118/0 203 Running
16 29 15 Michael Annett * Toyota Pilot Travel Centers 115/0 203 Running
17 17 27 Jason Keller Ford Huggies / Kleenex 112/0 203 Running
18 34 07 David Green Toyota PMCLife.com 109/0 203 Running
19 15 40 Scott Wimmer Chevrolet Stop Repair Bills.com 106/0 203 Running
20 11 29 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Holiday Inn / Holiday Inn Express 103/0 201 Running
21 21 01 Danny O'Quinn Jr. Chevrolet Cash4Gold.com / Racing 1-800-527-1801 100/0 201 Running
22 18 24 Eric McClure Ford Hefty 97/0 201 Running
23 30 81 D.J. Kennington Dodge Northern Provincial Pipelines 94/0 201 Running
24 36 234 Tony Raines Chevrolet Long John Silver's 91/0 200 Running
25 20 87 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet NEMCO Motorsports 88/0 200 Running
26 38 61 Brandon Whitt Ford Specialty Racing 85/0 200 Running
27 43 26 Brian Keselowski Dodge Schweitzer Title 82/0 200 Running
28 40 23 Ken Butler III * Chevrolet Aaron's Dream Machine 79/0 199 Running
29 28 28 Kenny Wallace Chevrolet U.S. Border Patrol 76/0 194 Running
30 26 183 John Borneman III Ford Twisted X Boots / Borneman Plastering / Red Line Oil 73/0 184 Running
31 24 05 Casey Atwood Ford 31-W Insulation 70/0 182 Accident
32 22 11 Scott Lagasse Jr. * Toyota America's Incredible Pizza Company 67/0 180 Accident
33 1 60 Carl Edwards Ford Aflac 69/5 178 Running
34 35 2 Austin Dillon Chevrolet RCR Thanks Chevrolet 61/0 173 Running
35 39 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet Lagina Plumbing / Eldora Speedway 58/0 169 Running
36 32 09 John Wes Townley * Ford Zaxby's 55/0 163 Accident
37 25 31 Daryl Harr Chevrolet Circle K Thirstbuster 52/0 142 Engine
38 33 0 Mark Green Chevrolet Cash4Gold.com / Racing 1-800-527-1801 49/0 58 Brakes
39 19 49 Kertus Davis Chevrolet GetMoreVacations.com 46/0 46 Overheating
40 9 99 Michael Waltrip Toyota Best Western 48/5 29 Accident
41 37 52 Kevin Hamlin Chevrolet Best Western Tempe by the Mall 40/0 21 Accident
42 13 91 Terry Cook Chevrolet MSRP Motorsports 37/0 7 Susp.
43 31 90 Dave Blaney Chevrolet MSRP Motorsports 34/0 4 Brakes

* Denotes Rookie