CUP: Phoenix Saturday Notebook (UPDATE 8)

Sprint Cup

CUP: Phoenix Saturday Notebook (UPDATE 8)

Kyle Busch wins the Dollar General 200 Nationwide Series race...

Mike Hembree | Posted March 02, 2013 Avondale, AZ

Kyle Busch returns to victory lane at Phoenix International Raceway. (Image: SPEED)

RESULTS: NNS: Phoenix Qualifying
RESULTS: CUP: Phoenix Qualifying
PHOTOS: CUP: Phoenix Qualifying
VIDEO: Martin Wins Phoenix Pole
PHOTOS: NNS Phoenix Practice Gallery

RESULTS: Dollar General 200

VIDEO: NNS- Kyle Busch Returns To Victory Lane

[SATURDAY 7:18 pm ET]

PHOTOS: Kyle Busch Wins

PHOTOS: NNS Phoenix Race

[SATURDAY 6:28 pm ET]

VIDEO:Harvick into Wall

[SATURDAY 6:18 pm ET]

PHOTOS: CUP Phoenix Saturday Practice

VIDEO:Kyle Busch Recovers

[SATURDAY 5:18 pm ET]

HORNISH CAR WHACKED – Contact between the cars of Sam Hornish Jr. and Johanna Long in the early laps of the Nationwide race left Hornish's No. 12 with a banged-up front end. Hornish passed Long, who failed to slow soon enough entering the corner and hit Hornish's car, starting a crash that also involved Jamie Dick, Travis Pastrana and Alex Bowman.

[SATURDAY 5:08 pm ET]

VIDEO: Hornish Suffers Damage Early

[SATURDAY 4:08 pm ET]

MARTIN REMAINS STRONG – If there is a prize for being consistent – and consistently fast, Mark Martin gets it. Martin led the second Saturday Sprint Cup practice at PIR with a speed of 134.248 mph, completing a sweep of Saturday practices after winning the pole for Sunday's Subway Fresh Fit 500 Friday. Following Martin in the second practice were Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Carl Edwards and Clint Bowyer. Danica Patrick was 34th.

[SATURDAY 3:52 pm ET]

YOUR NAME GOES HERE – NASCAR's lower divisions always bring some interesting and unusual sponsors to a race weekend, and this PIR visit is no exception. Some of the car sponsors in Saturday's K&N Pro West race: Northern Provisional Pipelines, Comstock Music Festival, First Choice Pipe Handles, Pegasus Trans and Tow, Country Girl Saloon and – everybody's favorite – Krispy Kreme.

[SATURDAY 3:12 pm ET]

HAMLIN TO THE REAR – Denny Hamlin will start Sunday's Sprint Cup race at the rear of the field after his Joe Gibbs Racing team changed engines in his Toyota Saturday. Hamlin qualified eighth Friday. Toyota teams wrestled with engine problems last year and in last week's season-opener at Daytona International Speedway.

[SATURDAY 2:02 pm ET]

KYLE BUSCH ON NATIONWIDE POLE – Kyle Busch won the pole Saturday for Saturday afternoon's Dollar General 200 Nationwide Series race at PIR. Busch ran 133.057 miles per hour to edge Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Brian Vickers and Matt Kenseth, who were second and third, respectively. Following were Trevor Bayne, Justin Allgaier, Austin Dillon, Jimmie Johnson, Aric Almirola (substituting for the injured Michael Annett), Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick.

[SATURDAY 1:04 pm ET]

Mark Martin has been fast all weekend at Phoenix International Raceway. (Photo: Getty Images)

STILL ON THE MARK – Mark Martin, who won the pole Friday for Sunday's Subway Fresh Fit 500, topped the charts again Saturday during the first of two Sprint Cup practice sessions. Martin ran 135.450 miles per hour to edge fellow Toyota driver Kyle Busch, who was clocked at 135.201 and was the only other driver over 135. Clint Bowyer was third, Jimmie Johnson fourth and Kevin Harvick fifth. Following in the second five were Marcos Ambrose, Carl Edwards, Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman and Matt Kenseth. A second practice is scheduled at 3 p.m. ET. SPEED will broadcast the session.

[SATURDAY 12:32 pm ET]

FAST BALL – Among the celebrities making the scene at PIR this weekend is California Angels pitcher C.J. Wilson. "I think NASCAR is awesome because you have so many talented guys and they run in such a tight pack the whole time," Wilson said. "It's much more precise than I think a lot of people understand. As an athlete, I respect the endurance and the stamina, especially the length of the season. It's very impressive."

[SATURDAY 12:11 pm ET]

LAPS, LAPS, LAPS – Five-time Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson will make a rare drive in the Nationwide Series in today's Dollar General 200 at Phoenix International Raceway. He doesn't need the money. Reason? "My only way to get more experience and to try to get a better handle on this track is to run the NNS car," Johnson said. "That's really the bottom line. I'm still trying to learn the two cars and figure out what can carry over from one to the other because they are pretty different. I'm not sure I will figure it all out this weekend, but in my first time on the track in the Cup car, I knew we were better off than we've been here in a long time."

An early wreck at Phoenix International Raceway during the Dollar General 200 Nationwide Series race. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

[SATURDAY 9:48 am ET]

A BUSY SATURDAY – Saturday's schedule at Phoenix International Raceway has cars on the one-mile track most of the day. Sprint Cup practice is scheduled at noon ET and 3:05 p.m. Qualifying for Saturday's Nationwide race is set for 1 p.m., with the race scheduled for a 4:30 p.m. green flag. K&N Pro Series cars will qualify at 11 a.m. and race at 7:30 p.m. in a 60-lap event. SPEED will broadcast Sprint Cup practice and Nationwide qualifying.

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 31 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mike Hembree

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