Full Throttle

A look through the Phoenix top ten finishers would lead you to believe this race should be subtitled the Redemption 500. With the exception of Dale Earnhardt Jr. the other 9 found redemption from past bad luck by being caught in someone else’s wrecks or their own mechanical woes.

Busch the defending NASCAR Nextel Cup champion led 219 of 312 laps on the mile oval, emphatically putting behind him a streak of bad luck that included crashes at four consecutive events, including an IROC race a week ago at Texas Motor Speedway.

“It’s probably one of our best wins,” Busch said after holding off a determined Michael Waltrip in the NASCAR Nextel Cup race at Phoenix International Raceway. “You think you’ve got it put together but something happens and you get behind. It says a lot for the team that we were able to overcome all the things that happened to put us behind.”

Michael Waltrip survived a couple brushes with the retainer and scored his first top five since June of last year.

“We just had a great car,” said Waltrip, who got his third top 10 finish of the season. “I just ran out of brains there at the end and hit the wall a couple of times. I’d rather mess up trying, though. I did all I could do.”

That’s the second week running that both DEI cars have made the top ten and with Talledaga on tap next week - where they have dominated in past years - those that laid a wreath on their teams and declared them dead may have to eat their words.

Unofficial Results: Listing starting position in parentheses, driver, car, laps finished or reason out if not running at finish, and money won:

1. (2) Kurt Busch, Ford, 312, $264,000.
2. (28) Michael Waltrip, Chevrolet, 312, $181,939.
3. (20) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 312, $147,995.
4. (15) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 312, $150,018.
5. (5) Brian Vickers, Chevrolet, 312, $110,325.
6. (4) Bobby Labonte, Chevrolet, 312, $121,950.
7. (11) Carl Edwards, Ford, 312, $94,775.
8. (27) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 312, $92,050.
9. (26) Johnny Sauter, Dodge, 312, $75,750.
10. (13) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 312, $103,158.
11. (33) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 312, $109,141.
12. (1) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 312, $120,886.
13. (8) Jeremy Mayfield, Dodge, 312, $98,245.
14. (7) Ryan Newman, Dodge, 312, $119,541.
15. (12) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 312, $113,066.
16. (22) Mark Martin, Ford, 312, $80,700.
17. (14) Kasey Kahne, Dodge, 312, $98,375.
18. (16) Scott Riggs, Chevrolet, 312, $90,133.
19. (10) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 312, $109,011.
20. (23) Mike Bliss, Chevrolet, 311, $67,600.
21. (37) Jeff Green, Dodge, 311, $94,261.
22. (25) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 311, $61,700.
23. (35) Dale Jarrett, Ford, 311, $100,083.
24. (21) Dave Blaney, Chevrolet, 311, $72,725.
25. (34) Jamie McMurray, Dodge, 311, $72,900.
26. (31) Sterling Marlin, Dodge, 311, $92,183.
27. (42) Mike Wallace, Chevrolet, 310, $64,050.
28. (29) Kevin Lepage, Dodge, 310, $60,925.
29. (18) Jason Leffler, Chevrolet, 309, $60,800.
30. (40) Stanton Barrett, Chevrolet, 309, $60,675.
31. (39) Kyle Petty, Dodge, 306, $78,208.
32. (36) Scott Wimmer, Dodge, 305, $82,558.
33. (6) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 305, $109,561.
34. (38) Ricky Rudd, Ford, 293, $87,364.
35. (19) Bobby Hamilton Jr., Chevrolet, 283, $69,572.
36. (9) Rusty Wallace, Dodge, 272, $90,908.
37. (43) Robby Gordon, Chevrolet, 262, $59,750.
38. (30) Ken Schrader, Dodge, 255, accident, $59,625.
39. (32) Casey Mears, Dodge, 243, $67,500.
40. (24) Travis Kvapil, Dodge, 237, accident, $67,350.
41. (3) Greg Biffle, Ford, 172, overheating, $77,510.
42. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 164, accident, $107,021.
43. (41) Carl Long, Chevrolet, 52, engine failure, $58,935.

Race statistics

Time of Race: 3 hours, 2 minutes, 16 seconds.
Victory margin: 2.315 seconds.
Winners’ Average Speed: 102.707 mph.
Caution Flags: Nine for 43 laps.
Lead Changes: 16 among nine drivers.

Unofficial Point Standings: 1. J.Johnson, 1,260. 2. Kurt Busch, 1,087. 3. G.Biffle, 1,052. 4. J.Gordon, 1,027. 5. E.Sadler, 1,009. 6. M.Martin, 997. 7. R.Newman, 994. 8. C.Edwards, 979. 9. S.Marlin, 968; 10. R.Wallace, 960.