Nationwide Series

Carl Edwards drove to a dominant win in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race Saturday at Phoenix International Raceway in a Ford that Edwards declared "the best race car I've ever had. " Danica Patrick, meanwhile, had another rough outing in her part-time NASCAR experiment and finished 32nd in the 43-car field. Edwards, one of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regulars who also compete in the second-level Nationwide Series, won by five seconds over Kevin Harvick and led 153 laps of the 200-lap race at the one-mile Phoenix oval.

Joey Logano won the NASCAR Nationwide Series race Saturday at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, giving team owner Joe Gibbs a remarkable eight consecutive Nationwide wins at the two-mile track. "Just really exited for all of our guys," said Gibbs, the Hall of Fame NFL coach who led Logano's crew in prayer on pit road moments after Logano crossed the finish line. "That was awesome," Logano said, adding that his No. 18 Toyota "was the class of the field all day. " Reigning Nationwide champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr.finished second, Brad Keselowski was third and Brian Scott finished fourth.

Clint Bowyer raced to his second Nationwide Series victory of the season on Saturday, taking the lead with 83 laps to go on the concrete at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. His celebration was ignored as all attention turned to a brief but heated confrontation on pit road between Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski. They made contact late in the race, sending Hamlin to the garage. Keselowski finished third and was greeted when he got out of his car by an angry Hamlin. They exchanged words, and Hamlin shoved Keselowski.

The buzz surrounding Danica Patrick still is running on all cylinders even though the popular driver, essentially a rookie in her first full season in NASCAR's minor leagues, is off to a so-so start on the racetrack this year. So as she pushes further into the long NASCAR season, Patrick is trying to focus more on what she's learning each week than where she's finishing — at least for now. She has yet to post a top-10 finish after four races in NASCAR's second-level Nationwide Series this year.

Despite winning the Daytona 500 and its $1.5 million in prize money in only his second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, Trevor Bayne technically isn't a rookie in the series because he's committed to running this year in NASCAR's second-tier Nationwide Series. So Carl Edwards , who finished second to Bayne on Sunday, took the early lead in the Cup championship standings under NASCAR's new points system. Edwards left Daytona with 42 points and a one-point lead over David Gilliland and Bobby Labonte , who finished third and fourth, respectively.

Kyle Busch grabbed a souvenir for his victory lap Saturday: a white "100" flag that rippled out the window of his No. 18 Toyota, one special number and a giant slice of NASCAR history. Whether purists like it or not, Busch joined an elite list in auto racing history, becoming the third NASCAR driver to win 100 races. Busch's victory at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon also tied him with Mark Martin for first place in career Nationwide Series victories with 49. Busch has 22 Sprint Cup wins and 29 in the truck series.

Danica Patrick will make her NASCAR debut this weekend at Daytona International Speedway in Florida. The IndyCar star will drive the No. 7 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports in Saturday's second-tier Nationwide Series race. The decision announced Monday to race at Daytona was made after team officials dissected her stock car racing debut in the ARCA race at Daytona on Saturday. The team had left the option to race up to Patrick, who wanted to assess her first race before deciding whether to enter one of the most prestigious Nationwide races of the season.

Her Nationwide Series debut ended when she got taken out in a 12-car wreck, an unavoidable ending to a day that never really went as planned. Yes, Danica Patrick still has plenty to learn about racing stock cars. She felt uncomfortable for a large portion of the Drive4COPD 300 on a cool and windy Saturday afternoon. She did not want to push ahead and be aggressive. She stalled once coming out of the pits. She avoided one crash early on, but could not avoid the one that took her out on Lap 68, when she tried to duck low to avoid the spinning cars in front of her. Instead, Patrick collided with the cars and slammed into the wall, then spun into the grass.

When Danica Patrick became a rookie sensation in 2005 in what is now the Izod IndyCar Series, she capped the year with a race in Southern California. Five years later, IndyCar's most popular driver might make her NASCAR stock-car racing debut at the same location. Patrick, who recently announced plans to try stock-car racing on a limited basis next year in NASCAR's second-tier Nationwide Series, said Thursday that she plans to enter the Feb. 20 Nationwide race at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana.

Russ Cochran shot a five-under 67 in the SAS Championship on Saturday to increase his lead to four strokes, the largest 36-hole margin the history of the Champions Tour event. "I don't have any experience with a four-shot lead so I don't know what to expect," Cochran said. "I'm sure I'll have to be on my toes. " Cochran, the 51-year-old left-hander coming off his first victory on the 50-and-over tour two weeks ago in South Korea, birdied the final two holes at Prestonwood Country Club in Cary, N.C., to finish at 13 under.

Reporting from Avondale, Ariz.-- NASCAR 's Penske Racing said Thursday it's switching back to Ford race cars from Dodge next season, a move that would leave Dodge without a major team in the elite Sprint Cup Series. Team owner Roger Penske, whose two Cup drivers are Brad Keselowski andA.J. Allmendinger, also said his team would shift to Ford in NASCAR's second-tier Nationwide Series in 2013. Penske had been with Dodge for the last decade but, with its contract expiring after this season, the team chose Ford to keep pace with the likes of Ford powerhouse Roush Fenway Racing, Penske said.

James Buescher didn't appear to have much of a shot at winning the Nationwide race Saturday at Daytona International Speedway heading into the final lap. But as the cars started piling up in front of his No. 30 Chevrolet, the 31-year-old driver suddenly became the only car with a shot to win the race. After watching an 11-car crash unfold in front of him, Buescher was able to maneuver through the debris to claim an unlikely victory , his first in the Nationwide Series.

Reporting from Daytona Beach, Fla. -- One day after a final-lap crash in her Gatorade Duels race, Danica Patrick won the pole position for the NASCAR Nationwide Series' Drive4COPD 300. Patrick drove the No. 7 Chevrolet to the front of the pack Friday with a qualifying time of 49.250 seconds at Daytona International Speedway. She averaged 182.741 mph during her run. She becomes the first woman to secure the top spot in a Nationwide Series race since Shawna Robinson at Atlanta on March 12, 1994.

Danica Patrick is finally a full-time NASCAR driver. She will make her long-awaited Sprint Cup Series debut in Sunday's Daytona 500. Patrick became a household name on the Indy Car circuit, winning the Japan 300 in 2008 and placing third at the Indianapolis 500 in 2009. She started dabbling in NASCAR the last couple years in ARCA and Nationwide Series races. Now, in addition to a full-time Nationwide schedule, Patrick will take on the big boys with 10 Sprint Cup races for Stewart-Haas racing this year, starting with the biggest of them all this weekend.

Reporting from Avondale, Ariz. Former IndyCar champion Sam Hornish Jr. finally captured his first NASCAR stock car race Saturday by winning the Nationwide Series race at Phoenix International Raceway. Hornish switched to NASCAR after winning the IndyCar title three times and the Indianapolis 500 in 2006. He has mostly struggled since then, first in NASCAR's top-tier Sprint Cup Series and then in its second-level Nationwide Series. But the Ohioan qualified his Penske Racing Dodge fifth in the Wypall 200 on Saturday, took the lead with about 60 laps remaining and stayed in front on several restarts following crashes behind him. "I can't hardly believe it," Hornish said as he briefly choked up with emotion.

Danica Patrick will make her Sprint Cup debut in the season-opening Daytona 500 in February, her first of 10 races in NASCAR's highest division for Stewart-Haas Racing next season. Patrick unveiled her limited Cup schedule and new car Friday in Texas. She will drive the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet. That is the same number she had in go-karts. Team owner Tony Stewart said the team is set on eight of Patrick's 10 races. Her second scheduled race will be May 12 at Darlington, with the others that are set coming late in the season.

Kurt Busch won his third consecutive pole in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series, finishing first in qualifying Saturday at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn with a lap of 188.699 mph. He is the first driver to win three consecutive poles since Brian Vickers in 2009, and two qualifying sessions were canceled during that streak. The last person to win three poles in three races was Ryan Newman in 2007. Busch is sixth in the points standings and has finished in the top 10 in three consecutive races, including a second-place showing last weekend at Pocono Raceway.

As Danica Patrick resumes NASCAR racing this weekend in Southern California, the popular IndyCar driver acknowledged that she is struggling with stock cars and now needs a driving coach. "I really do need help," Patrick said in an interview. Her coach could be Mark Martin, the veteran driver in NASCAR's top-tier Sprint Cup Series, when his schedule permits and other experienced drivers as well, according to both Patrick and Kelley Earnhardt, general manager of JR Motorsports, which provides the cars Patrick drives in NASCAR's second-level Nationwide Series.

Kyle Busch grabbed a souvenir for his victory lap Saturday: a white "100" flag that rippled out the window of his No. 18 Toyota, one special number and a giant slice of NASCAR history. Whether purists like it or not, Busch joined an elite list in auto racing history, becoming the third NASCAR driver to win 100 races. Busch's victory at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon also tied him with Mark Martin for first place in career Nationwide Series victories with 49. Busch has 22 Sprint Cup wins and 29 in the truck series.

Justin Allgaier could have coasted to victory under caution — but he ran out of fuel, handing a victory to Reed Sorenson in a chaotic finish to the NASCAR Nationwide series race Saturday at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. Allgaier took the lead from Michael McDowell on the second of three attempts at a green-white-checkered overtime finish. Allgaier held the lead after the final restart and appeared to have the win sealed when the yellow flag waved for the final time because of another rash of crashes.