In his bid for the Nationwide Series Championship, Carl Edwards did all he could to stay in contention, winning the race and leaving points leader Kyle Busch to wonder on his radio, “Why, why, why?”

With a ninth-place finish, Busch was unable to clinch the title at Phoenix International Raceway Saturday and will have to wait one more week for the season finale at the Homestead-Miami Speedway to claim his crown.

Still unable to do his trademark victory back flip, Edwards instead did a somersault as he retrieved the checkered flag.  It was Edward’s fifth win, and he led 109 of 200 laps on his way to it.

Busch, on the other hand, climbed from his car and walked away in disgust.  He declined to be interviewed after his disappointing finish and failure to clinch the championship.

Busch’s chances to claim the championship were dashed early on in the race, when he wrecked with Clint Bowyer.  Busch’s car sustained left-front end damage, and although he was able to battle back for a top-ten finish, he still was unable to clinch the coveted championship.

Kevin Harvick finished in the second spot, coming up one position short of the win that would have set him on pace to win the triple crown in the desert after winning the Phoenix Truck Series race last night.   Harvick did, however, have great improvement in the pits during this race after firing his rear tire changer and replacing him with a new one.

“I think our Rheem Solar Water Heater Chevrolet was really good,” Harvick said.  “I wish we could have come up one spot better but all in all, it was a good day for us.”

Reed Sorenson had a great run in his No. 32 Toyota Dollar General, claiming the third finishing spot.  Clint Bowyer recovered from an incident with points leader Kyle Busch early in the race to bring home his No. 29 Holiday Inn Chevrolet in fourth.

Brad Keselowski finished in the fifth position, however, not without controversy.  Keselowski and Denny Hamlin had several pushing and shoving incidents on the track.

“On the last restart, Denny (Hamlin) got in the back of me and pushed me up the track,” Keselowski said.  “I was going to return the favor.  When he did it to me, I saved it, but when I did it to him, he didn’t save it.

“We just got in a pushing match.  I don’t really hold any grudges and I don’t know why he wanted to do that.  But whatever, that’s just the way racing is I guess.”

While Keselowski said that he was ready to put the incident behind him and focus on his battle with Edwards for the second spot in the points standings, Hamlin indicated that he was going to be continue the disagreement into the next race at Homestead.

“Ah, you know, I can sit here and bash him in the next 20 seconds or so and give you all a bunch of great sound bites, but I’m just happy I signed up for next week’s Nationwide race,” Hamlin said.  “There’s a lot of guys that owe him.  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 first at the pay window.”

When asked if NASCAR should get involved in disciplining Keselowski for his aggressive driving, Hamlin said simply, “No, no I’ll take care of him.”  After his contact with Keselowski, Hamlin finished the race in the 12th position.

The rest of the top ten were David Ragan in sixth, Matt Kenseth in seventh, Mike Bliss in eighth, Kyle Busch ninth and Steve Wallace in the tenth spot.

When the checkered flag flew, only 17 cars finished on the lead lap of the Able Body Labor 200.  The race had a record-setting 15 DNF’s.

Busch remained as the points leader and will only have to start next week’s race in Homestead to clinch his first Nationwide championship.  With his race win, Edwards is now 190 points behind Busch.  Keselowski currently sits 250 points behind Busch and will continue his battle with Edwards for the second spot on the podium.