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Clint Bowyer won at Phoenix last April while teammate Jeff Burton finished third.

Notes: RCR the team to contend with at Phoenix

Stremme, Leffler among Loop leaders; director's take

By Official Release
April 9, 2008
04:11 PM EDT
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Although there are no guarantees in sports, to say that at least one Richard Childress Racing car will finish in the top five in the Bashas' Supermarkets 200 is about as close as you can get.

In the past three years, Childress has entered 13 cars in the six Nationwide Series events at Phoenix International Raceway and has come away with 11 top-five finishes.

Phoenix International Raceway

Fast facts

Race Bashas' Supermarkets 200
Green 10 p.m. ET Friday
TV ESPN2, 9:30 p.m. ET
Radio MRN (Sirius Ch. 28), 9:45 ET

Defending race winner and current points leader Clint Bowyer (No. 2 Chevrolet) leads the charge among this weekend's RCR drivers with four top-fives in six races. Jeff Burton (No. 29 Chevrolet) finished third in this race last year for Childress, his only Nationwide Series start at the track for his current team. Burton also has three top-10s in four starts, including a victory, when driving for team owner Jack Roush.

Kevin Harvick (No. 33 Chevrolet), who will run for his own team this weekend, finished in the top five in the past five Phoenix races he ran for RCR. Scott Wimmer, who shares time with Burton in the No. 29 Chevrolet, finished fourth in this past fall's event.

"The Nationwide shop runs well because a lot of the key people have been in place for a long time," said Shane Wilson, crew chief of the No. 21 Chevrolet. "We don't talk about being one team, it's just the way that it is at RCR; and I sometimes forget that we have three cars because everyone is looking out for the best interest of the team."

Trying to add to that tradition this week is RCR newcomer Stephen Leicht in the 21 car. Leicht finished seventh in the 2007 standings for Robert Yates Racing, but was left without a ride when the team decided to focus on its Sprint Cup Series teams. Leicht has started two races for RCR this year, finishing 10th at Fontana and 12th at Nashville.

Busch extends personal three-peat

Kyle Busch's (No. 18 Toyota) win at Texas Motor Speedway this past Saturday extended a streak that had been nearly unheard of before his accomplishment. The victory marked the fourth consecutive season that Busch has won at least one race in all three of NASCAR's national series.

"To win in all three series four years in a row or something like that -- I just want to race," Busch said. "I just go out there and drive what I can. To win is the ultimate goal, and to go after points is second."

Before Busch first accomplished the tri-fecta in 2005, it had been done only two other times -- by Terry Labonte in 1995 and Kevin Harvick in 2003.

The fact that Busch completed the feat so early in the season is just as spectacular. Labonte's third win came in the Craftsman Truck Series at Richmond in September. Harvick's third win also came in the Truck Series, but wasn't until October at Phoenix.

Prior to this season, 2006 was the quickest Busch had won in all three series, He completed the three-peat with a Cup Series win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July. (Continued)

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