Kansas race a big one for three big Nationwide stars

Kyle Busch has been in the headlines all season long. And for good reason. He has 19 wins across NASCAR's top three series, scoring his eighth in the Nationwide Series last weekend in Dover. The win moved him within two victories of Sam Ard's 1983 record of most wins in a single season of 10.

Busch very easily could creep one win closer, tying him with Kevin Harvick's nine-race-winning season from 2006, this weekend at Kansas Speedway, entering as the defending race winner of the Kansas Lottery 300 (3 p.m. ET Saturday, ESPN2).

Fast facts

What	Kansas Lottery 300
When	3:46 p.m. ET Saturday
TV	ESPN2, 3 p.m. ET
Radio	MRN (Sirius Ch. 28), 3:30 ET

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"Kansas is always a pretty exciting race with a lot of side-by-side racing, which is what the fans want to see," Busch said. "It's a place where the driver has a little more control in regards to the car's handling."

"You have your pick of lines to run, so if your car isn't handling well in one groove, you can move around and find a line that better suits the way your car is handling."

As Busch challenges for victories, the two leaders in the championship chase, Clint Bowyer and Carl Edwards, will be close to home looking at the bigger picture.

Bowyer, a native of Emporia, Kan., a mere 100-mile trip from the 1.5-mile speedway, enters the weekend with a 186-point lead over Edwards.

However, Bowyer won't have all of the crowd support as Edwards hails from Columbia, Mo. -- 135 miles east of the track.

"Racing in that area is a big part of both of our lives and it's important for both of us to be racing at Kansas Speedway," Bowyer said. "It's going to be a lot of fun to go back there this weekend and be racing against Carl for the championship.

"It's important for me to go and run well in front of all my fans and my friends and family. We've been fortunate to run well at Kansas Speedway in both the Cup and Nationwide Series. We've had some good runs on the bigger tracks this year, so I'm looking forward to seeing what we've got."

Historically, Bowyer has an advantage at Kansas. In four Nationwide starts at the track, he has finished in the top five the previous two seasons. As for Edwards, he has a lone top-10 (notched in 2006) in three prior starts.

"I absolutely love Kansas Speedway," Edwards said. "It's not far from my hometown and I will have several of my family and friends there. I love the mile-and-a-half speedways. They are just awesome. We have six races left and we want to stir it up as much as possible and make every point count. These last races will be exciting."