An all-Busch bash in Phoenix

The most interesting thing to come out of Sunday's race wasn't the fact that Kyle Busch won, but that Kenny Wallace actually drove Kurt Busch's car to a respectable 16th-place finish. All those pictures you might have seen of Jimmy Fenning with his head in his hands before the start of the race probably had little to do with Kurt's plight and more to do with fretting over whether Kenny would bring the car home in one piece. These days you don't want just any old clown driving your multi-million dollar equipment. Oh yeah, that's what Jack Roush was probably thinking when he released Kurt from his contract with two races left in the season. Bet Roger Penske right about now is thinking, "What the heck did I get myself into here?"

If you haven't guessed by now, I don't shed a lot of tears over Kurt acting like a jacka$$ for an Arizona police officer after getting stopped for a "reckless driving" violation. The breathalyzer down at the station "malfunctioned," resulting in an inconclusive test. You can read that any way you like, but if you don't see DUI in that story then you probably still think Kurt has a shot at winning a second championship next Sunday at Homestead.

The race? Oh yeah...

GLENN'S TEN (5-of-10... I was robbed!):

* Jeff Gordon (winner) -- 3rd, Jeff held up his end of the bargain, finishing a solid race near the front. When he pitted a bit earlier than the rest of the leaders under caution, it looked like he might have made a race-winning move. But about 10 laps later the yellow flew again and ruined his chances at the win.

* Jimmie Johnson -- 7th, Jimmy did everything right except the part about having to finish ahead of Tony Stewart. And in the waning laps of the race he choked away two or three positions he desperately needed. 52 points down going into Homestead isn't where he wants to be if he wants to win a championship.

* Carl Edwards -- 6th, Couldn't beat Tony, but he finished ahead of Jimmie and gained a few points on him. Still has an outside shot next weekend.

* Tony Stewart -- 4th, This just looks like Tony's year. He's loose, joking around, focused... Not the same Tony who won the title in 2002.

* Denny Hamlin -- 13th, See, I jumped on the bandwagon at the wrong time. He didn't embarrass himself with this finish.

* Greg Biffle -- 2nd, He had the dominant car all day, but surprisingly it wasn't strong enough to stay ahead of Kyle Busch at the end.

* Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- 40th, This pick looks like a huge bust until one considers that it was at least four spots ahead of where Kurt Busch finished. I guess this pick was just doomed to failure from the start. Dale had been running strong until a right front tire blew and put him into the wall... and the garage.

* Mark Martin -- 14th, Coming from 29th on the grid, this was a good finish. At least he won't have to worry about finishing second in the championship for a fifth time.

* Ryan Newman -- 12th, With the exception of Earnhardt Jr., all of my picks placed in the top 15. Unfortunately, most of them had been in the top 10 at one point, including the #12. The last set of pit stops jumbled up the field, so the guys that had been strong didn't have time to get back to the front. Ryan was one of them.

* Jeff Burton -- 15th, At least he cracked the top 10 for a while.

REST OF THE TOP 10:

* Kyle Busch -- 1st, I felt sure that when Kyle inherited the lead after staying out on the last stop that he was doomed. But the car was strong. He got passed by race-leader Biffle, but a few laps later he grabbed the lead back. Too bad he had to use the Victory Lane speech as a show of solidarity for his loser brother. But blood is thicker than champagne, apparently.

* Bobby Labonte -- 5th, He'd like to feel what it's like to be in the winner's circle one last time before wasting the rest of his competitive years driving for the Pettys.

* Robby Gordon -- 8th, A great day for Robby. Coming off a great 7th place start. This could turn everything around for him. Who cares?

* Dale Jarrett -- 9th, And he wasn't even racing the truck.

* Travis Kvapil -- 10th, Been so long since I've had to type his name that I forgot how to spell it. Wow. Good think Kurt Busch is joining Penske next year, because Travis surely needs some more mentoring from a former champion. Right.

OTHER NOTABLES:

* Kevin Harvick -- 23rd, Once again turned a good start into crap.

* Rusty Wallace -- 29th, The Last Call tour is about to reach its last call and Rusty still hasn't won in over a year.

* Kurt Busch -- DNS, I think I've said just about enough about KB for this season. Real reason he was tearful in his Sunday interview? This guarantees he'll finish 10th in the Chase -- behind Jeremy Mayfield. The ultimate insult!


Next week: Hurrah! Homestead! Just another 400 miles till Tony can start polishing his new hardware.  ¶ 12:52 PM