One set of numbers won't be adding up for Kyle Busch this season - the 23-year-old driver won't win this year's Sprint Cup championship.

But everything else about Busch's 2008 NASCAR performance works out quite nicely. He'll be trying to break Sam Ard's record for most victories in a season in what's now the Nationwide Series during Saturday's Hefty 200 at Phoenix International Raceway.

Busch, of course, will also be trying to add to his season's total of eight Sprint Cup victories in Sunday's Checker 500 as he wraps up what has been a remarkable season.

Busch has not won a Cup race since completing a sweep of this year's road-course events with a win at Watkins Glen in August. That gave him eight victories in 22 races, and he then finished second in the next two events.

But Busch's train came off the tracks when the Chase for the Sprint Cup started. He finished 34th, 43rd and 28th in the first three playoff races and was never really a factor in the battle for a championship many felt certain he would win this year.

Still, he's tied with Carl Edwards for the most wins in the Cup series and has added 10 victories in Nationwide races and three more in the Truck Series. That's 21 total wins in NASCAR's three major series - the most since Richard Petty won 21 of the 46 Cup races he competed in back in 1971.

"Probably during the offseason we'll just look back on this season and say, 'Man, that was pretty phenomenal,'" Busch said. "I don't know if I could ever do it again, but to be accustomed to winning this year hasn't really sunk in. It will as soon as the years come about where I'm only winning once or twice or sometimes maybe none."

Stewart

Hamlin

Busch would have loved to win the Cup title, of course, but his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates say he has still had a season to remember.

Do you think Kyle Busch's wins this year will be forgotten because he didn't win a championship this year?

"To go out and win 21 races in any season, no matter what type of car it is, that's pretty impressive," Tony Stewart said. "Obviously, he's not going to be satisfied because he's so competitive. . But when you put it in perspective and you look how many races you run, to win 20 races out of a season is pretty impressive."

Denny Hamlin said he hopes Busch at least holds on to the 10th position in the

Chase standings so Busch can be on stage at the NASCAR awards ceremony next month.

"After the season that they've had, they deserve something - I truly believe that," Hamlin said. "They deserve to have something for all the effort and all the wins they've had."

Hamlin said he believes the explanation for what "happened" to Busch's team once the Chase started is fairly simple.

"I think that they had really good luck during the season," Hamlin said. "They had things fall their way, cautions fall at the right times, they didn't fall when they didn't need them. Things just happened for that race team - it seemed like they were unbeatable or invincible. They couldn't make any mistakes.

Jeff Gordon, Busch's former teammate at Hendrick Motorsports, thinks the young driver will only get better with time.

"I think Kyle is a tremendous talent and just constantly shows it over and over again," Gordon said. "But I think there is still a learning process to go through.

There in patience and maturity for him and that team. And while I didn't think that they would have the issues that they had at the beginning of the Chase, I really thought the No. 99 and the No. 48 were the guys to beat, but I thought they would be right there on their heels.

"That's why I don't care if I win. I want the championship. It's all about who is the champion. You can win eight or 10 races and if you're not the champion, you get forgotten pretty easily.

"But it has been an amazing year for them. They should be very proud of that. They're a new team and he's such a young guy. They certainly shouldn't hang their heads over that and I think it'll only make them stronger for next season."