I don't know if it really was that funny, but it came as the typically hectic scene unfolded in Phoenix International Raceway's Victory Lane after last Saturday's Able Body Labor 200.

A journalist came up and thanked Carl Edwards, who through his fifth Nationwide win of the season, combined with Kyle Busch's backsliding ninth place finish, had eliminated the need to write a "Busch clinches title" column that evening.

Edwards got a chuckle out of it. I'm sure the writer wasn't being lazy -- he probably just wanted to head over to Claim Jumper at McDowell and 99th, or the Chuckbox on East University in Tempe or Oregano's just west of that for a bite of dinner. And you can't blame him for that.

But it seriously makes you question -- both from a media aspect as well as for Busch personally -- what impact this title will have on Shrub.

So what next? You can only hope it brings some peace, some inner satisfaction and the realization that, doggone it, he and his Joe Gibbs Racing team led by crew chief Jason Ratcliff, have accomplished something special.

And they've beaten some darned tough competition to do it, including 2007 champion Edwards, who's an annual contender; the surging Brad Keselowski, who's truly had his afterburners on the last year-and-a-half; and steady Nationwide regular Jason Leffler.

The biggest nightmare to me would be if Busch has a bad race in Saturday's Ford 300 at Homestead and limps, figuratively smoking, into the champion's reception. Given Shrub's virtual disallowance of anything short of Victory Lane, the potential for an ugliness quotient off the charts might be high.

But then, according to JGR team president J.D. Gibbs; so what?

"I kind of like the aspect that, in our sport we don't have a 10-minute cool-down period like in other sports, and we had it happen last week [in the Sprint Cup race at Texas, where Busch dominated but ran out of gas and lost, then walked away without comment]," Gibbs said. "If you've got to get away, do it. But more times than not you've got to get up there and say your interview because people like that raw emotion, for better or worse."

If Busch did that, it might be among the best things for the sport, and more importantly, for his image.

"I talked to Kyle for a while this morning and he gets it," Gibbs said on Sunday morning at Phoenix. "It's almost as if, and I don't disagree, but when you clinch it you almost want to clinch it on a good race, on the upswing and not just back in. Carl did what he had to do [by winning] so hat's off to them.

"But the reality of it is, I told [Busch], 'do not do anything to injure yourself this week, you've got to go down [to Homestead] and start the race and we're good.' But I think he wants to run hard and end on an up note."

Gibbs said the message he tried to convey to Busch was that momentary downturns happen in every phase of life, sports and business; and moving on is critical.

"We've had a great year," Gibbs said. "Something negative might even happen next week, but you can't let that take away from the big picture, and what this team's accomplished. And he was great [Sunday] morning." (Continued)