Edwards holds off Busch at Michigan, wins No. 5
Posted on Monday, August 18, 2008
BROOKLYN, Mich. — Look out Kyle Busch, here comes Carl Edwards.
Edwards completed a weekend sweep at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday, beating NASCAR Sprint Cup points leader Busch off pit road on their last stops and driving off for his fifth Cup victory of the season and second in the last three races.
Busch, who has eight Cup victories, was just ahead of Edwards when they pitted under caution on lap 180 of the 200-lap 3 M Performance 400, but Edwards beat the 23-year-old star out of the pits.
David Ragan and June Michigan winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. had stayed on track and were running 1-2, but Edwards easily passed them on the restart on lap 183 to retake the lead, then held off Busch on another restart with two laps to go and gave Roush Fenway Racing co-owner Jack Roush his 20 th overall victory on the 2-mile Michigan oval.
Edwards, who turned 29 on Friday, also won the Nationwide Series race Saturday, becoming only the second driver to win both races. Former Roush driver Mark Martin of Batesville did it in 1993.
“The key was my crew today,” Edwards said. “My guys did an unbelievable job getting me off pit road.
“ This is unbelievable. We’re winning races. We’re gearing up for the Chase. I’m feeling stronger than ever. We’re here to win championships. That’s what we’re shooting for.” With just three races left until the start of the Chase for the Championship, Edwards moved a little closer to Busch in the seeding process, which gives drivers making the 10-race postseason a 10-point bonus for each victory. Edwards lost one of those 10-point bonuses to a penalty early in the season, but would still be just 40 points behind Busch if the Chase began next week.
“That’s a part of it,” Edwards said. “Ten points is 10 points. The beauty of it is keeping Kyle from getting 10 points. He’s so fast you can’t give him any room.” Edwards was pulling away at the end, building a lead of nearly 1. 5 seconds before Denny Hamlin’s blown engine brought out the seventh and final caution flag of the day on lap 195 of the 200-lap event. That moved Busch’s Toyota right up to the rear bumper of Edwards’ Ford as the green flag waved for the final time for the start of lap 199, but it wasn’t close as Edwards pulled out to a 15 car-length victory.
“[This was ] very important,” said Bob Osborne, Edwards’ crew chief. “What we’re doing here is a little bit of practicing for the Chase and trying to get those 10 points to catch that 18 car.... Carl Edwards did a great job. The pit crew did a great job.” “It just came down to when he beat us off of pit road,” Busch said. “That was it for us. We just didn’t quite have the car capable enough of being able to beat those guys. We were good on that one run, that one set of tires. But that was pretty much what we had.
“ We just didn’t have enough for the [No. ] 99 there at the end. We weren’t able to get through the corners as fast as Carl was.” Asked about the championship, Busch said, “Carl’s right there. He has been all year. Yeah, it’s a 20-point swing. We’ve got to live with it. Hopefully, we can make it up someplace else.” Ragan held on to finish third, followed by Roush Fenway teammates Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth, who bounced off the wall passing Martin, now driving a Chevrolet for Dale Earnhardt Inc., on the last lap. Martin finished sixth.
“We were a nine out of a 10 it seems like and those other guys were a 10 out of a 10,” Ragan said. “Just to gamble a little bit [on staying on track ] we knew at worst that we would still finish in the top five. It was something to take a shot. We certainly learned from it. If we had to do it all over again, we’d probably still do it again.” Earnhardt Jr., who appeared to have one of the strongest cars in the early going, bounced off the wall in heavy traffic moments after being passed by Edwards on the late restart. He pitted and wound up finishing 23 rd.
Ryan Newman, whose primary sponsor is Little Rock-based Alltel, finished 21 st. Dave Blaney, who drives for owner Bill Davis of Batesville, was 41 st after an accident.
Earnhardt held onto fourth place in the standings, but several other drivers took a big hit in the race for the Chase. Kasey Kahne, who finished 40 th with an engine failure, fell to 11 th and Hamlin, who wound up 39 th, dropped to 12 th, the final spot in the Chase, just 26 points ahead of both Clint Bowyer and Ragan, tied for 13 th. NASCAR-Sprint Cup 3 M PERFORMANCE 400 Sunday results At Michigan International Speedway Brooklyn, Mich. Lap length: 2. 0 miles (Start position in parentheses ) 1. (27 ) Carl Edwards, Ford, 200 laps, 137. 8 rating, 195 points, $ 226, 075. 2. (11 ) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 200, 130. 3, 175, $ 136, 925. 3. (16 ) David Ragan, Ford, 200, 106. 1, 170, $ 119, 950. 4. (9 ) Greg Biffle, Ford, 200, 113, 165, $ 108, 700. 5. (14 ) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 200, 100. 6, 155, $ 134, 516. 6. (15 ) Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 200, 92. 7, 150, $ 123, 908. 7. (1 ) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 200, 118. 4, 151, $ 99, 800. 8. (38 ) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 200, 86. 1, 142, $ 134, 186. 9. (3 ) Elliott Sadler, Dodge, 200, 98. 2, 138, $ 117, 620. 10. (18 ) Jamie McMurray, Ford, 200, 83. 2, 134, $ 94, 900. 11. (28 ) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 200, 91. 3, 135, $ 123, 858. 12. (21 ) Tony Stewart, Toyota, 200, 80. 1, 127, $ 126, 461. 13. (26 ) Travis Kvapil, Ford, 200, 72. 5, 124, $ 109, 489. 14. (7 ) David Reutimann, Toyota, 200, 85. 6, 121, $ 85, 725. 15. (10 ) Scott Riggs, Chevrolet, 200, 67. 1, 123, $ 99, 433. 16. (25 ) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 200, 73, 115, $ 110, 533. 17. (2 ) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 200, 97. 8, 117, $ 135, 386. 18. (29 ) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 199, 69. 7, 109, $ 93, 150. 19. (42 ) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 199, 59. 2, 106, $ 94, 608. 20. (41 ) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 199, 55. 8, 103, $ 94, 875. 21. (20 ) Ryan Newman, Dodge, 199, 50. 3, 100, $ 116, 625. 22. (23 ) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 199, 51. 9, 97, $ 121, 125. 23. (4 ) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 199, 106. 6, 99, $ 91, 800. 24. (36 ) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 199, 43. 2, 91, $ 85, 025. 25. (19 ) Juan Pablo Montoya, Dodge, 199, 48. 9, 88, $ 105, 058. 26. (40 ) David Gilliland, Ford, 199, 55. 8, 85, $ 90, 408. 27. (35 ) Bobby Labonte, Dodge, 199, 44, 82, $ 112, 861. 28. (33 ) AJ Allmendinger, Toyota, 199, 47. 8, 79, $ 75, 675. 29. (8 ) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 199, 56. 6, 76, $ 83, 500. 30. (6 ) Patrick Carpentier, Dodge, 199, 68. 9, 73, $ 72, 925. 31. (30 ) Tony Raines, Chevrolet, 199, 41. 7, 70, $ 72, 300. 32. (17 ) Terry Labonte, Dodge, 198, 37. 4, 67, $ 86, 358. 33. (31 ) Reed Sorenson, Dodge, 198, 32. 9, 64, $ 100, 289. 34. (34 ) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 198, 32, 61, $ 72, 025. 35. (22 ) Mike Skinner, Toyota, 198, 41. 7, 58, $ 81, 422. 36. (13 ) Kurt Busch, Dodge, 197, 72. 9, 55, $ 71, 825. 37. (12 ) Robby Gordon, Dodge, 197, 47. 7, 52, $ 79, 775. 38. (43 ) Brad Coleman, Toyota, 197, 25. 9, 49, $ 79, 675. 39. (37 ) D. Hamlin, Toyota, engine, 194, 66. 5, 46, $ 106, 616. 40. (32 ) K. Kahne, Dodge, engine, 162, 55. 3, 43, $ 101, 566. 41. (24 ) Dave Blaney, Toyota, acc., 117, 46. 5, 40, $ 71, 515. 42. (5 ) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, acc., 111, 82. 8, 37, $ 120, 376. 43. (39 ) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, engine, 17, 24. 8, 34, $ 89, 252.
RACE STATISTICS AVERAGE SPEED OF RACE WINNER 140. 351 mph. TIME OF RACE 2 hours, 51 minutes, 0 seconds. MARGIN OF VICTORY 0. 947 seconds. CAUTION FLAGS Seven for 27 laps. LEAD CHANGES 18 among nine drivers. LAP LEADERS J. Johnson 1-7; D. Earnhardt Jr. 8-23; J. Johnson 24-28; D. Earnhardt Jr. 29-48; B. Vickers 49-66; D. Earnhardt Jr. 67-73; C. Edwards 74-86; S. Riggs 87; C. Edwards 88-90; G. Biffle 91; C. Edwards 92-140; J. Burton 141; Ky. Busch 142-165; C. Edwards 166; B. Vickers 167-©; Ky. Busch 170-179; D. Ragan 180-182; C. Edwards 183-200. LEADERS SUMMARY (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led ) C. Edwards, 5 times for 84 laps; D. Earnhardt Jr., 3 times for 43 laps; Ky. Busch, 2 times for 34 laps; B. Vickers, 2 times for 21 laps; J. Johnson, 2 times for 12 laps; D. Ragan, 1 time for 3 laps; G. Biffle, 1 time for 1 lap; J. Burton, 1 time for 1 lap; S. Riggs, 1 time for 1 lap. TOP 12 IN POINTS 1. Ky. Busch, 3, 429. 2. C. Edwards, 3, 207. 3. J. Johnson, 3, 127. 4. D. Earnhardt Jr., 3, 084. 5. J. Burton, 3, 080. 6. T. Stewart, 2, 871. 7. G. Biffle, 2, 854. 8. K. Harvick, 2, 812. 9. J. Gordon, 2, 791. 10. M. Kenseth, 2, 783. 11. K. Kahne, 2, 756. 12. D. Hamlin, 2, 735.
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