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Nationwide
NNS: Edwards Smokes Series Regulars At Charlotte
Roush Fenway driver wins for eighth time in damaged car…
Carl Edwards stormed to the front with five laps to go despite driving a damaged race car and won Friday night’s Dollar General 300 Miles of Courage Nationwide Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Edwards led only the closing five laps of the race. He wrestled the lead from Kyle Busch on a restart with five to go and rejected a pair of charges by Busch to win the 300-miler.
Edwards, a winner for the eighth time this year, rolled into victory lane in a blue and white Mustang showing the damage from an early-race brush with the wall.
“The night started out pretty poorly due to my running into the wall,” Edwards said. “We fought back from that. Mike (crew chief Mike Beam) did a really good job of convincing me everything was going to be OK, and it was.”
Beam said the right side of the car was flattened “but luckily it didn’t totally reconfigure the car where we couldn’t work on it. Carl drove his guts out, and, luckily, we won the race.”
Edwards said he also benefitted from a push from Roush Fenway teammate Trevor Bayne on the final restart. “If Trevor hadn’t tucked in behind us and put us out front, we would have had a really hard time holding off Kyle on top,” Edwards said.
Team owner Jack Roush seemed amazed that Edwards won the race in a warped race car.
“Carl wrecked his car today, and the car decided it wouldn’t give up,” Roush said. “That car had heart. It was bent and aerodynamically not sound and mechanically not intact, and it stood up under Carl and carried him to a victory. I may give that car a kiss before I go to bed tonight.”
The victory was the 37th of Edwards’ Nationwide career, tying him for third all-time with Kevin Harvick. Only Kyle Busch (51) and Mark Martin (49) have more wins in the series.
Busch, who seemed in line to win the race, said he “got out-motored. Not enough under the hood. Unfortunately, the Toyotas don’t have enough horsepower.”
Both Edwards and Roush said later that the Toyota engines are not at a disadvantage.
Following Edwards and Busch in the top five were Bayne, Elliott Sadler and Brian Scott. Sadler, who was one of four Nationwide Series regulars eligible for a bonus, picked up the extra $100,000 with the highest finish of the group. He also won a matching $100,000 for a fan from Florida.
Busch smoked past Nationwide point leaders Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Sadler with 22 laps to go to take the lead.
The last caution occurred with eight laps to go when Joey Logano banged the wall between turns three and four as he fought for second place with Edwards and Bayne behind Busch.
The final green flew with five laps to go with Busch in front, Edwards in second and Bayne in third. Sadler was fourth and Stenhouse Jr. fifth.
Edwards, on the inside, shot into first place at the green flag and built a comfortable lead until the final lap, when Busch charged in the first turn and the third turn but couldn’t make the pass.
“He raced me clean, and I appreciate that,” Edwards said.
The race took an unexpected turn with 30 laps to go when Keselowski, the leader, slowed out of turn two with tire trouble. Busch, running second, blitzed past Keselowski’s wiggling car on the inside, barely avoiding contact at full speed.
Keselowski struggled with his car and finally slid onto the track apron in turn four, bringing out the caution.
After a round of caution-flag pit stops, Stenhouse and Sadler emerged from pit road on the front row for a restart with 24 laps to go. Also in the top five were Brian Vickers, Busch and Edwards. Keselowski restarted in 13th. Keselowski rallied to finish sixth.
Busch needed only two laps to spring from fourth to first, taking the lead with 22 laps to go.
By finishing fourth, Sadler gained five points on Stenhouse and trails the Roush Fenway Racing driver by 15 with three races remaining.
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 29 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
Edwards led only the closing five laps of the race. He wrestled the lead from Kyle Busch on a restart with five to go and rejected a pair of charges by Busch to win the 300-miler.
Edwards, a winner for the eighth time this year, rolled into victory lane in a blue and white Mustang showing the damage from an early-race brush with the wall.
“The night started out pretty poorly due to my running into the wall,” Edwards said. “We fought back from that. Mike (crew chief Mike Beam) did a really good job of convincing me everything was going to be OK, and it was.”
Beam said the right side of the car was flattened “but luckily it didn’t totally reconfigure the car where we couldn’t work on it. Carl drove his guts out, and, luckily, we won the race.”
Edwards said he also benefitted from a push from Roush Fenway teammate Trevor Bayne on the final restart. “If Trevor hadn’t tucked in behind us and put us out front, we would have had a really hard time holding off Kyle on top,” Edwards said.
Team owner Jack Roush seemed amazed that Edwards won the race in a warped race car.
“Carl wrecked his car today, and the car decided it wouldn’t give up,” Roush said. “That car had heart. It was bent and aerodynamically not sound and mechanically not intact, and it stood up under Carl and carried him to a victory. I may give that car a kiss before I go to bed tonight.”
The victory was the 37th of Edwards’ Nationwide career, tying him for third all-time with Kevin Harvick. Only Kyle Busch (51) and Mark Martin (49) have more wins in the series.
Busch, who seemed in line to win the race, said he “got out-motored. Not enough under the hood. Unfortunately, the Toyotas don’t have enough horsepower.”
Both Edwards and Roush said later that the Toyota engines are not at a disadvantage.
Following Edwards and Busch in the top five were Bayne, Elliott Sadler and Brian Scott. Sadler, who was one of four Nationwide Series regulars eligible for a bonus, picked up the extra $100,000 with the highest finish of the group. He also won a matching $100,000 for a fan from Florida.
Busch smoked past Nationwide point leaders Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Sadler with 22 laps to go to take the lead.
The last caution occurred with eight laps to go when Joey Logano banged the wall between turns three and four as he fought for second place with Edwards and Bayne behind Busch.
The final green flew with five laps to go with Busch in front, Edwards in second and Bayne in third. Sadler was fourth and Stenhouse Jr. fifth.
Edwards, on the inside, shot into first place at the green flag and built a comfortable lead until the final lap, when Busch charged in the first turn and the third turn but couldn’t make the pass.
“He raced me clean, and I appreciate that,” Edwards said.
The race took an unexpected turn with 30 laps to go when Keselowski, the leader, slowed out of turn two with tire trouble. Busch, running second, blitzed past Keselowski’s wiggling car on the inside, barely avoiding contact at full speed.
Keselowski struggled with his car and finally slid onto the track apron in turn four, bringing out the caution.
After a round of caution-flag pit stops, Stenhouse and Sadler emerged from pit road on the front row for a restart with 24 laps to go. Also in the top five were Brian Vickers, Busch and Edwards. Keselowski restarted in 13th. Keselowski rallied to finish sixth.
Busch needed only two laps to spring from fourth to first, taking the lead with 22 laps to go.
By finishing fourth, Sadler gained five points on Stenhouse and trails the Roush Fenway Racing driver by 15 with three races remaining.
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 29 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
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