Edwards Doubles Up On Kyle Busch As Bristol Brings Heat to the Chase Potential
By Bram • Aug 23rd, 2008 • Category: NASCAR, News, Notes, Results, Sprint Cup Series
Carl Edwards celebrates winning the Sharpie 500 NSCS race at Bristol Motor Speedway (CIA Stock photo)
Executing an adroit bump and run on Lap 470, Edwards passed for the lead and pulled away over the final 30 laps Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway, winning the Sharpie 500 by 1.969 seconds over Busch.
With the win, his sixth of the season and the 13th of his career, Edwards secured a position in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and trimmed Busch’s bonus points margin to 30. Unhappy with the way Edwards passed him for the lead, Busch bumped Edwards’ No. 99 Ford after the checkered flag.
Edwards bumped back, and Busch’s No. 18 Toyota went spinning. To make matters worse, NASCAR summoned Busch to the sanctioning body’s transporter after the race.
“That’s one of those deals where I couldn’t get by him and I couldn’t get by him and I just had to ask myself, ‘Would he do that to me?’ And he has before, so that’s the way it goes.” said Edwards, driver of the Roush Fenway Racing No. 99 Office Depot Ford Fusion. “I’m just really proud of my guys. Office Depot, I’ve got to thank the fans, Ford Motor Company, Aflac. Man, that was exciting. They keep talking about rivalries, we might have one now.”
Denny Hamlin finished third, followed by Kevin Harvick and Jeff Gordon, as the third- through fifth-place finishers received much needed lifts as they attempt to lock up berths in the Chase.
On Lap 216, contact between the No. 5 Chevrolet of Casey Mears and the No. 55 Toyota of Michael Waltrip — an accident Mears blamed on misinformation from his spotter — ignited a multicar wreck in Turn 1 that had significant implications for the Chase.
Running at the front of a large pack of cars, Mears moved up the track near the entrance to Turn 1 after being cleared by his spotter, clipped the nose of Waltrip’s car and slammed into the outside wall. Unable to avoid the wreck, Clint Bowyer hit Waltrip with the right front of his Chevrolet but was able to continue. Bowyer rallied to finish seventh and move back into the top 12, 12 points ahead of 13th-place David Ragan, who finished 10th.
Kasey Kahne wasn’t as lucky. Unable to dodge the melee in front of him, Kahne plowed into the middle of the wreck and ultimately retired from the race after attempts to repair his No. 9 Dodge proved fruitless.
“I like my spotter — he’s a good guy — but, man, this is ridiculous,” said Mears, who earlier in the day announced he had agreed to drive a fourth car for Richard Childress Racing next year. “We took a bunch of cars out for no reason. I was just running along, heard, ‘Clear, clear, clear,’ and went up — and there was someone still there. We just took out a bunch of cars for no reason — and ourselves.”
The wreck did considerable damage to Kahne’s Chase hopes, dropping him out of the top 12. Kahne fell three spots to 14th and trails Bowyer by 56 points.
“We had a good racecar, and it’s a shame we got caught up in that mess,” said Kahne, who finished 40th. “I just saw cars wrecking in front of me, and there was nothing I could do.”
Race Results
Bristol Motor Speedway
Sharpie 500
UNOFFICIAL
Fin Str Car Driver Team Lap Pts BPts Status TLd LLd
1 1 99 Carl Edwards Office Depot Ford 500 190 5 Running 3 84
2 9 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Toyota 500 180 10 Running 1 415
3 21 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Freight Toyota 500 165 Running
4 6 29 Kevin Harvick Pennzoil Platinum Chevrolet 500 160 Running
5 3 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont Chevrolet 500 160 5 Running 1 1
6 11 12 Ryan Newman alltel Dodge 500 150 Running
7 22 07 Clint Bowyer Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet 500 146 Running
8 28 20 Tony Stewart Home Depot Toyota 500 142 Running
9 25 17 Matt Kenseth DeWalt Ford 500 138 Running
10 27 6 David Ragan AAA Insurance Ford 500 134 Running
11 14 16 Greg Biffle Dish Network Turbo HD Ford 500 130 Running
12 41 26 Jamie McMurray Sharpie Ford 500 127 Running
13 23 8 Aric Almirola U.S. Army Chevrolet 500 124 Running
14 4 01 Regan Smith # DEI/The Principal Financial Group Chevrolet 500 121 Running
15 19 2 Kurt Busch Miller Lite Dodge 500 118 Running
16 16 15 Paul Menard Menards/Quaker State Chevrolet 499 115 Running
17 20 70 Tony Raines Hunt Brothers Pizza Chevrolet 499 112 Running
18 40 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet 498 109 Running
19 39 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Slim Pack Juicy Fruit Dodge 498 106 Running
20 26 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota 498 103 Running
21 7 96 Ken Schrader DLP HDTV Toyota 498 100 Running
22 15 38 David Gilliland Ford Drive one Ford 498 97 Running
23 37 43 Bobby Labonte Cheerios/Box Tops for Education Dodge 498 94 Running
24 32 28 Travis Kvapil Knight Rider Ford 498 91 Running
25 2 44 David Reutimann UPS Toyota 497 88 Running
26 5 21 Bill Elliott Motorcraft Ford 497 85 Running
27 38 66 Scott Riggs State Water Heaters Chevrolet 496 82 Running
28 33 00 Mike Skinner Champion Mortgage Toyota 496 79 Running
29 43 78 Joe Nemechek Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 494 76 Running
30 42 55 Michael Waltrip NAPA Auto Parts Toyota 492 73 Running
31 29 45 Kyle Petty Wells Fargo Dodge 491 70 Running
32 10 19 Elliott Sadler Stanley Dodge 490 67 Running
33 34 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Chevrolet 482 64 Running
34 8 84 A.J. Allmendinger Red Bull Toyota 400 61 Running
35 12 1 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops/Red Head 1856 Chevrolet 396 58 Running
36 30 41 Reed Sorenson Tums Quik Pak Dodge 383 55 Running
37 35 77 Sam Hornish Jr. # Mobil 1 Dodge 297 52 Accident
38 36 22 Dave Blaney Caterpillar Toyota 279 49 Accident
39 31 7 Robby Gordon Barrett-Jackson Auction Co. Dodge 227 46 Accident
40 13 9 Kasey Kahne Budweiser Dodge 215 43 Accident
41 17 5 Casey Mears Kellogg’s/CARQUEST Chevrolet 214 40 Accident
42 18 31 Jeff Burton AT&T Mobility Chevrolet 195 37 Accident
43 24 09 Sterling Marlin Miccosukee Resorts Chevrolet 184 34 Accident
# = Rookie, Fin = Finish, Str = Start, Pts = Total Points, BPs = Lap Leader Bns Pts, TLd = Times Led, LLd = Laps Led
Average Speed: 91.451 MPH Time of Race: 02 Hrs, 54 Mins, 52 Secs. Margin of Victory: 1.969 Seconds
Lead Changes: 4 among 3 drivers Cautions: 8 for 56 laps Attendance: 160,000
Carl Edwards has a lot of momentum heading into the chase. I hope Kyle Busch doesn’t decide to retaliate during the chase it would be a shame to see the championship decided by a pay back.