Backstretch Motorsports

Edwards outduels Busch for win, bonus points

BROOKLYN, MICH. — It was Old West style showdown stuff — Kyle “Rowdy” Busch vs. Carl “Mr. Clean” Edwards.

On the final restart, there were two laps for all the gold after 400 miles of lead-swapping between NASCAR’s hard-charging gunslingers.

Edwards, in this one, gunned Busch down, blowing him away in a two-lap dash at the end. The No. 99 driver earned 10 more bonus points, cutting the gap between him and the No. 18 team to forty points heading into the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

It was Edwards’ fifth win of the year. And, once again, Jack Roush’s stable of Fords proved to be too much for the competition at this two-mile speed palace beyond the suburbs of Detroit in what is known as Michigan’s Irish Hills.

A caution to clean up the mess made by Denny Hamlin’s engine explosion bunched the field one final time with less than eight laps remaining.

Edwards, who had traded the lead with Busch most of the afternoon, streaked away like a rocket when the green flag waved for the final time.

Busch was second and another Roush Ford, driven by youngster David Ragan, was third. Greg Biffle, another Roush driver, was fourth and another, Matt Kenseth, was fifth. Roush cars therefore finished first, third, fourth and fifth.

Trailing the Roush parade were veteran Mark Martin, Brian Vickers, Kevin Harvick, Elliott Sadler and Jamie McMurray, in yet another Roush machine.

While it might have been a great day for Roush and Ford, it was a very disappointing day for some of the sport’s stars trying to stay in the Top 12 in the point standings in the Race to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Hamlin, for example, had raced his way to a top 10 spot before his engine trouble relegated him to a 39th-place finish, falling three spots to 12th place in the standings. Dale Earnhardt Jr. seemed to be a contender early, leading the race for 43 laps, before scraping the wall with less than 10 laps to go and dropping back to 23rd.

Jeff Gordon appeared to have a pretty good car before a side-by-side scrape with teammate Jimmie Johnson. He hit the wall a few laps later and finished 42nd, falling three spots in the standings to ninth place.

Finally, Johnson battled back into the top 20 after losing a lap and finished the race, colliding with Travis Kvapil coming out of turn four and spinning down across the infield grass. He managed to keep his Chevy aimed in the right direction and crossed the finish line in 17th spot.

Compared to other chase contenders finishing much worse than 17th, the two-time champ would have to say 17th wasn’t too bad.

With an engine problem, Kasey Kahne finished 40th, dropping to 11th place in the point standings.

On the outside of the top 12, Clint Bowyer and David Ragan are tied 26 points outside of the Chase with three races to go before the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series begins Sept. 14 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Johnson went to the front as soon as the green flag fell on the 43-car field. It was a clear, balmy Michigan day and a sizeable crowd of more than 100,000 gathered to watch the 3M Performance 400.

Considering the poor economic climate in what is known as Car Country, USA, NASCAR fans obviously found a way to get to the race and were certainly not disappointed. By lap 10, five-time NASCAR NMPA Chex Most Popular Driver Award winner Earnhardt had moved from his fourth starting spot past Johnson for the lead.

Kyle Busch, the hottest driver on the circuit this season, moved from 11th to seventh by lap 15 of the 200-lap race.

Popular Australian Marcos Ambrose brought out the first caution flag of the day on lap 18 when the engine in his Wood Brothers Ford erupted in smoke on the backstretch.

When the race restarted on lap 25, Johnson and Vickers were ahead of Earnhardt, but Busch had moved into fourth. It was Chevy, Toyota, Chevy and Toyota, but Earnhardt’s No. 88 zoomed into the lead on lap 30, drawing a huge roar from the crowd. Busch had moved to second and Edwards had worked his way from 27th to third.

Vickers moved past Busch for second spot on the 42nd lap while Earnhardt motored on out front with a one-second lead. Vickers passed Earnhardt on the 48th lap but Earnhardt was told by crew chief Tony Eury Jr., to back off and get behind Vickers to see if he could dislodge a piece of paper from his Chevy’s grill. The strategy worked (water temperature in the 88 dropped from 240 to 230) and Earnhardt settled into second awaiting the next pit stop. Edwards was third and Busch fourth, two seconds behind.

The field started making green-flag pit stops on lap 62. Earnhardt came in on lap 64. Vickers came in three laps later. Once all the leaders had pitted, Earnhardt was back in the lead with Edwards second and Vickers third. Biffle and Busch were right behind.

Edwards took the lead on lap 74. Earnhardt dropped to third a few laps later when Vickers zipped past. Earnhardt slid back to fourth a few laps later when Biffle passed him.

Dave Blaney brought out the second caution when Paul Menard was tapped in the rear by Ryan Newman off of turn two. Menard’s car clipped Blaney and sent him into the retaining wall.

On the restart at lap 89, Edwards was in front, followed by Biffle, Vickers, Busch, Earnhardt and Kenseth. Defending champion Johnson had to make an unscheduled stop for a cut tire after bumping into teammate Gordon and then Tony Stewart when the trio made it three wide in the trioval after the restart. Johnson dropped all the way back to 34th. Gordon slammed the wall a few laps later and crashed into the third turn wall bringing out the third caution of the day. Gordon apparently suffered a cut tire in the scrape with Johnson.

On the restart shortly past the 100-lap halfway mark, Edwards led with Biffle and Busch in tow. Trailing them were Vickers, David Ragan, Kenseth, Elliott Sadler, Earnhardt, Jeff Burton and Kurt Busch.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
3M Performance 400 presented by Bondo
Michigan International Speedway
Fast Facts
Provided by NASCAR Statistics – Sunday, August 17, 2008
Race Winner: Carl Edwards
Age: 29
Team: No. 99 Office Depot Ford
Owner: Jack Roush
Crew Chief: Bob Osborne
Carl Edwards won the 3M Performance 400 presented by Bondo, his 12th victory in 144 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.
This is his fifth victory and 17th top-10 finish in 2008.
This is his second victory and eighth top-10 finish in nine races at Michigan International Speedway.
Kyle Busch (second) posted his third top-10 finish in eight races at Michigan. It is his 15th top-10 finish in 2008.
Busch became the first driver to clinch a position in the 2008 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Based on his eight victories to this point of the season he will begin the Chase with the lead in the point standings.
David Ragan (third) posted his career-best finish and his second top-10 finish in four races at Michigan.
Sam Hornish Jr. (22nd) was the highest finishing rookie.
Busch leads the point standings by 222 points over Edwards.
Edwards swept both race this weekend – the first sweep since Kyle Busch swept Chicagoland in July.

NASCAR Race Number 23
Unofficial Race Results for the 3M Performance 400 Presented By Bondo
- Sunday, August 17, 2008
Michigan International Speedway - Brooklyn, MI - 2 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 200 Laps - 400 Miles - Purse: $5,239,780
Leader
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Winnings Status Times Laps
1 27 99 Carl Edwards Office Depot Ford 200 195 10 $226,075 Running 5 84
2 11 18 Kyle Busch Interstate Batteries Toyota 200 175 5 $136,925 Running 2 34
3 16 6 David Ragan AAA Insurance Ford 200 170 5 $119,950 Running 1 3
4 9 16 Greg Biffle 3M Ford 200 165 5 $108,700 Running 1 1
5 14 17 Matt Kenseth DeWalt Ford 200 155 $134,516 Running
6 15 8 Mark Martin U.S. ARMY Chevrolet 200 150 $123,908 Running
7 1 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota 200 151 5 $99,800 Running 2 21
8 38 29 Kevin Harvick Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet 200 142 $134,186 Running
9 3 19 Elliott Sadler Stanley Dodge 200 138 $117,620 Running
10 18 26 Jamie McMurray IRWIN Ford 200 134 $94,900 Running
11 28 31 Jeff Burton AT&T Mobility Chevrolet 200 135 5 $123,858 Running 1 1
12 21 20 Tony Stewart Home Depot Toyota 200 127 $126,461 Running
13 26 28 Travis Kvapil CARFAX Ford 200 124 $109,489 Running
14 7 44 David Reutimann UPS Toyota 200 121 $85,725 Running
15 10 66 Scott Riggs Haas Automation Chevrolet 200 123 5 $99,433 Running 1 1
16 25 1 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops/Cub Cadet Chevrolet 200 115 $110,533 Running
17 2 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet 200 117 5 $135,386 Running 2 12
18 29 5 Casey Mears Kellogg’s/CARQUEST Chevrolet 199 109 $93,150 Running
19 42 55 Michael Waltrip NAPA Toyota 199 106 $94,608 Running
20 41 07 Clint Bowyer Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet 199 103 $94,875 Running
21 20 12 Ryan Newman alltel Dodge 199 100 $116,625 Running
22 23 77 Sam Hornish Jr. # Mobil 1 Dodge 199 97 $121,125 Running
23 4 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet 199 99 5 $91,800 Running 3 43
24 36 15 Paul Menard Menards/Moen Chevrolet 199 91 $85,025 Running
25 19 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Texaco/Havoline Dodge 199 88 $105,058 Running
26 40 38 David Gilliland CitiFinancial Ford 199 85 $90,408 Running
27 35 43 Bobby Labonte Cheerios Racing/Betty Crocker Dodge 199 82 $112,861 Running
28 33 84 AJ Allmendinger Red Bull Toyota 199 79 $75,675 Running
29 8 01 Regan Smith # DEI/Principal Financial Group Chevrolet 199 76 $83,500 Running
30 6 10 Patrick Carpentier # Tow Truck In A Box Dodge 199 73 $72,925 Running
31 30 70 Tony Raines Haas Automation Chevrolet 199 70 $72,300 Running
32 17 45 Terry Labonte Marathon American Spirit Motor Oil Dodge 198 67 $86,358 Running
33 31 41 Reed Sorenson Target Dodge 198 64 $100,289 Running
34 34 78 Joe Nemechek Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 198 61 $72,025 Running
35 22 00 Mike Skinner Champion Mortgage Toyota 198 58 $81,422 Running
36 13 2 Kurt Busch Miller Lite Dodge 197 55 $71,825 Running
37 12 7 Robby Gordon Jim Beam Dodge 197 52 $79,775 Running
38 43 96 Brad Coleman DLP HDTV Toyota 197 49 $79,675 Running
39 37 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Office Toyota 194 46 $106,616 Engine
40 32 9 Kasey Kahne Budweiser Dodge 162 43 $101,566 Engine
41 24 22 Dave Blaney Caterpillar Toyota 117 40 $71,515 Accident
42 5 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont Chevrolet 111 37 $120,376 Accident
43 39 21 Marcos Ambrose Little Debbie Ford 17 34 $89,252 Engine
Race Comments: Before an estimated crowd of 125,000, Carl Edwards won the 3M Performance 400 presented by Bondo, his 12th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory. Prior to the green flag, the following driver dropped to the rear for the reason indicated: #12 Newman (engine change).
Failed to Qualify: (1) 08 Johnny Sauter.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 51 Mins, 00 Secs. Average Speed: 140.351 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.947 Seconds
Caution Flags: 7 for 27 laps: Laps: 20-25 (Oil on track); 86-89 (#12,22 accident backstretch); 98-101 (#24 accident turn 2); 166-169 (Debris); 180-182 (Debris); 188-190 (Debris); 196-198 (Oil on track).
Lead Changes: 18 among 9 drivers: B. Vickers (Pole); 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; Kyle Busch 142-165; C. Edwards 166; B. Vickers 167-169; Kyle Busch 170-179; D. Ragan 180-182; C. Edwards 183-200.
Top 12 Driver Points: (1) Kyle 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.
Coors Light Pole Award : Brian Vickers, #83 (188.536 mph) DIRECTV Crew Chief of the Race : Elliott Sadler, #19
DOW Automotive Strategic Call of the Race : Carl Edwards, #99 EA Sports Move of the Race : Carl Edwards, #99
Goodyear Gatorback Fastest Lap : Jimmie Johnson, #48 (183.08 mph, Lap 2) Mahle Clevite Engine Builder : Carl Edwards, #99
Mobil 1 Command Performance Driver of the Race : David Reutimann, #44 Moog Chassis Parts Problem Solver of the Race : Carl Edwards, #99 (-.847 seconds)
Raybestos Rookie of the Race : Sam Hornish, #77 Sunoco Diamond Performance : Carl Edwards, #99
USG Improving the Finish : Kevin Harvick, #29 (30 Places) WIX Lap Leader : Dale Earnhardt, Jr, #88 (43 Laps)
Next Race: Aug. 23, 2008 - Bristol Motor Speedway