Edwards wins at Phoenix, trims Bowyer’s lead
By Bram • Nov 9th, 2008 • Category: NASCAR, Nationwide Series, News, Notes, Results
Carl Edwards celebrates winning the Hefty Odor Block 200 at Phoenix International Raceway. The win cut Clint Bowyer's points lead to 56 heading into the season finale. (Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Second in the standings, Edwards trimmed Bowyer’s lead from 91 points to 56, on a day that could have been much worse for the driver of the No. 2 Chevrolet.
Denny Hamlin, who came to the pits for new tires before a green-white-checkered-flag restart that took the event one lap past its scheduled distance of 200 laps, charged from fifth to second in the final two laps. Kevin Harvick finished third, followed by Bowyer, Kyle Busch and rookie Landon Cassill.
Quick work in the pits under caution got Edwards out ahead of Harvick for a restart on Lap 130, and the defending series champion held the top spot the rest of the way. Harvick surrendered the second position to Hamlin and his fresh tires in Turn 3 of the final lap.
The series moves to Homestead-Miami Speedway for the season finale next Saturday.
“We couldn’t be going to a better racetrack,” Edwards said. “I like the fact that you can run at the bottom or the top. I’m sure (crew chief) Drew (Blickensderfer) will bring the best car we have. I just hope it’s fast enough.”
Bowyer appeared headed for disaster on Lap 79, when the field was bunched coming to the line for a restart after the sixth caution of the race.
“I thought we were done,” Bowyer said. “We got all bottled up there. The 88 (Brad Keselowski) ran into me, and I drove through the 6 (David Ragan).”
The impact damaged the nose of Bowyer’s Chevy, and after a series of pit stops to tape the front end, Bowyer fell to the back of the pack. After another quick caution on Lap 85, Bowyer restarted 24th and spent the rest of the race working his way forward.
“It was a roller coaster, for sure,” he said. “But I’m really proud of our guys. They didn’t give up. I thought our championship run was done right there. The car was really tight after that, and we had to pull all the tape off. But it was a good run for us — really proud.”
Even though he knew Bowyer’s car was damaged, Edwards wasn’t about to relax. He had watched the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race on Friday night, in which title contenders Ron Hornaday Jr. and Johnny Benson both suffered a litany of problems.
“I thought, sure enough, as soon as I start relaxing and counting points, something would happen to us,” he said. “They did a good job of recovering. Anytime you can have any damage and fight back and finish fourth, that’s a good outcome.”
Notes: Joey Logano’s No. 20 Toyota slammed the inside wall on the frontstretch coming to the white flag, but Logano salvaged a 10th-place finish to keep the Joe Gibbs car 28 points ahead of the No. 2 Chevy Bowyer drives for Richard Childress in the race for the owners’ title… Brian Ickler started 34th and finished 34th in his Nationwide Series debut.
NASCAR Race Number 34
Unofficial Race Results for the Hefty Odor Block 200 - Saturday, November 8, 2008
Phoenix International Raceway - Phoenix, AZ - 1 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 201 Laps - 201 Miles - Purse: $1,432,011
Leader
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Winnings Status Times Laps
1 2 60 Carl Edwards World Financial Group Ford 201 195 10 $62,270 Running 1 78
2 1 18 Denny Hamlin DLP HDTV Toyota 201 175 5 $45,825 Running 2 62
3 4 33 Kevin Harvick Camping World Chevrolet 201 170 5 $35,825 Running 1 53
4 12 2 Clint Bowyer BB&T Chevrolet 201 160 $30,125 Running
5 3 32 Kyle Busch Beringer Toyota 201 155 $29,000 Running
6 42 5 Landon Cassill # National Guard Chevrolet 201 150 $32,518 Running
7 6 17 Jamie McMurray CitiFinancial Ford 201 146 $24,500 Running
8 5 1 Mike Bliss Miccosukee Resorts Chevrolet 201 147 5 $34,318 Running 1 2
9 22 7 Mike Wallace GEICO Toyota 201 138 $29,078 Running
10 15 20 Joey Logano GameStop Toyota 201 134 $30,343 Running
11 20 12 Justin Allgaier Penske Truck Rental Dodge 200 130 $22,150 Running
12 28 9 AJ Allmendinger Valvoline Dodge 200 132 5 $30,768 Running 1 5
13 23 27 Jason Keller Kleenex/Bashas’ Ford 200 124 $28,618 Running
14 8 6 David Ragan Discount Tire Ford 200 121 $21,640 Running
15 14 28 Kenny Wallace U.S. Border Patrol Chevrolet 200 118 $29,023 Running
16 24 40 Bryan Clauson # Fastenal Dodge 200 115 $27,863 Running
17 17 47 Kelly Bires Glad Odor Shield Ford 200 112 $27,653 Running
18 19 25 Bobby Hamilton Jr. Ford 200 109 $27,518 Running
19 11 29 Scott Wimmer Holiday Inn Chevrolet 200 106 $27,408 Running
20 7 11 Scott Lagasse America’s Incredible Pizza Company Chevrolet 200 103 $28,298 Running
21 16 88 Brad Keselowski U.S. NAVY Chevrolet 199 100 $27,188 Running
22 30 81 D.J. Kennington NPPL Dodge 199 97 $27,078 Running
23 10 00 Josh Wise NAPA Auto Parts Toyota 199 94 $20,875 Running
24 29 59 Marcos Ambrose Kingsford Tailgate at Home Ford 199 91 $26,833 Running
25 21 38 Jason Leffler Great Clips Toyota 198 88 $26,948 Running
26 43 30 Stanton Barrett Interush.net Chevrolet 198 85 $26,738 Running
27 37 22 Marc Davis Supercuts Dodge 198 82 $26,703 Running
28 35 83 John Borneman III Borneman Plastering/Red Line Oil Ford 198 79 $20,165 Running
29 36 4 Patrick Sheltra Quality Turf/Briggs Construction Equip Dodge 198 76 $26,558 Running
30 38 61 Brandon Whitt Ford 198 73 $26,773 Running
31 26 99 David Reutimann Best Western Toyota 197 70 $20,020 Running
32 39 24 Eric McClure Hefty Odor Block Chevrolet 197 67 $26,453 Running
33 13 66 Steve Wallace 5-Hour Energy Chevrolet 193 64 $26,418 Running
34 34 55 Brian Ickler Dodge 184 61 $19,915 Running
35 9 64 David Stremme AVIS Chevrolet 177 58 $26,348 Running
36 41 01 Larry Gunselman Troon Construction Chevrolet 135 55 $26,313 Electrical
37 25 05 Burney Lamar 31W Insulation/CertainTeed Ford 66 57 5 $19,810 Accident 1 1
38 33 09 John Wes Townley Zaxby’s Ford 62 49 $19,775 Accident
39 40 52 Scott Gaylord Best Western of Tempe-By the Mall Chevrolet 50 46 $26,208 Rear End
40 18 90 Terry Cook MSRP Motorsports Chevrolet 9 43 $19,705 Vibration
41 27 91 Justin Hobgood MSRP Motorsports Chevrolet 8 40 $19,670 Vibration
42 31 49 Kertus Davis In Memory of Kenneth Campbell Chevrolet 6 37 $19,615 Brakes
43 32 35 Danny O’Quinn Jr. Ford 5 34 $19,567 Vibration
Race Comments: Before an estimated crowd of 37,500 - Carl Edwards won the Hefty Odor Block 200, his 19th career NASCAR Nationwide Series victory. Prior to the green flag the following drivers dropped to the rear for the reasons indicated: #09 Townley, #5 Cassill (backup car).
NOTE: Post-race position change - moved No. 11 from 14th to 20th with corresponding adjustments.
Failed to Qualify: (7) 73 Kevin Lepage, 65 Stan Silva Jr., 82 Derrike Cope, 0 Danny Efland, 31 Kenny Hendrick, 78 Jason White, 89 Morgan Shepherd.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 06 Mins, 27 Secs. Average Speed: 95.374 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.096 Seconds
Caution Flags: 9 for 41 laps: Laps: 24-27 (Debris); 40-44 (#99 accident turn 3); 48-52 (#12,55 accident turn 3); 65-70 (#09 accident turn 3); 76-78 (#55 accident turn 3); 80-84 (#2,9,22,38,66 accident frontstretch); 87-89 (Oil on track); 124-129 (Debris); 196-199 (#59 accident).
Lead Changes: 6 among 6 drivers: D. Hamlin 1-24; B. Lamar 25; M. Bliss 26-27; D. Hamlin 28-65; A. Allmendinger 66-70; K. Harvick 71-123; C. Edwards 124-201.
Top 10 Driver Points: (1) C. Bowyer 4,977;(2) C. Edwards 4,921;(3) Brad Keselowski 4,624;(4) D. Ragan 4,431;(5) M. Bliss 4,397;(6) K. Busch 4,281;(7) D. Reutimann 4,264;(8) M. Wallace 4,019;(9) J. Leffler 3,926;(10) M. Ambrose 3,921.
Coors Light Pole Award : Denny Hamlin, #18 (132.915 mph) Featherlite “Most Improved Driver” : Mike Bliss, #1 (19 Places)
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race : Carl Edwards, #60 Mobil 1 Oil Command Performance : Mike Bliss, #1
Raybestos “Rookie of the Race” : Landon Cassill, #5 Sunoco Diamond Performance : Carl Edwards, #60
WIX Filters “Lap Leader” : AJ Allmendinger, #9 (5 Laps)
Next Race: Nov. 15, 2008 - Homestead-Miami Speedway
