Backstretch Motorsports

LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Carl Edwards is one cool customer. It seems nothing can rattle him. He lives for the anxiety of top-level racing.

No. 99 Crew Chief Bob Osborne is a smart cookie. They’re talking about making him wear a helmet to protect that racing brain of his.

Jack Roush is a fiery competitor. After being what he describes as “thousands of unauthorised test miles behind” in last year’s CoT introduction, he’s made it up, with strong personel changes, factory support and dedcated resources that will rival any other team of manufacturer out there.

California last week and Las Vegas today have proven to be the pay-off. Four of Roush Fenway Racing’s entries were top ten finishers. Including the “W” … twice.

It was Edwards’ second NASCAR Sprint Cup victory in a row…. actually in a week since he won the weather-delayed race Monday in California.

Edwards held the top spot for the last 29 laps of the race after passing Matt Kenseth for the lead.

Twice during the race, Edwards raced his way back into contention after being forced to start the race twice, way back in the field.

Problems in the pits seemed to be the order of the day for Edwards and his pit crew, but at least one incident during a pit stop played out in his favor. A tire rolled across the pit road off his car after a television camerman interfered with the crew. The cameraman blocked a crew member’s path and NASCAR officials, who would normally invoke a penalty for a tire rolling out of control in the pits, deemed it unavoidable on the part of Edwards’ crew.

Edwards beat Dale Earnhardt Jr. across the finish line after a wild wreck involving four-time champion Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth.

Bunched up after a restart, Gordon and Kenseth were attempting to pass Earnhardt going into the first turn. Coming off the second turn, Gordon nudged Kenseth. The contact turned Kenseth around and sent Gordon speeding toward the inside retaining wall. The ensuing impact knocked the radiator out of Gordon’s car.

The four-time champion was unhurt.

Greg Biffle finished third, Kevin Harvick fourth, and Jeff Burton fifth.

Kasey Kahne was sixth, followed by David Ragan, Travis Kvapil, Denny Hamlin and Mark Martin.

Kyle Busch, an early contender, was 11th after struggling in the final stages of the race with his car’s setup.

Kenseth was also relegated to a poor finish (20th) after running up front through the race.

Edwards is leading the Spint Cup point standings for the first time in his career.

Pole-sitter Kyle Busch streaked away at the start, but Edwards passed him for the lead before 30 laps had been compiled.

The United States Air Force Thunderbirds had roared across the blue, cloudless skies to get the race off to a spectacular start.

David Reutimann and Jamie McMurray encountered early problems and fell way behind. David Reutimann scraped the wall, and McMurray spun, which brought out the first caution of the race.

By the time the field had covered 60 laps, four drivers had been penalized for speeding on pit road, Biffle, Kurt Busch, Mike Skinner and Elliott Sadler.

Debris — an exhaust pipe piece — on the track brought out the second caution of the day on lap 70. When things resumed under racing conditions, the running order had Burton in front of the field.

Earnhardt Jr., was second, followed by Kyle Busch, Mark Martin, Scott Riggs, Tony Stewart, Kenseth, Edwards, Ryan Newman and Gordon.

Another caution waved on lap 109 when Stewart blew a right front tire and slammed hard into the retaining wall between turns three and four. The impact was the hardest Stewart said he could remember.

Kyle Busch had the lead on the restart with Kenseth right behind him. Kenseth, however, took the lead a lap later and Gordon moved to second spot. Jeff Burton was fourth behind Busch. Earnhardt Jr. was fifth.

Defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson wrestled with an ill-handling car from the git-go and sputtered around in the back of the pack, way off the leading pace.

NASCAR Race Number 3
Unofficial Race Results for the UAW-Dodge “400″ - Sunday, March 2, 2008
Las Vegas Motor Speedway - Las Vegas, NV - 1.5 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 267 Laps - 400.5 Miles - Purse: $6,459,779

Leader
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Total Award Status Times Laps
1 2 99 Carl Edwards Dish Network Ford 267 195 10 $425,675 Running 4 86
2 8 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard/AMP Energy 267 175 5 $252,000 Running 3 17
3 6 16 Greg Biffle 3M Ford 267 165 $205,800 Running
4 17 29 Kevin Harvick Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet 267 160 $200,636 Running
5 24 31 Jeff Burton AT&T Mobility Chevrolet 267 160 5 $178,083 Running 1 10
6 37 9 Kasey Kahne Budweiser Dodge 267 150 $157,616 Running
7 38 6 David Ragan AAA Insurance Ford 267 146 $124,450 Running
8 29 28 Travis Kvapil Yates Racing Ford 267 142 $140,264 Running
9 27 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Kinko’s Toyota 267 138 $144,441 Running
10 3 8 Mark Martin U.S. Army Chevrolet 267 139 5 $140,983 Running 1 1
11 1 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Toyota 267 135 5 $131,575 Running 3 56
12 10 19 Elliott Sadler Stanley Dodge 267 127 $129,170 Running
13 11 5 Casey Mears Pop-Tarts/CARQUEST Chevrolet 267 124 $116,975 Running
14 15 12 Ryan Newman alltel Dodge 267 121 $144,400 Running
15 18 1 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats 267 118 $131,208 Running
16 23 70 Jeremy Mayfield Haas Automation Chevrolet 267 115 $99,175 Running
17 39 43 Bobby Labonte Cheerios/Helping Hearts Dodge 267 112 $134,311 Running
18 35 41 Reed Sorenson Target Dodge 267 109 $123,489 Running
19 31 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Texaco/Havoline Dodge 267 106 $123,083 Running
20 13 17 Matt Kenseth USG Ford 267 108 5 $141,166 Running 4 70
21 19 49 Ken Schrader Qtrax.com Dodge 267 100 $108,033 Running
22 40 15 Paul Menard Menards/Johns Manville Chevrolet 266 97 $100,075 Running
23 34 38 David Gilliland freecreditreport.com Ford 266 94 $108,083 Running
24 43 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota 266 91 $89,850 Running
25 36 26 Jamie McMurray Crown Royal Ford 266 88 $97,350 Running
26 26 22 Dave Blaney Caterpillar Toyota 266 85 $101,508 Running
27 30 96 J.J. Yeley DLP HDTV Toyota 266 82 $91,850 Running
28 21 07 Clint Bowyer Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet 265 79 $100,850 Running
29 33 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Chevrolet 265 76 $136,786 Running
30 5 27 Mike Skinner Bad Boy Mowers Toyota 265 73 $82,875 Running
31 22 55 Michael Waltrip NAPA Toyota 265 70 $93,833 Running
32 41 45 Kyle Petty Wells Fargo Dodge 265 67 $91,522 Running
33 42 40 Dario Franchitti # Target/Polaroid Dodge 265 64 $92,225 Running
34 28 01 Regan Smith # Coors Light Chevrolet 264 61 $89,575 Running
35 4 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont/Nicorette Chevrolet 262 63 5 $130,286 Accident 2 19
36 7 66 Scott Riggs State Water Heaters Chevrolet 260 60 5 $81,150 Running 1 2
37 14 00 David Reutimann Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota 258 52 $80,925 Running
38 9 2 Kurt Busch Miller Lite Dodge 255 49 $80,725 Accident
39 16 44 Dale Jarrett UPS Toyota 231 46 $80,525 Accident
40 12 10 Patrick Carpentier # Valvoline Dodge 182 43 $80,275 Accident
41 20 77 Sam Hornish Jr. # Mobil 1 Dodge 152 40 $125,650 Running
42 32 7 Robby Gordon Jim Beam Dodge 142 37 $87,930 Accident
43 25 20 Tony Stewart Home Depot Toyota 107 39 5 $128,839 Accident 1 6
Race Comments: Before an announced sellout crowd of 153,000 - Carl Edwards won the UAW-Dodge 400 - his ninth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory. Prior to the green flag the following driver(s) dropped to the rear for the reason(s) indicated: #9 Kahne (engine change); #07 Bowyer (backup).
Failed to Qualify: (4) 84 AJ Allmendinger, 78 Joe Nemechek, 34 John Andretti, 21 Johnny Sauter.
Time of Race: 03 Hrs, 08 Mins, 08 Secs. Average Speed: 127.729 MPH Margin of Victory: .504 Seconds
Caution Flags: 11 for 44 laps: Laps: 10-12 (#26 spun frontstretch); 70-75 (Debris); 110-114 (#20 accident turn 3); 145-149 (#7 accident turn 2); 163-165 (#10 accident turn 2); 180-183 (#66 spun turn 4); 215-219 (Debris); 225-227 (#83 accident turn 3); 234-236 (#44 accident turn 2); 258-262 (#2 accident turn 4); 264-265 (#17,24 accident [Red Flag - 17:57 - Lap 264]).
Lead Changes: 19 among 9 drivers: Ky. Busch 1-20; C. Edwards 21-48; S. Riggs 49-50; M. Martin 51; T. Stewart 52-57; M. Kenseth 58-59; D. Earnhardt Jr. 60-61; C. Edwards 62-69; Ky. Busch 70; J. Burton 71-80; Ky. Busch 81-115; M. Kenseth 116-144; J. Gordon 145; M. Kenseth 146-162; J. Gordon 163-180; D. Earnhardt Jr. 181-194; C. Edwards 195-214; D. Earnhardt Jr. 215; M. Kenseth 216-237; C. Edwards 238-267.
Top 12 Driver Points: (1) C. Edwards 491;(2) Ky. Busch 470;(3) R. Newman 450;(4) K. Kahne 444;(5) K. Harvick 428;(6) G. Biffle 427;(7) J. Burton 421;(8) M. Truex Jr. 371;(9) E. Sadler 368;(10) D. Earnhardt Jr. 361;(11) T. Stewart 355;(12) Ku. Busch 348.
DIRECTV : Kyle Busch, #18 DOW Automotive Strategic Call : Carl Edwards, #99
EA Sports : Carl Edwards, #99 Goodyear Gatorback Fastest Lap : Carl Edwards, #99 (179.82 mph, Lap 267)
Mobil 1 : Ryan Newman, #12 Raybestos Rookie of the Race : Dario Franchitti, #40
Sunoco Diamond Performance : Carl Edwards, #99 USG Improving the Finish : Kasey Kahne, #9 (31 Places)
WIX Lap Leader : Kyle Busch, #18 (56 Laps) Mahle Clevite Engine Builder : Carl Edwards, #99 (0.49)
Coors Light Pole Award : Kyle Busch, #18 (182.352 mph)
Next Race: Mar. 9, 2008 - Atlanta Motor Speedway