Backstretch Motorsports

By Reid Spencer

MADISON, Ill. (July 19, 2008) – It took three days for Carl Edwards to get to Gateway International Raceway from his home in Columbia, Mo. – on a bicycle.

Once at the track, however, Edwards picked up his pace considerably for Saturday night’s Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race. In the final 55-lap green-flag run, Edwards’ No. 60 Ford streaked away from the No. 20 Toyota of Joey Logano, taking the checkered flag 6.877 seconds ahead of the 18-year-old Joe Gibbs Racing phenom.

“That was unbelievable,” said Edwards, who picked up his second win of the season and the 15th of his career to the delight of a strong contingent of supporters in the grandstands. “It’s unreal. There won’t be a guy tomorrow who has a better day than me. Thank you everybody up in the grandstands. Thanks a lot.”

“The 20 car has been great this year. Racing with them has been a challenge, but a fun one.”

The No. 20 Camry has nine victories this season with four drivers behind the wheel. Logano accounted for one of the wins, at Kentucky.

Jason Keller was third Saturday, posting his best finish since running second at Chicagoland in 2004. Jason Leffler was fourth, followed by Brad Keselowski, who recovered from a late-race accident to finish fifth. Rookie Landon Cassill ran sixth, a career best in the series.

Edwards was third for a restart on Lap 146 of the 200-lap race, chasing Leffler and seventh-place finisher James Buescher, both of whom had taken two tires under a caution caused by a wreck involving Keselowski and David Reutimann, who entered the race second and third, respectively, in the series standings.

With four new tires, however, Edwards soon ran down the two cars, passing Leffler for the lead on Lap 152. From that point he pulled away.

A pileup moments after a restart on Lap 116 wiped out a handful of strong cars and stopped the race for nearly 25 minutes. Scott Wimmer’s No. 29 Chevrolet spun into the Turn 2 wall after a tap from Cassill. The chain-reaction crash that followed also eliminated the cars of defending race winner Reed Sorenson, Mike Bliss and Steve Wallace.

“I think I saw the 5 (Cassill) get into somebody,” Bliss said after climbing from his car. “I was just hoping to get through it, but I didn’t.”

Cassill, whose Chevy survived the wreck with minimal damage, said side-by-side racing between Wimmer and Sorenson might have been responsible for the accident.

“I think the 29 (Wimmer) got a little loose with the 40 (Sorenson) outside of him,” Cassill said. “I didn’t mean to hit him.”

Notes: A partial power failure at a neighboring substation in East St. Louis, Ill., caused a brown-out at the speedway, knocking out power to infield facilities and the caution lights surrounding the track. Stadium lights were powered by a backup generator, and the race started on time, but a subsequent partial failure of inside lighting in Turns 1 and 2 prompted NASCAR to call a competition caution on Lap 71 to make sure conditions were safe. … Series points leader Clint Bowyer finished eighth. … Polesitter Jamie McMurray fell out with engine trouble after completing 152 laps and finished 27th.

NASCAR Race Number 21
Unofficial Race Results for the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers “250″
- Saturday, July 19, 2008
Gateway International Raceway - Madison, IL - 1.25 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 200 Laps - 250 Miles - Purse: $1,555,354
Leader
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Total Award Status Times Laps
1 3 60 Carl Edwards Save-a-Lot Ford 200 195 10 $64,545 Running 2 79
2 4 20 Joey Logano Game Stop Toyota 200 175 5 $52,243 Running 2 42
3 7 11 Jason Keller America’s Incredible Pizza Chevrolet 200 165 $44,393 Running
4 12 38 Jason Leffler Great Clips Toyota 200 165 5 $40,243 Running 1 9
5 20 88 Brad Keselowski U.S. NAVY Chevrolet 200 155 $35,368 Running
6 11 5 Landon Cassill # National Guard Chevrolet 200 150 $34,268 Running
7 41 32 James Buescher Dollar General Toyota 200 146 $33,068 Running
8 5 2 Clint Bowyer BB&T Chevrolet 200 142 $26,000 Running
9 9 64 David Stremme Atreus Home & Communities 200 138 $31,953 Running
10 10 6 David Ragan Discount Tire Ford 200 134 $27,150 Running
11 13 7 Mike Wallace GEICO Toyota 200 130 $31,993 Running
12 33 33 Cale Gale # RoadLoans.com Chevrolet 200 127 $31,493 Running
13 32 9 Chase Miller Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers Dodge 200 129 5 $31,743 Running 1 1
14 23 70 Mark Green ForeTravel Motorcoach/Biomet 200 121 $24,740 Running
15 27 59 Marcos Ambrose Kingsford Match Light Ford 199 118 $31,823 Running
16 17 22 Josh Wise Supercuts Dodge 199 115 $30,938 Running
17 16 27 Brad Coleman Kleenex/Sam’s Club Ford 199 117 5 $30,753 Running 1 1
18 22 28 Kenny Wallace U.S. Border Patrol Chevrolet 199 114 5 $30,918 Running 1 1
19 24 81 Shane Huffman Mahindra Tractors Dodge 199 106 $30,508 Running
20 15 25 Bobby Hamilton Jr. Eckrich Ford 199 103 $31,398 Running
21 38 24 Eric McClure Hefty Brand Chevrolet 198 100 $30,288 Running
22 29 50 Jeremy Clements Boudreaux’s Butt Paste Chevrolet 197 97 $23,710 Running
23 40 52 Brad Teague Holiday Inn Select Chevrolet 191 94 $30,468 Running
24 25 30 Stanton Barrett grandstay.net Chevrolet 173 91 $23,440 Running
25 14 99 David Reutimann Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota 166 93 5 $23,480 Running 2 33
26 6 66 Steve Wallace Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches 157 85 $29,663 Accident
27 1 17 Jamie McMurray CitiFinancial Ford 152 87 5 $27,535 Oil Pump 2 31
28 36 61 Brandon Whitt Ford 122 79 $29,433 Transmission
29 2 40 Reed Sorenson Fastenal Dodge 115 76 $24,565 Accident
30 28 29 Scott Wimmer Holiday Inn Chevrolet 115 73 $29,423 Accident
31 8 1 Mike Bliss Miccosukee Resorts Chevrolet 115 70 $29,063 Accident
32 30 47 Kelly Bires Clorox Anywhere Ford 80 67 $28,953 Accident
33 18 05 Casey Atwood 31W Insulation/CertainTeed Ford 55 64 $22,375 Brakes
34 42 4 Derrike Cope JVC Chevrolet 46 61 $28,733 Handling
35 43 90 Johnny Chapman MSRP Motorsports Chevrolet 38 58 $22,155 Electrical
36 37 31 Kenny Hendrick grandstay.net Chevrolet 34 55 $22,045 Vibration
37 21 89 Morgan Shepherd Racing with Jesus Dodge 33 57 5 $21,960 Brakes 1 3
38 39 01 Danny Efland sponsordavis.com Chevrolet 19 49 $28,368 Engine
39 35 91 Justin Hobgood MSRP Motorsports Chevrolet 10 46 $21,865 Ignition
40 26 92 Brian Keselowski # Dodge 10 43 $21,830 Vibration
41 34 36 Ruben Pardo Supercuts Dodge 7 40 $21,795 Electrical
42 31 0 Larry Gunselman sponsordavis.com Chevrolet 5 37 $21,715 Brakes
43 19 49 Kertus Davis Chevrolet 1 34 $21,655 Brakes
Race Comments: Before an estimated crowd of 50,000, Carl Edwards won the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250, his 15th NASCAR Nationwide Series victory. Prior to the green flag the following driver dropped to the rear for the reason indicated: #90 Chapman (engine change).
Failed to Qualify: (4) 37 Brad Baker, 02 Andy Ponstein, 84 Kevin Lepage, 57 Nick Tucker.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 18 Mins, 46 Secs. Average Speed: 108.095 MPH Margin of Victory: 6.877 Seconds
Caution Flags: 6 for 25 laps: Laps: 22-25 (Competition); 63-67 (#47, #52 accident turn 1); 72-74 (Competition); 112-115 (#27 accident backstretch); 117-121 (#1, 5, 29, 40, 66 accident frontstretch [Red Flag: Lap 117, 24:54]); 142-145 (#88, #99 accident frontstretch).
Lead Changes: 12 among 9 drivers: J. McMurray 1-22; M. Shepherd 23-25; J. Logano 26-48; D. Reutimann 49-64; C. Miller 65; C. Edwards 66-95; D. Reutimann 96-112; K. Wallace 113; J. McMurray 114-122; J. Logano 123-141; B. Coleman 142; J. Leffler 143-151; C. Edwards 152-200.
Top 10 Driver Points: (1) C. Bowyer 3,107;(2) B. Keselowski 2,937;(3) C. Edwards 2,906;(4) D. Reutimann 2,841;(5) D. Ragan 2,747;(6) M. Bliss 2,673;(7) K. Busch 2,633;(8) M. Wallace 2,506;(9) D. Stremme 2,463;(10) J. Keller 2,443.
Coors Light Pole Award : Jamie Mcmurray, #17 (133.101 mph) Featherlite “Most Improved Driver” : Jason Leffler, #38 (23 Places)
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race : Carl Edwards, #60 Mobil 1 Oil Command Performance : Jason Keller, #11
Raybestos “Rookie of the Race” : Landon Cassill, #5 Sunoco Diamond Performance : Carl Edwards, #60
WIX Filters “Lap Leader” : Joey Logano, #20 (42 Laps)
Next Race: Jul. 26, 2008 - O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis