Carl Edwards celebrates in victory lane after winning Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway. Photo by Matt Hazlett/Getty Images
Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway was 400 laps long. But it all came down to the final turn.
Carl Edwards used his front bumper to move teammate Kyle Busch out of the way and out of the lead as the two came off turn four to the checkered flag. Edwards made the pass and went on to score the win in the Toyota Owners 400.
“Man, I didn’t think we had anything,” Edwards said. “Kyle was so good there for that run. I was doing everything I could. He never spun his tires and if Dave (Rogers, crew chief) hadn’t screamed at me to just go get him that last lap I don’t know if I would’ve dove it in there that well. Just a team effort.”
With 20 laps to go, Edwards began closing on Busch, using the high line around the track to close on his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate’s back bumper. With the white flag in the air, Edwards looked low on Busch, but Busch appeared to have him beat until the duo reached the final turn.
Edwards closed, nudging Busch from behind and sending the No. 18 Toyota up the track. That allowed Edwards to get by and snag the victory.
“Kyle’s an amazing teammate and it’s like he got really slow there at the end,” Edwards said. “Something happened that last lap. It was like his rear tires went off or something. He went down into (turn) one and I dove it in and I got to him and I thought, ‘Man, I’ve got something.’
“And he went to get down to the bottom and park it in three and four and I had already decided to go down there so I thought, ‘Man, I’m going to give him a little nudge,’ and we both have got wins and we’re racing for fun getting these trophies and just an awesome day.”
The finish, the first at the historic Virginia short track to be decided on a last lap, gives the driver of the No. 19 Toyota his second straight Sprint Cup victory, his fourth at Richmond and the 27th of his career.
While it came out good for Edwards, the same couldn’t be said for Busch, who led the final 35 lap stint coming to the final lap before being moved out of the way by Edwards.
“It was just racing I guess,” Busch said. “We had a great car. The Banfield Pet Hospital Camry was really good today. We were fast. Maybe not as good as Carl (Edwards) was on the long run but we did everything right. We did everything we were supposed to do and put ourselves in the right position.”
Edwards charged early, with the race running caution free for the first 157 laps. After starting in the fourth position, Edwards moved to the lead for the first time on lap 66, and would hold the spot until the first caution came out for debris. Busch took the lead on pit road, and would solidify it on the restart when Edwards spun his tires.
Edwards would retake the lead just three laps later, and would continue to pace the event until lap 231, when Kevin Harvick took a turn at the front of the pack.
With three and four wide racing behind the leaders, Harvick paced the race until lap 278, when his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate, Kurt Busch, moved to the point. Ten laps later, Kyle Busch moved up and took the lead from his brother, while Edwards moved back into contention in third.
With less than 100 laps to go, it became a battle of the Busch brothers, as the duo swapped the lead back and forth. When the final caution flew with 42 laps to go, Kyle beat the field off pit road, while trouble on his last stop set Kurt back to fifth.
Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne finished third and fourth, respectively, while Harvick finished in fifth.
Denny Hamlin rebounded from a pit road penalty to finish in sixth, while teammate Matt Kenseth came back from battery issues to finish in seventh. Joey Logano finished in eight, with Martin Truex, Jr. in ninth. Kurt Busch finished his day in the tenth position.
Tony Stewart, competing in his first race back since suffering back injuries in a non-racing incident in January, finished 19th.
“Like we predicted, a day race we’d be all over the race track,” Stewart said. “That’s what made it fun. The drivers got to dictate it today as far as…. You weren’t just stuck in one line. You had the ability to move around and change lines. We got in a spot there with a group of five cars racing for position once and it was fun because the five of us totally ran the track totally different. So, it made it a lot of fun.”
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Richmond International Raceway – Richmond, VA
Toyota Owners 400 – April 24, 2016
1. (4) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 400.
2. (9) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 400.
3. (3) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 400.
4. (8) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 400.
5. (1) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 400.
6. (5) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 400.
7. (13) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 400.
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9. (22) Martin Truex, Jr., Toyota, 400.
10. (7) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 400.
11. (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 400.
12. (23) Chase Elliott #, Chevrolet, 400.
13. (16) Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Chevrolet, 400.
14. (19) Greg Biffle, Ford, 400.
15. (15) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 400.
16. (27) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 400.
17. (17) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 400.
18. (14) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 400.
19. (18) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 400.
20. (11) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 400.
21. (24) Aric Almirola, Ford, 400.
22. (26) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 400.
23. (30) David Ragan, Toyota, 400.
24. (21) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 400.
25. (10) A.J. Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 400.
26. (12) Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Ford, 400.
27. (28) Landon Cassill, Ford, 399.
28. (29) * Ryan Blaney #, Ford, 399.
29. (25) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 399.
30. (36) Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, 399.
31. (32) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 399.
32. (34) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 399.
33. (39) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 398.
34. (33) Chris Buescher #, Ford, 396.
35. (20) Brian Scott #, Ford, 395.
36. (40) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 394.
37. (37) * Ryan Ellis(i), Toyota, 393.
38. (38) Jeffrey Earnhardt #, Ford, 392.
39. (31) * Josh Wise, Chevrolet, 390.
40. (35) * Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 390.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 97.07 mph.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 05 Mins, 26 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.675 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 8 for 49 laps.
Lead Changes: 23 among 8 drivers.
Lap Leaders: K. Harvick 1-21; J. Johnson 22-63; C. Edwards 64; J. Johnson 65; C. Edwards 66-89; D. Hamlin 90; J. Johnson 91; M. Kenseth 92-93; C. Edwards 94-157; Kyle Busch 158-168; C. Edwards 169-196; Kyle Busch 197; C. Edwards 198-229; K. Harvick 230-270; B. Keselowski 271-273; K. Harvick 274; B. Keselowski 275-277; Kurt Busch 278-286; Kyle Busch 287-314; Kurt Busch 315-360; Kyle Busch 361-363; C. Edwards 364; Kyle Busch 365-399; C. Edwards 400;.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): C. Edwards 7 times for 151 laps; Kyle Busch 5 times for 78 laps; K. Harvick 3 times for 63 laps; Kurt Busch 2 times for 55 laps; J. Johnson 3 times for 44 laps; B. Keselowski 2 times for 6 laps; M. Kenseth 1 time for 2 laps; D. Hamlin 1 time for 1 lap.
Top 16 in Points: C. Edwards – 331; K. Harvick – 324; J. Johnson – 310; Kyle Busch – 302; J. Logano – 299; Kurt Busch – 279; D. Earnhardt Jr. – 278; D. Hamlin – 258; B. Keselowski – 255; M. Truex Jr. – 246; C. Elliott # – 234; A. Dillon – 234; J. Mcmurray – 224; K. Kahne – 222; M. Kenseth – 212; R. Newman – 205.
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