Stenhouse Wins at Iowa in a Wild Finish

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (6) slides across the finish line to win ahead of Carl Edwards (60) after the two collided coming to the checkered flag at Iowa Speedway Saturday night. Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Roush Fenway Racing teammate Carl Edwards insist they like each other. But for the second weekend in a row, they sure didn’t act like it.

Saturday night at Iowa Speedway, Stenhouse and Edwards banged doors, fenders and feelings as they fought for the victory in the U.S. Cellular 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race.

Their final banging occurred a couple of hundred feet from the finish line on the last lap, and it produced a smoky, screeching, metal-bending finish as Edwards rammed Stenhouse’s car from behind and actually pushed it to the victory.

“Wow,” both drivers said after climbing from their cars.

Stenhouse’s car had blown an engine after exiting turn 4 and had laid down a glaze of oil on the track.

Edwards said he tried to go around Stenhouse but couldn’t as his car slid on the oil and his windshield filled with smoke. Stenhouse admitted to watching Edwards speeding up on him and then blocking his teammate.

And then, Stenhouse thanked Edwards for smashing into the rear end of his RFR Ford.

“If he wouldn’t have hit us, we definitely would have ended up second,” said Stenhouse, whose victory was his second of the season at the seven-eighths-mile oval. “I knew we had enough momentum to get there (the finish line). I just wasn’t sure if we were going to be first or second. It worked out that we were first.”

Edwards led 109 of the race’s 250 laps. Stenhouse led 25.

Polesitter Elliott Sadler finished third, Josh Wise was fourth and Aric Almirola fifth. Rounding out the top 10 were Reed Sorenson, Kenny Wallace, Steve Wallace, Michael McDowell and David Mayhew, who was making his first Nationwide start.

While the race-ending rear-end job by Edwards to Stenhouse was the final run-in between the two drivers Saturday, it was far from the first.

They sideswiped each other about halfway through the race. And then, after the final restart of the night with less than 25 laps to go, they went at each other several times before Stenhouse was able to break free.

Their physical race at Iowa came a week after they frayed each other’s nerves and tempers at Lucas Oil Raceway in Clermont, Ind.

Still, both said they hold no grudges against the other.

“Ricky and I are fine,” Edwards said. “Jack (Roush, the team owner) came over and said, ‘Hey, this is exactly what’s supposed to be happening. You’re supposed to have a young guy who’s fast and is frustrating everybody because he’s too aggressive.’ Ricky, he’s really, really fast.

“We had a little issue last week, we talked about it and he got excited tonight. He’s just being a little bit overaggressive.”

Stenhouse, the Nationwide points leader, left Iowa with a 12-point lead over Sorenson. Sadler is third, 29 behind Stenhouse.

Sorenson won the second of four NASCAR Nationwide Series “Dash 4 Cash” races, where a $100,000 bonus was on the line between him and three other eligible drivers. The next “Dash 4 Cash” race is at Richmond on Sept. 10.

Story by Jim Pedley
Special to the Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

NASCAR Nationwide Series
Iowa Speedway – Newton, Iowa
U.S. Cellular 250 – August 6, 2011

Fin Start No. Driver Points Car Laps Completed Status Earnings
1 4 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 47 Ford 250 Running $74,343
2 17 60 Carl Edwards 0 Ford 250 Running $54,675
3 1 2 Elliott Sadler 42 Chevrolet 250 Running $52,218
4 18 7 Josh Wise 40 Chevrolet 250 Running $34,293
5 11 88 Aric Almirola 39 Chevrolet 250 Running $31,193
6 16 32 Reed Sorenson 38 Chevrolet 250 Running $28,893
7 8 09 Kenny Wallace 37 Toyota 250 Running $27,728
8 12 66 Steve Wallace 36 Toyota 250 Running $26,288
9 9 18 Michael McDowell 0 Toyota 250 Running $25,193
10 13 33 David Mayhew 0 Chevrolet 250 Running $25,543
11 5 20 Drew Herring 33 Toyota 250 Running $23,718
12 22 62 Michael Annett 33 Toyota 250 Running $23,168
13 7 38 Jason Leffler 31 Chevrolet 250 Running $23,093
14 10 11 Brian Scott 30 Toyota 250 Running $22,118
15 20 70 Scott Wimmer 29 Chevrolet 250 Running $26,343
16 14 87 Joe Nemechek 28 Toyota 250 Running $22,468
17 27 51 Jeremy Clements 28 Chevrolet 250 Running $21,418
18 19 19 Mike Bliss 26 Chevrolet 250 Running $20,968
19 15 30 Mikey Kile 25 Chevrolet 249 Running $20,743
20 34 39 Joey Gase 24 Ford 248 Running $21,243
21 24 15 Timmy Hill 23 Ford 248 Running $21,393
22 28 40 Charles Lewandoski 22 Chevrolet 247 Running $13,800
23 23 23 Robert Richardson Jr. 21 Chevrolet 247 Running $14,050
24 3 22 Sam Hornish Jr. 21 Dodge 245 Running $19,993
25 2 16 Trevor Bayne 20 Ford 243 Running $20,493
26 36 14 Eric McClure 18 Chevrolet 238 Running $13,275
27 38 52 Tim Schendel 17 Chevrolet 216 Rear Gear $13,550
28 21 81 Blake Koch 16 Dodge 214 Accident $19,468
29 6 31 Justin Allgaier 15 Chevrolet 187 Running $19,343
30 29 28 Derrike Cope 14 Chevrolet 123 Vibration $13,050
31 33 01 Mike Wallace 13 Chevrolet 99 Accident $19,063
32 39 89 Morgan Shepherd 12 Chevrolet 78 Suspension $12,485
33 43 13 Jennifer Jo Cobb 11 Dodge 66 Engine $12,375
34 32 02 Jamie Dick 0 Chevrolet 46 Accident $12,265
35 37 41 Matthew Carter 9 Chevrolet 37 Vibration $12,160
36 42 74 Mike Harmon 8 Chevrolet 20 Overheating $12,050
37 30 49 Mark Green 7 Chevrolet 17 Brakes $11,940
38 40 75 Johnny Chapman 6 Ford 11 Overheating $11,860
39 26 46 Chase Miller 5 Chevrolet 8 Brakes $11,745
40 41 71 Carl Long 4 Ford 7 Brakes $11,630
41 31 42 Tim Andrews 3 Chevrolet 5 Brakes $11,465
42 35 47 Brian Keselowski 0 Chevrolet 4 Overheating $11,345
43 25 44 Jeff Green 1 Chevrolet 3 Vibration $11,228

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