Carl Edwards celebrates with a backflip after winning Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images
Carl Edwards dominated Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway to score his first series victory of the season.
But it didn’t come easily. Edwards had to hold off Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in a five lap dash for the victory after a late restart.
While Edwards used a great jump on the final restart to his advantage to move away, behind him Earnhardt, Jr., Kurt Busch and rookie Chase Elliott slugged it out for the runner up position.
That allowed Edwards to get away and score the win.
“Just a real testament to our team – we have really fast race cars,” Edwards said. “Those restarts are tough, everybody is so good. Kurt (Busch) does an amazing job, I don’t know if his drag racing or something is paying off, but I have to learn what he’s doing. He could get so much grip down on the bottom.
“Just a lot of fun, really good day and really proud of my guys – flawless on pit road. This is such a special place to win and really proud of my team.”
When the checkered flag flew, Earnhardt, Jr. finished in second, followed by Kurt Busch in third, Elliott in fourth and Trevor Bayne in fifth.
Meanwhile, the day belonged to Edwards. After winning the pole on Friday, Edwards would lead 276 laps, more than any other driver on the day. It marks the Joe Gibbs Racing driver’s 26th career win and his fourth at Bristol.
“Just really proud of these guys and thank you to everybody that makes this happen,” said Edwards. “This team is awesome and Dave (Rogers, crew chief) doesn’t quit. He can almost read my mind, he can tell me things in the race right when I needed them. It was just a good day.”
For Earnhardt, Jr., the finish was the result of fighting back from an early setback – one that occurred on the opening lap of the 500 lap race.
On the drop of the green flag, Earnhardt, Jr.’s Chevy failed to go, with his ailing car limping to the pits with an electrical issue. He was able to rejoin the race two laps down, and worked all day to get his way back into contention. Earnhardt, Jr. finally got back on the lead lap with a caution on lap 117.
“That cost us two laps early in the race and we worked real hard,” Earnhardt, Jr. said. “(Crew chief) Greg (Ives) did a great job helping us get our laps back. The car was about a 15th or 10th place car. We were just lucky on those restarts as to where we lined up. And that really helped us.”
Earnhardt, Jr.’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Chase Elliott, also had to battle back from trouble after the Dawsonville, Georgia racer had to pit under green on lap 181 due to a loose wheel. That unscheduled stop left the 20-year-old two laps down.
Elliott would get back on the lead lap by taking the wave around under a lap 259 caution. From there, the former NASCAR Xfinity Series champion charged his way all the way to second over the closing laps. But a series of late cautions worked against him on the restarts. In the end, Elliott recorded his best career NSCS finish in fourth.
“I hated to have a loose wheel, but stuff happens,” Elliott said. “The guys did a good job having a good pit stop under green. We only ended up losing two laps and that gave us a shot to get back. One down, and then trying to get back to the lead lap. It was a long day but I’m definitely proud of the effort. We’re chipping away, just not close enough.”
Several other contenders had problems that they couldn’t bounce back from, including two of Edward’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammates.
Kyle Busch came into the race looking to add to his number of consecutive wins on the season. His first setback came on lap 52, when a cut tire while running in third place sent the defending series champion into the wall.
Busch was able to continue on the lead lap after a pit stop, but would encounter more trouble on lap 117 when he spun off turn two after contact from Chris Buescher. Busch stayed off the wall, and was able to drive away.
He wasn’t so lucky on lap 259, when a cut tire sent him hard into the outside wall, ending his day.
Tire issues also plagued his teammate, Matt Kenseth. Kenseth led 142 laps on the day, and was in the lead on lap 187 when a cut tire sent him into the wall. Like Busch, Kenseth was able to continue and had worked himself back into contention. But another cut tire on lap 323 sent him into the wall, leaving his car with enough damage to send him to the garage area for repairs.
Six-time Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson was also in contention until he pitted for a vibration from a loose wheel on lap 300. He would spend the rest of the day fighting to try to get back on the lead lap, but in the end, had to settle for 23rd position, one lap down to the leaders.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Bristol Motor Speedway – Bristol, TN
Food City 500 – April 17, 2016
1. (1) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 500.
2. (20) Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Chevrolet, 500.
3. (26) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 500.
4. (19) Chase Elliott #, Chevrolet, 500.
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6. (30) Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, 500.
7. (7) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 500.
8. (36) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 500.
9. (17) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 500.
10. (3) Joey Logano, Ford, 500.
11. (18) * Ryan Blaney #, Ford, 500.
12. (23) Greg Biffle, Ford, 500.
13. (13) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 500.
14. (8) Martin Truex, Jr., Toyota, 500.
15. (14) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 500.
16. (32) Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Ford, 500.
17. (11) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 500.
18. (12) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 500.
19. (9) A.J. Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 500.
20. (4) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 500.
21. (21) Chris Buescher #, Ford, 500.
22. (28) Landon Cassill, Ford, 500.
23. (6) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 499.
24. (16) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 499.
25. (34) Ty Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 499.
26. (15) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 498.
27. (33) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 498.
28. (39) * Cole Whitt, Chevrolet, 496.
29. (31) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 495.
30. (27) Brian Scott #, Ford, 493.
31. (40) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 492.
32. (37) Jeffrey Earnhardt #, Ford, 488.
33. (35) * Josh Wise, Chevrolet, 482.
34. (22) Aric Almirola, Ford, 479.
35. (25) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 462.
36. (2) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 460.
37. (29) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, Accident, 451.
38. (5) Kyle Busch, Toyota, Accident, 258.
39. (24) David Ragan, Toyota, Engine, 211.
40. (38) * Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, Suspension, 169.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 81.637 mph.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 15 Mins, 52 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.766 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 15 for 102 laps.
Lead Changes: 16 among 7 drivers.
Lap Leaders: C. Edwards 1-36; J. Logano 37-39; C. Edwards 40-42; M. Kenseth 43-53; J. Logano 54; M. Kenseth 55-117; C. Edwards 118; M. Kenseth 119-186; C. Edwards 187-189; P. Menard 190-193; C. Edwards 194-261; L. Cassill 262-281; C. Edwards 282-318; K. Harvick 319-331; C. Edwards 332-355; Kurt Busch 356-396; C. Edwards 397-500.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): C. Edwards 8 times for 276 laps; M. Kenseth 3 times for 142 laps; Kurt Busch 1 time for 41 laps; L. Cassill 1 time for 20 laps; K. Harvick 1 time for 13 laps; J. Logano 2 times for 4 laps; P. Menard 1 time for 4 laps.
Top 16 in Points: K. Harvick – 287; C. Edwards – 286; J. Johnson – 271; J. Logano – 266; Kyle Busch – 262; D. Earnhardt Jr. – 250; Kurt Busch – 247; B. Keselowski – 224; D. Hamlin – 222; M. Truex Jr. – 214; A. Dillon – 213; C. Elliott # – 205; J. Mcmurray – 199; A. Allmendinger – 188; K. Kahne – 185; R. Newman – 182.
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