Dover, DE (Best E Casino) - Carl Edwards captured the Dodge Dealers 400 at the Dover International Speedway in a race that saw just one other "Chase" driver finish on the lead lap. The No.99 Roush Fenway Racing Ford crossed the finish line 0.617 seconds ahead of teammate Greg Biffle.
The victory, in the second race of the 10-race "Chase for the Nextel Cup," was Edwards' third of the season and seventh of his "Cup" career.
"I wanted this win bad, this is the Chase," said Edwards. "It's just a fun race track." Despite the win, Edwards' car failed post-race inspection due to it being too low in the right rear. That could mean a penalty on points and possibly a fine in the coming days.
Co-points leader Jimmie Johnson brought the field to the green flag for 400 laps of tight, side-by-side racing around the "Monster Mile." But he lasted just one lap before yesterday's Busch race winner Denny Hamlin slid around him for the lead on lap two.
Hamlin, who led 138 of 200 laps en route to yesterday's victory, took control opening up more than a one-second lead over Johnson after just 10 laps. Hamlin kept the lead until lap 41 when Matt Kenseth finished a charge to the front by jumping past Hamlin for the lead.
But after a caution flag and a round of pit stops, Hamlin's No.11 Joe Gibbs Racing crew got him back out in first. The two were easily the best cars on the track, building a lead of more than three seconds before Kyle Petty brought out the fourth caution flag on lap 75.
On the next stop, three cars (Kurt Busch, Biffle and Edwards) used a two-tire change to gain track position. Kenseth and Hamlin came out fifth and sixth, but they didn't stay there. The No.17 Ford was a little better getting through traffic than Hamlin and by lap 100 Kenseth was back in first place while Hamlin had only moved up one spot.
Another car on the move was last week's NHIS winner - Clint Bowyer. Though he qualified a very poor 42nd, he was up to 14th just one-quarter of the way through the race.
By lap 130 Kenseth's lead was more than two seconds and climbing. He also had two teammates, Edwards and Biffle, with him in the top-four. As the field approached the 150-lap mark, Edwards began to eat into Kenseth's lead. Bowyer cracked the top-10 for the first time on lap 150.
Then some bad news for the race leader - his alternator began to malfunction. But it didn't seem to effect Kenseth's car as yet since he still held a two- second lead.
On lap 187 Johnson (right-tire failure) slapped the outside wall sending him down pit lane and down two laps to the leaders. Tony Stewart also had a problem as did Kevin Harvick (loose wheel) and the three "Chase" drivers were in trouble.
More "Chase" problems as Hamlin collided with Kyle Petty and had no brakes as he pulled the car into his garage for major repairs. And Bowyer's charge was interrupted when he was collected in the accident which crumpled the right- front fender.
With all the attrition, the race was now between Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Biffle and Edwards.
On lap 252, Kenseth clinched the "most laps led" bonus as he continued to pace the field. But on lap 266 Edwards got around Kenseth for the lead. Ever so slowly Edwards began to expand his lead. Meanwhile, Kenseth continued to fade as Mark Martin got around him.
With 112 laps to go, Edwards led Martin by 1.413 seconds, just before he headed to pit road for four tires and fuel.
The fastest car on the track was Kyle Busch, who was in fifth place. He also had the advantage that he could run until about lap 315 and from there reach the checkered flag on one tank of fuel.
Martin finally pitted from the lead on lap 310. Biffle inherited the lead, then Reed Sorenson, but with no caution flags everyone cycled through without incident.
Kenseth and Edwards were once again one-two, but they likely had to make one more stop. Meanwhile, Biffle, Kyle Busch and Sorenson might have made there last stop of the day.
Edwards went underneath Kenseth for the lead with 80 laps remaining. He was also the "de facto" points leader. The No.99 Ford's lead was 2.642 seconds with 60 laps remaining and just nine cars on the lead lap.
In fact, there were just two other cars within 14 seconds of Edwards (Kenseth, Martin). Biffle was fourth, more than 14 seconds back, but if he could go the distance, he would still have a shot at the win. Edwards lapped both Kurt and Kyle Busch and now just six cars were on the lead lap.
A caution flag with 46 laps to go set up a decision for the crew chiefs - pit or stay out.
Edwards, Kenseth and Martin would certainly pit, but Biffle and the others who pitted after lap 310 had an important decision to make. Biffle stopped too. Kenseth's 12.8-second stop trumped the 14.8-second stop of Edwards' crew and he became the race leader with 42 laps remaining.
With 38 laps to go Edwards retook the lead just as an accident took place behind them involving John Andretti, Tony Raines and David Reutimann to slow the race to a crawl.
Surprisingly, Kenseth came down pit road. He called in that he was running on only seven cylinders and overheating. They checked it out, but sent him back onto the track without making any repairs. it put him in fifth place.
The cleanup took some time and the race restarted with just 27 laps to go after a short "red flag" period.
Edwards got a great jump on the restart and Martin, in second got caught behind Kyle Busch. But half a lap later Kenseth's engine exploded bringing out caution number 10 and slowing the field.
"Some things you just can't do anything about," said Kenseth. "I don't have a bad thing to say about Roush Yates engines, they've won more races for me than they can ever lose...I think this is the first one I've blown up in probably two years."
The green flag dropped with 22 laps to go and again Edwards got off to a great restart and again a caution flag slowed the race. This time it was Robby Gordon getting "aero-loose" and hitting the outside wall.
Edwards began the 17-lap shootout by jumping to a six-length lead. Then came Dover's version of the "Big One" as Kurt Busch got sideways, bounced off the wall and Ryan Newman and started a chain-reaction melee behind him that collected a total of 12 cars. Thus started the second red flag of the afternoon.
After the cleanup, there were just 11 laps remaining to be run. Edwards again got a great restart, but NASCAR spotted some debris, probably from the Truex Jr. car, and slowed the race one more time.
The final restart came with four laps to go. Edwards' main competition was from Biffle in third, but with four fresh tires. Biffle easily got around Martin for second and was just five lengths behind Edwards. But Edwards was not to be denied and he held it together over the final laps for the win.
"That was a lot of fun, but those red flags were killing me," said Edwards.
Jeff Gordon (5,340), who finished 11th, holds on to the points lead, but just barely. Behind him is Tony Stewart (-2), Edwards (-3) and Johnson (-4). The next race in the "Chase" is scheduled for Sunday at the Kansas Speedway.
