Victory Moves Edwards Up In Points As Other Chasers Have Rough Day

DOVER, Del. — Carl Edwards added to his growing reputation as the Concrete Conquerer and the standings in The Chase for the Nextel Cup tightened remarkably following Sunday afternoon’s wreck-strewn Dodge Dealers 400 at Dover Int’l Speedway.
The Missouri native hung onto the lead through six caution periods during the last 44 laps, including two red flags, to defeat fresh-tired Roush Fenway Racing teammate Greg Biffle by 0.6 seconds. Edwards performed his trademark victory back flip for the third time following a Cup race this season, including his August triumph at Bristol Motor Speedway, the other concrete track on the circuit.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. finally experienced a trouble-free race and finished third. Mark Martin, Kyle Busch and Casey Mears were the only others on the lead lap. Jeff Burton, Jamie McMurray, Tony Stewart and Juan Pablo Montoya filled the top 10.
Despite starting last and having his gasman hit on pit road by an errant wheel, Michael Waltrip came home 15th. It was that kind of day on the aptly-named Monster Mile, with 13 cautions for 66 laps holding the winning speed to just over 101 mph.
The only cloud in Edwards’s sunny day came at post-race inspection, where the right-rear corner of the Office Depot Ford was found to be a fraction of an inch too low. That would be a performance-reducing — rather than performance-enhancing — factor, but NASCAR has set a precedent of imposing a 25-point penalty for similar violations if not caused by on-track contact. A decision on whether to issue a penalty is expected by mid-week.       

FLAG WAVER: Carl Edwards celebrates his third NASCAR Nextel Cup triumph of the season Sunday afternoon at Dover Int'l Speedway. (Autostock Photo)

After his pit crew repaired a sticking throttle early in the race, Edwards hung around the leading group and survived a green flag pit stop without harm while another Roush Fenway teammate, Matt Kenseth, dominated the action. Kenseth led 192 of the 374 laps he completed before his engine blew. Edwards had passed Kenseth for the lead 12 laps earlier and stayed on the track during the caution for Kenseth’s oil spill.
Three more cautions were to follow, including a huge back straight crash at lap 386 touched off when Kurt Busch swerved into the outside wall, apparently a result of a cut right front tire. In addition to Kurt Busch, Chase participants Martin Truex, Jr. and Jimmie Johnson were swept into the 10-car melee, which required a red flag of nearly 12 minutes for cleanup.            
Truex’s crippled Chevy then caused the final caution by blowing its right front tire, scattering debris in its wake. Martin was second on the final restart and, like Edwards, was on older tires. With four green flag laps to settle the issue, passing Martin required just enough time and effort from Biffle and Earnhardt to keep Edwards safely in front.
“The only trouble we had was the throttle pedal hanging up,” Edwards said, adding, “We had a great battle with Matt (Kenseth). I was sorry to see him lose an engine. It was a great battle with Mark (Martin) too, but it got stressful with all those restarts.”
Winning crew chief Bob Osborne expanded on the team’s strategy.

SHOWDOWN: Kyle Petty confronts Denny Hamlin (in car) after Hamlin sent Petty's Dodge spinning into the wall Sunday at Dover. (Erik Perel/HHP Photo)

“We made a decision on our second-to-last pit stop (opportunity) to stay out. That put a big scare into us. We had to stop under the green flag while some of the others were able to run 15 or 20 laps longer,” he explained. “The cautions fell our way. At the end I had no intention of asking Carl to pit. It was tense at the end with all those yellows and reds.”
Among the Chasers, only Edwards was strong all day. Kyle Busch was fifth most of the last half of the race, but never made a move to the front. Truex was among the last half-dozen on the lead lap after a 120-lap green flag run from lap 235 to 355 whittled down the contenders, but couldn’t capitalize on it. 
Burton, Stewart, Gordon and Bowyer were left with the unfamiliar role of  mid-pack cars trying to get what they could out of a mediocre day. Johnson and 20th-place Kevin Harvick were laps down from tire trouble, while Kurt Busch was 29th after his crash, Kenseth 35th after his engine trouble, and Denny Hamlin 38th after a front straight tangle with Kyle Petty which produced a brief garage area confrontation.