The win was not without some controversy as Edwards' crew let a tire roll across pit road during a late race pit stop. NASCAR decided not to penalize him which left the door open for him to do his famous post-race backflip.
Qualifying
Kyle Busch in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was fastest in qualifying. Carl Edwards was on the outside of the front row in his Roush-Fenway Ford. Part-timer Mark Martin qualified third in his Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet.
Jeff Gordon and Mike Skinner rounded out the top five.
Drop Of The Green
Kyle Busch jumped out to the early lead and held onto the top spot through the first caution. On lap 21 last Week's winner Carl Edwards showed that his Roush Fenway Ford is for real in 2008 and took over the lead.
Greg Biffle and Jeff Gordon maintained their positions in the lead pack as the early racing was uneventful.
Storylines
Carl Edwards dodged a bullet in the pits when a tire from his crew rolled across pit road. The penalty for that infraction is to go to the end of the longest line on the restart. However NASCAR ruled that a cameramen was in the way and waived the penalty since this was beyond the control of the crew.
Carl Edwards remained in position to challenge for the win. If NASCAR had enforced the penalty this race would likely have gone to Dale Earnhardt Jr. or Jeff Gordon. Edwards went on to take full advantage of this non-penalty.
I am sure that Earnhardt fans disagree but I like this non-call by NASCAR. This penalty was byond the team's control and they shouldn't be penalized for something that the media caused.
Chasing The Checkers
A late green flag flew with only five laps to go. Carl Edwards restarted out front with a very fast car. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon were lined up behind him in single file.
Earnhardt blew the restart and Kenseth and Gordon split him on the restart. Coming off of turn two Gordon slid up the track and clipped Kenseth. Those two crashed to the inside and Jeff Gordon plowed into the inside wall. This was the hardest hit that we have seen all year. I was glad to see Gordon climb out unhurt.
This brought out a red flag and set up a green-white-checkers finish.
Carl Edwards brought them down for the final restart. Dale Earnhardt Jr. got another chance to get past Edwards. Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton completed the top five.
Edwards got a great start and went on to claim his second win in a row. NASCAR fans got to enjoy Carl's second backflip in two weeks.
Top Ten
- Carl Edwards
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Greg Biffle
- Kevin Harvick
- Jeff Burton
- David Ragan
- Kasey Kahne
- Travis Kvapil
- Denny Hamlin
- Mark Martin
The Points
With two wins in thre races Carl Edwards passed Kyle Busch for the point lead. This is the first time in Edwards' career that he has lead the points.
The big mover in the points today was Dale Earnhardt Jr. Junior's second place finish moved him up 13 spots to tenth.
The top twelve are now:
- Carl Edwards
- Kyle Busch -21
- Ryan Newman -41
- Kasey Kahne -51
- Kevin Harvick -63
- Greg Biffle -64
- Jeff Burton -70
- Martin Truex Jr. -120
- Elliott Sadler -123
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. -130
- Tony Stewart -136
- Kurt Busch -143
Next Week
Next week the Sprint Cup series will turn its fastest laps so far in 2008. Atlanta Motor Speedway is one of the fastest tracks on the schedule. Teams will need a good handling car and a lot of motor to make their way to Victory Lane in Atlanta.
