Edwards charges to Texas victory for second win in a row

Texas Motor Speedway made the most of their brand new race date. Starting in the daylight and finishing under the lights the Dickies 500 delivered an interesting challenge for drivers and crews as they struggled to keep up with the changing track conditions. The finish was a thriller as Carl Edwards charged from sixth place in just eleven laps on new tires to beat Mark Martin who stayed out on old tires.

Qualifying

For the eighth time this season Ryan Newman put his Alltel Dodge on the pole. However, Ryan crashed on his second qualifying lap and was forced to start in the back in a backup car. He still gets credited with winning the pole, but must give up the track position since he didn't start the race in the same car that he qualified.

Jeff Gordon qualified on the outside of row one. Matt Kenseth and Joe Nemechek made up row two while Jeremy Mayfield rounded out the top five.

Drop The Green Flag

After inheriting the pole because of Newman's trouble Matt Kenseth lead the early laps with Jeff Gordon and Greg Biffle taking turns chasing him in second.

After the first caution Greg Biffle passed Kenseth for the lead and maintained the front spot for twelve laps. Biffle had to make an unscheduled pit stop under the green flag because he had a loose wheel. This dropped him from first all the way back to 43rd. Matt Kenseth retook the lead and held on for the rest of the early going.

Storylines

The Dickies 500 started during the day and finished up under the lights at Texas Motor Speedway. As the sun set and the track cooled it really changed the handling of the race cars. Matt Kenseth lead nearly the entire first half of the race, but then the sun began to set and he fell back.

It was nice to have someone different to talk about today. Both Casey Mears and Brian Vickers had strong runs going and took turns at the front of the pack. Combined these two drivers have zero wins in 181 career starts and it is nice to see some lesser names have strong runs.

Chasing The Checkers

On the final restart with eleven laps to go Mark Martin stayed out on old tires are restarted from the lead. Carl Edwards was the leader before the caution but he pitted for fresh rubber and restarted in sixth.

Mark got clear on the restart and tried to get away while Carl Edwards worked his way through traffic. Matt Kenseth was in second, also on old rubber.

With two to go Carl Edwards got a run on Martin and used his fresh rubber to pass him as they charged up the back stretch. Carl was able to hold on to score the win over teammates Mark Martin and Matt Kenseth.

Top Ten

1. Carl Edwards
2. Mark Martin
3. Matt Kenseth
4. Casey Mears
5. Jimmie Johnson
6. Tony Stewart
7. Denny Hamlin
8. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
9. Elliott Sadler
10. Kurt Busch

The Points

Tony Stewart basically maintained his slim lead over Jimmie Johnson as Johnson only gained five points on him today. Carl Edwards' second win in a row has vaulted him up to third in the points.

With only two races remaining Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson will take this battle to the wire. Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle and Mark Martin can only watch from a distance and hope for a miracle.

The Chase points are now:

1. Tony Stewart -0
2. Jimmie Johnson -38
3. Carl Edwards -77
4. Greg Biffle -122
5. Mark Martin -123
6. Matt Kenseth -135
7. Ryan Newman -174
8. Kurt Busch -281
9. Rusty Wallace -315
10. Jeremy Mayfield -407

Next Week

The NEXTEL Cup teams have to make one more long haul out west as they head out to Phoenix International Raceway for the next to last race of the season.

Phoenix is a tricky one mile oval that hosted two races in 2005 for the first time. In the spring Kurt Busch scored the victory with Michael Waltrip hot on his heels. Will Roush drivers win again? Can anyone catch Tony Stewart for the point lead?