Nascar Blog

You know, sometimes the commentators say some of the dumbest stuff I’ve ever heard, like today, DW said he bets that the complexion of the race will change after every pit stop and drivers and crew chiefs make adjustments to their cars.

Duh huh. Doesn’t that happen every week? Then you wonder if they are actually watching the same race you are when they say stuff like such and such is moving up, when they have actually already been moving up and are now falling back again. Ahh, Nascar, I swear that My Uncle and I could do a much better job and make it a lot more entertaining, although we’d probably get fined for cussing.

Anyway, Carl Edwards has shown once again how well he runs on the intermediate tracks, 8 of his 9 wins have been on intermediate tracks and he has 32 top fives, right at 25% of his total career starts. So, no real surprise here, and no real surprise that Gordon ran poorly here, but, this was only his second career finish in 43rd position.

I have a few friends complaining how poorly he has done compared to last year, etc, etc, but that isn’t the point anymore, as Jimmie Johnson has proven twice and Kurt Busch once, all you have to do is be in the top 12 at the end and then do good in the last ten races. Nascar isn’t about kicking ass all year long anymore, that’s what Gordon did last year and he didn’t win the title, Nascar is about being consistent and that is it, and then the last ten races are the ones you worry about. But I digress….

Carl Edwards’ signature back flip marked more than his third dominating performance of the 2008 Sprint Cup season.

In a green-white-checkered-flag finish that took Sunday’s Samsung 500 five laps beyond its scheduled distance of 334 laps, Edwards held off Jimmie Johnson at Texas Motor Speedway to win his third race of the season and the 10th of his career (watch video).

Edwards, who led a race-high 123 laps, crossed the finish line .399 seconds ahead of the two-time defending Cup champion. Kyle Busch ran third, followed by Ryan Newman and Denny Hamlin. Point’s leader Jeff Burton, Tony Stewart, Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth and Clint Bowyer completed the top 10. Source: Edwards cruises at Texas with third win of season

Here is how they finished:

1 2 99 Carl Edwards Ford Aflac 195/10 339 Running
2 5 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe’s 175/5 339 Running
3 3 18 Kyle Busch Toyota Interstate Batteries 170/5 339 Running
4 4 12 Ryan Newman Dodge Samsung HDTV / ALLTEL 160/0 339 Running
5 14 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Ground 155/0 339 Running
6 35 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Prilosec OTC 150/0 339 Running
7 24 20 Tony Stewart Toyota The Home Depot 146/0 339 Running
8 31 8 Mark Martin Chevrolet U.S. Army 142/0 339 Running
9 8 17 Matt Kenseth Ford DEWALT 143/5 339 Running
10 25 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Jack Daniel’s 134/0 339 Running
11 21 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 130/0 338 Running
12 1 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet National Guard / AMP Energy 132/5 338 Running
13 7 6 David Ragan Ford AAA Insurance 124/0 338 Running
14 32 26 Jamie McMurray Ford Crown Royal Cask No. 16 121/0 338 Running
15 41 38 David Gilliland Ford Yates Racing 118/0 338 Running
16 36 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull 115/0 338 Running
17 19 15 Paul Menard Chevrolet Quaker State / Menards 112/0 338 Running
18 38 28 Travis Kvapil Ford Yates Racing 109/0 338 Running
19 11 42 Juan Montoya Dodge Texaco / Havoline 106/0 337 Running
20 30 43 Bobby Labonte Dodge Cheerios Racing / Sam’s Club 103/0 337 Running
21 29 22 Dave Blaney Toyota Caterpillar 100/0 337 Running
22 22 5 Casey Mears Chevrolet Cheez-It / CARQUEST 97/0 337 Running
23 23 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 94/0 337 Running
24 42 41 Reed Sorenson Dodge Target 91/0 337 Running
25 10 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Budweiser 88/0 336 Running
26 26 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge Best Buy / Garmin 85/0 336 Running
27 13 66 Scott Riggs Chevrolet State Water Heaters 82/0 336 Running
28 27 10 Patrick Carpentier * Dodge Valvoline 79/0 335 Running
29 9 84 Mike Skinner Toyota Red Bull 76/0 334 Running
30 15 7 Robby Gordon Dodge Jim Beam 73/0 334 Running
31 20 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota NAPA AUTO PARTS 70/0 333 Running
32 17 77 Sam Hornish Jr. * Dodge Mobil 1 67/0 333 Running
33 40 00 Michael McDowell * Toyota Aaron’s Dream Machine 64/0 332 Running
34 28 21 Bill Elliott Ford Motorcraft 61/0 332 Running
35 34 01 Regan Smith * Chevrolet DEI / Principal Financial Group 58/0 331 Running
36 12 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker 60/5 330 Off Track
37 43 78 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet Furniture Row / DenverMattress.com 52/0 330 Running
38 39 70 Jeremy Mayfield Chevrolet Haas Automation 49/0 329 Running
39 16 16 Greg Biffle Ford DISH Network / DishDVRs 46/0 312 Running
40 37 34 John Andretti Chevrolet Front Row Motorsports 43/0 263 Off Track
41 6 44 David Reutimann Toyota UPS 40/0 253 Out of Race
42 33 96 J.J. Yeley Toyota DLP HDTV 37/0 173 Out of Race
43 18 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont 34/0 124 Out of Race

Here are the top 12 standings:

1 — Jeff Burton 1065 Leader 7 0 1 3 5
2 — Kevin Harvick 1006 -59 7 0 0 2 4
3 +2 Kyle Busch 1001 -64 7 1 1 4 4
4 — Dale Earnhardt Jr. 978 -87 7 1 0 3 5
5 +1 Tony Stewart 957 -108 7 0 0 3 5
6 +4 Jimmie Johnson 921 -144 7 1 0 3 3
7 +1 Denny Hamlin 913 -152 7 0 1 2 4
8 +3 Ryan Newman 901 -164 7 0 1 2 3
9 -6 Greg Biffle 901 -164 7 0 0 3 4
10 +4 Carl Edwards 881 -184 7 0 3 3 4
11 +1 Clint Bowyer 874 -191 7 0 0 1 4
12 -5 Kasey Kahne 874 -191 7 0 0 0 4