Nascar Blog

Here are some of the racing incidents that Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski have been involved in.

Here is the most recent crash from Atlanta, this is the one where Carl paid Brad back:

This video includes where Carl came down on Brad and he wrecked in Atlanta earlier that same day:

Here is a video from the wild finish at Talladega last year where people were hurt with debris:

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Nascar is holding a news conference today at 12:30 PM, it should’ve already started by now, but the live video feed hasn’t updated yet, check here. Update: It has started now. The short of it sounds like Carl is going on probation for the next three races. Yawn. It’s a racing deal I say, suspension would’ve been too much punishment as this has been building up for awhile. The audio on the news feed is very low for some reason, so not sure what kind of questions he is being asked.

Below are some of the videos taken at the speedway featuring the wreck caused by Carl.

In the other news, Kurt Busch wins the spring Atlanta race, taking advantage of the wreck caused by Carl and Brad and holding off Matt Kenseth for the win.

Here is how they finished:
1 11 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 190/5 341 Running 176,498
2 14 17 Matt Kenseth Ford Valvoline 170/0 341 Running 170,151
3 3 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet Target 170/5 341 Running 149,306
4 6 9 Kasey Kahne Ford Budweiser 170/10 341 Running 146,890
5 23 98 Paul Menard Ford CertainTeed / Menards 160/5 341 Running 100,750
6 25 43 A.J. Allmendinger Ford Insignia / Best Buy 150/0 341 Running 120,926
7 26 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull 146/0 341 Running 117,623
8 13 16 Greg Biffle Ford U.S. Census 142/0 341 Running 88,525
9 35 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 138/0 341 Running 127,776
10 32 82 Scott Speed Toyota Red Bull 134/0 341 Running 97,398
11 12 47 Marcos Ambrose Toyota Lance Snacks / Tom’s Snacks 130/0 341 Running 106,973
12 16 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe’s / Kobalt Tools 127/0 341 Running 128,178
13 15 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet Office Depot / Old Spice 124/0 341 Running 114,198
14 38 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet Furniture Row Companies 121/0 341 Running 84,925
15 1 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Amp Energy / National Guard 118/0 341 Running 92,425
16 34 21 Bill Elliott Ford Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center 120/5 341 Running 73,575
17 7 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet Tornados 112/0 341 Running 103,604
18 5 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet National Guard / DuPont 109/0 341 Running 119,426
19 8 19 Elliott Sadler Ford Hunt Brothers Pizza 111/5 341 Running 83,450
20 22 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Caterpillar 108/5 341 Running 111,815
21 20 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Office 105/5 341 Running 91,200
22 21 71 Bobby Labonte Chevrolet TaxSlayer.com 97/0 341 Running 74,575
23 18 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet BB&T 99/5 341 Running 83,225
24 30 36 Mike Bliss Chevrolet Wave Energy Drink 96/5 341 Running 70,775
25 2 18 Kyle Busch Toyota M&M’s 93/5 341 Running 125,556
26 37 38 David Gilliland Ford Charter Air Transport / Taco Bell 90/5 341 Running 92,710
27 19 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota NAPA Auto Parts 82/0 341 Running 79,275
28 36 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge Mobil 1 79/0 340 Running 81,025
29 24 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker 76/0 340 Running 107,479
30 40 34 Travis Kvapil Ford Long John Silver’s 73/0 339 Running 74,200
31 41 37 Kevin Conway * Ford Extenze 70/0 334 Running 88,698
32 42 26 Boris Said Ford Sacred Power / Southern Pride Trucking 67/0 333 Running 77,525
33 4 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet HendrickCars.com / GoDaddy.com 64/0 331 Accident 90,650
34 31 13 Max Papis Toyota GEICO 61/0 329 Running 69,375
35 29 20 Joey Logano Toyota The Home Depot 58/0 323 Running 105,580
36 28 12 Brad Keselowski Dodge Mopar / FLO TV 55/0 322 Accident 96,065
37 17 6 David Ragan Ford UPS 52/0 211 Running 77,270
38 33 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota FrontRowJoe.com 54/5 175 Clutch 69,235
39 10 99 Carl Edwards Ford Scotts 46/0 170 Parked 105,023
40 9 00 David Reutimann Toyota Aaron’s Dream Machine 43/0 167 Overheating 99,566
41 27 66 Dave Blaney Toyota Prism Motorsports 40/0 48 Brakes 69,115
42 43 55 Michael McDowell Toyota Prism Motorsports 37/0 37 Transmission 69,065
43 39 7 Robby Gordon Toyota Warner Music Nashville / Blake Shelton 34/0 3 Accident 80,702

The field is set and ready to go for Loudon this weekend.

1 Mark Martin 5040
2 Tony Stewart 5030
3 Jimmie Johnson 5030
4 Denny Hamlin 5020
5 Kasey Kahne 5020
6 Jeff Gordon 5010
7 Kurt Busch 5010
8 Brian Vickers 5010
9 Carl Edwards 5000
10 Ryan Newman 5000
11 Juan Montoya 5000
12 Greg Biffle 5000

Whose your pick and why?

I’m going with Gordon of course, he has been pretty consistent this year, the chase races aren’t typically his best but I think they can do it this year. He would be going for his 7th title under the old point system, but I guess I’ll get over that one day. All he needs is to run up front the first few races and return to dominating at Fontana, Charlotte, Martinsville and Talladega, that’s not much to ask, is it?

Shop for Jeff Gordon Gear

I think it was my fault Jeff Gordon hadn’t broken the winless streak until today, I had picked him to win almost every race this year, and he could’ve one most of them, so, sorry about that Jeff, maybe I’ll no longer make any predictions.

Jeff Gordon was not the most dominant car all day, for sure, but he was when it counted, running some of his fastest laps and at one point, the announcers said he had just run the fastest lap of anyone that day, and that was in the last run with about 26 laps to go. It looked like Jimmie Johnson was coming up fast a couple times, but both times he faded back a bit and looked as though he was just pushing it to the limit to try to catch him. He might’ve been able to do it if it was the Samsung 510 or so, but just ran out of time today.

For you Carl Edwards fans, I know it sure helped Gordon out that they had trouble in the pits, not sure if he could’ve beat Gordon at the end, but it would’ve been fun to watch him and Jimmie both trying to get him. Biffle also had some trouble and could’ve possible won this race as well, but, I guess that’s why they go ahead and race the race instead of just guessing who’s going to win, just like football, that’s why they play the game.

Now, if Gordon can win at Homestead and the title, I think this year would be complete.

Here is how they finished:
1 - 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet National Guard GED Plus / DuPont 195/10 334 Running
2 - 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe’s / Kobalt “Tough Tools for Cool Schools” 175/5 334 Running
3 - 16 Greg Biffle Ford 3M 170/5 334 Running
4 - 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet Old Spice / Office Depot 165/5 334 Running
5 - 17 Matt Kenseth Ford Dewalt 160/5 334 Running
6 - 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet Cheez-It / Carquest 155/5 334 Running
7 - 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet Target 146/0 334 Running
8 - 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 147/5 334 Running
9 - 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Caterpillar 138/0 334 Running
10 - 99 Carl Edwards Ford Aflac 139/5 334 Running
11 - 00 David Reutimann Toyota Aaron’s Dream Machine 135/5 334 Running
12 - 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Ground 127/0 334 Running
13 - 98 Paul Menard Ford Quaker State / Menards 129/5 334 Running
14 - 12 David Stremme Dodge Penske Racing 121/0 334 Running
15 - 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet U.S. Army 118/0 334 Running
16 - 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull 120/5 334 Running
17 - 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge Mobil 1 112/0 334 Running
18 - 18 Kyle Busch Toyota Interstate Batteries 114/5 334 Running
19 - 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Budweiser 106/0 334 Running
20 - 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Amp Energy / National Guard 108/5 334 Running
21 - 07 Casey Mears Chevrolet Jack Daniel’s 100/0 334 Running
22 - 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Cheerios / Hamburger Helper 97/0 334 Running
23 - 25 Brad Keselowski Chevrolet GoDaddy.com 94/0 332 Running
24 - 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota NAPA 91/0 332 Running
25 - 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker 88/0 332 Running
26 - 34 John Andretti Chevrolet MyAutoLoan.com 85/0 332 Running
27 - 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 82/0 331 Running
28 - 21 Bill Elliott Ford Motorcraft 79/0 331 Running
29 - 171 David Gilliland Chevrolet Capital Window 76/0 330 Running
30 - 20 Joey Logano Toyota The Home Depot 73/0 330 Running
31 - 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet Furniture Row Companies 70/0 330 Running
32 - 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge Best Buy 67/0 329 Running
33 - 8 Aric Almirola Chevrolet Guitar Hero 64/0 328 Running
34 - 44 A.J. Allmendinger Dodge Super 8 61/0 328 Running
35 - 113 Max Papis Toyota GEICO 58/0 326 Running
36 - 43 Reed Sorenson Dodge McDonald’s 55/0 315 Running
37 - 6 David Ragan Ford UPS 57/5 293 Out of Race
38 - 26 Jamie McMurray Ford Sears Auto Center / Valvoline 49/0 255 Running
39 - 7 Robby Gordon Toyota Jim Beam 46/0 249 Out of Race
40 - 96 Bobby Labonte Ford Ask.com 43/0 229 In Pit
41 - 47 Marcos Ambrose Toyota Clorox / Kingsford / Little Debbie 40/0 216 Out of Race
42 - 09 Mike Bliss Dodge Phoenix Racing 37/0 76 In Pit
43 - 66 Dave Blaney Toyota Prism Motorsports 34/0 48 In Pit

Here are the top 12 in points as of Texas:
1. Jeff Gordon 1154
2. Jimmie Johnson 992 -162
3. Kurt Busch 974 -180
4. Clint Bowyer 967 -187
5. Tony Stewart 963 -191
6. Denny Hamlin 938 -216
7. Kyle Busch 914 -240
8. Carl Edwards 889 -265
9. Matt Kenseth 864 -290
10. Kasey Kahne 851 -303
11. David Reutimann 845 -309
12. Jeff Burton 835 -319

I know this is a late posting, but I just wanted to make sure I commented on a couple things before they were too far in the past. The first was that attempted pass on Jimmie Johnson by Carl Edwards to win the race. I figured out why it didn’t work for him, he let off the gas, he had too. Anytime I have pulled a move like that in a Nascar race in any video game, you have to hold it too the floor and try to keep your momentum up, if, at any point, he let off the gas to straighten himself up, then that is where he screwed up.

Here’s a video with Carl talking about it.

It was one hell of a try in my opinion and hopefully we can see more all out action like this in the future. Nascar.com even put up an article with drivers with similar moves and stories here called Drivers respect Edwards’ last-lap effort at Kansas.

The other thing I thought was hilarious was when Tony Stewart wrecked himself when he tried to spin Brian Vickers during this race, because, earlier Vickers had kind of blocked Stewart in the pits, so I think he was trying to spin him as payback. Check it out.
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Here are a couple of the good videos between Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards at Bristol Motor Speedway:

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Whether you like Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth or Carl Edwards or not, you have to admit, they made the race in Dover one of the most exciting finishes in awhile. I’m a Gordon fan, but this was a great finish no matter who your favorite driver is, and it kind of looked like Jimmie Johnson was going to add to the excitement for a few minutes, but he faded and finished fifth. Carl made some runs near the end but he faded as well as they only took on two tires while everyone else took on four.

At a place where most of the patrons double down, Greg Biffle doubled up on last week’s victory at New Hampshire with a thrilling win Sunday in the Camping World RV 400 Sprint Cup race at Dover International Speedway (watch video).

With a determined run down the backstretch, in the shadow of the Dover Downs Hotel and Casino, Biffle passed Roush Fenway Racing teammate Matt Kenseth on Lap 392 and opened a lead that reached .934 seconds at the finish.

Carl Edwards ran third behind his two Roush teammates, after taking two tires on his final pit stop on Lap 352 under caution. Edwards restarted in the lead on Lap 357 but couldn’t hold it, as Kenseth surged past Edwards and Biffle to claim the top spot on Lap 378.

From that point, Biffle made repeated runs at Kenseth, who tried to protect the outside line but finally fell victim to Biffle’s No. 16 Ford. Mark Martin finished fourth, followed by Jimmie Johnson, as Roush Fenway cars finished 1-2-3 for the first time since sweeping the top four spots at Homestead-Miami in November 2005. Source: Biffle becomes serious title threat with second victory

Kyle Busch extended his slide to two races, finishing 43rd and dropping to 12th in points, he even said that is was over for them as the same exact thing happened to them two years and they finished last in points. Now, I have been complaining about the Chase, but, it’s certainly possible for them to make a comeback with 8 races to go as they can gain 161 points, I believe, a race. But, he’s right it won’t happen, Biffle is hot, Johnson is going strong and Carl Edwards could win it easily as well.

I predict Jeff Gordon will finish 4th or 5th in points after the race in Kansas, 2nd or 3rd after the next race in Talladega, and will take the points lead at the race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway or Martinsville, all strong races for Gordon, and he will cruise on to his first Chase for the Cup championship. But, that’s just my opinion, I could be wrong.

Here are the Chase standings after the Camping World RV 400:
1. — Carl Edwards 5390 —
2. — Jimmie Johnson 5380 -10
3. — Greg Biffle 5380 -10
4. +1 Jeff Burton 5308 -82
5. +5 Kevin Harvick 5289 -101
6. +3 Clint Bowyer 5284 -106
7. — Tony Stewart 5277 -113
8. +3 Jeff Gordon 5272 -118
9. -5 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 5261 -129
10. +2 Matt Kenseth 5223 -167
11. -5 Denny Hamlin 5197 -193
12. -4 Kyle Busch 5180 -210

Here is how they finished:
1 5 16 Greg Biffle Ford 3M 190/5 400 Running 218,450
2 8 17 Matt Kenseth Ford DEWALT 180/10 400 Running 208,041
3 22 99 Carl Edwards Ford Office Depot 170/5 400 Running 175,150
4 2 8 Mark Martin Chevrolet U.S. Army 160/0 400 Running 154,508
5 20 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe’s 160/5 400 Running 162,711
6 24 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 155/5 400 Running 139,461
7 1 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont 151/5 400 Running 146,011
8 6 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Jack Daniel’s 147/5 400 Running 100,625
9 21 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet AT&T Mobility 138/0 400 Running 125,183
10 40 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota NAPA AUTO PARTS 139/5 400 Running 118,783
11 33 20 Tony Stewart Toyota The Home Depot 130/0 400 Running 125,711
12 37 22 Dave Blaney Toyota Caterpillar 127/0 400 Running 95,433
13 19 12 Ryan Newman Dodge Alltel 124/0 400 Running 116,100
14 42 43 Bobby Labonte Dodge Cheerios / Betty Crocker 121/0 400 Running 113,461
15 31 5 Casey Mears Chevrolet Kellogg’s / CARQUEST 118/0 400 Running 91,275
16 30 84 A.J. Allmendinger Toyota Red Bull 115/0 400 Running 75,025
17 14 44 David Reutimann Toyota UPS 112/0 399 Running 74,725
18 23 6 David Ragan Ford AAA Insurance 109/0 399 Running 82,750
19 7 38 David Gilliland Ford Ford. Drive one. 106/0 399 Running 88,483
20 16 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker 103/0 399 Running 105,308
21 34 15 Paul Menard Chevrolet Pittsburgh Paints / Menards 100/0 398 Running 81,500
22 41 7 Robby Gordon Dodge Menards 97/0 398 Running 94,758
23 15 28 Travis Kvapil Ford Hitachi Power Tools 94/0 397 Running 101,164
24 10 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet National Guard / AMP Energy 91/0 397 Running 80,750
25 32 66 Scott Riggs Chevrolet State Water Heaters 88/0 397 Running 82,522
26 36 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Budweiser 85/0 397 Running 102,216
27 12 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge McDonald’s 82/0 397 Running 98,320
28 13 70 Tony Raines Chevrolet Haas Automation 79/0 396 Running 68,825
29 28 00 Michael McDowell Toyota Champion Mortgage 76/0 395 Running 73,175
30 39 41 Reed Sorenson Dodge Target 73/0 395 Running 98,739
31 18 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull 70/0 395 Running 76,350
32 29 21 Marcos Ambrose Ford Little Debbie 67/0 395 Running 86,495
33 43 96 Ken Schrader Toyota DLP HDTV 64/0 394 Running 76,950
34 4 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 61/0 394 Running 67,825
35 27 78 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet Furniture Row/DenverMattress.com 58/0 388 Running 67,600
36 9 26 Jamie McMurray Ford IRWIN Industrial Tools 60/5 369 Running 75,450
37 26 01 Regan Smith Chevrolet DEI / Principal Financial Group 52/0 365 Running 75,325
38 3 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Ground 49/0 362 Running 102,266
39 35 42 Juan Montoya Dodge Big Red Slim Pack 46/0 351 Accident 94,933
40 38 45 Kyle Petty Dodge Wells Fargo 43/0 349 Running 66,875
41 17 10 Patrick Carpentier Dodge Charter Comm. 40/0 348 Running 66,680
42 25 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge Mobil 1 37/0 304 Accident 112,130
43 11 18 Kyle Busch Toyota Interstate Batteries 34/0 172 Engine 84,782

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

I’m not talking about black jack either. Carl Edwards held off Dale Earnhardt Jr. at the end to win the UAW-Dodge 400 in Las Vegas. It looked like it was going to get really interesting there at the end, until Jeff Gordon got tight and drifted up into Matt Kenseth, and hit the inside wall HARD, very, very hard to take himself out. He said afterwards that it was the hardest hit he’s ever taken, and this is in the COT, the safest car Nascar has ever used. Jeff said had he been in an older car, he might not be here right now and he definitely wants to talk to the track owners about it, hoping to get the safer barriers on all of the inside walls as well as the one around the track.

With the help of a judgment call from NASCAR, which opted not to penalize Edwards after a tire rolled away on pit road, Edwards streaked to victory in the UAW-Dodge 400 Sprint Cup race Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

In a two-lap dash after NASCAR stopped the race for nearly 18 minutes to clean the track in the wake of a wreck that wiped out contenders Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon, Edwards pulled away from Dale Earnhardt Jr. to win by .504 seconds.

The victory gave Edwards the series points lead for the first time in his career, by 21 points over Las Vegas pole-sitter Kyle Busch (11th Sunday) and by 41 over Daytona 500 winner Ryan Newman (14th). If Edwards remains atop the standings before the next race remains to be seen after NASCAR found an “issue” with the 99 car in post-race inspection. Source: Edwards pulls away from Junior to win at Las Vegas

The issue with the 99 car was the lid on the oil reservoir encasement, or the oil tank box, was off, while similar to an issue at Daytona with the Nationwide series cars, the lids on their cars were just loose while Carl’s was completely off. Those five cars were penalized 25 driver and owners points for the infraction.

Jimmie Johnson, the race favorite going in, finished 29th, Tony Stewart finished 43, Jeff Gordon had his second DNF so far this year, compared to only one of all last season. AJ Allmendinger could be out of a ride, temporarily at least, as they have failed to make any of the three races so far this season.

Here is how they finished:
1 2 99 Carl Edwards Ford Dish Network 195/10 267 Running 425,675
2 8 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet National Guard / AMP Energy 175/5 267 Running 252,000
3 6 16 Greg Biffle Ford 3M 165/0 267 Running 205,800
4 17 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 160/0 267 Running 200,636
5 24 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet AT&T Mobility 160/5 267 Running 178,083
6 37 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Budweiser 150/0 267 Running 157,616
7 38 6 David Ragan Ford AAA Insurance 146/0 267 Running 124,450
8 29 28 Travis Kvapil Ford Yates Racing 142/0 267 Running 140,264
9 27 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Kinko’s 138/0 267 Running 144,441
10 3 8 Mark Martin Chevrolet U.S. Army 139/5 267 Running 140,983
11 1 18 Kyle Busch Toyota M&M’s 135/5 267 Running 131,575
12 10 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge Stanley Tools 127/0 267 Running 129,170
13 11 5 Casey Mears Chevrolet Pop-Tarts / CARQUEST 124/0 267 Running 116,975
14 15 12 Ryan Newman Dodge ALLTEL 121/0 267 Running 144,400
15 18 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker 118/0 267 Running 131,208
16 23 70 Jeremy Mayfield Chevrolet Haas Automation 115/0 267 Running 99,175
17 39 43 Bobby Labonte Dodge Cheerios “Circle of Helping Hearts” 112/0 267 Running 134,311
18 35 41 Reed Sorenson Dodge Target 109/0 267 Running 123,489
19 31 42 Juan Montoya Dodge Texaco / Havoline 106/0 267 Running 123,083
20 13 17 Matt Kenseth Ford USG Sheetrock 108/5 267 Running 141,166
21 19 49 Ken Schrader Dodge Qtrax.com 100/0 267 Running 108,033
22 40 15 Paul Menard Chevrolet Johns Manville / Menards 97/0 266 Running 100,075
23 34 38 David Gilliland Ford FreeCreditReport.com 94/0 266 Running 108,083
24 43 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull 91/0 266 Running 89,850
25 36 26 Jamie McMurray Ford Crown Royal 88/0 266 Running 97,350
26 26 22 Dave Blaney Toyota Caterpillar 85/0 266 Running 101,508
27 30 96 J.J. Yeley Toyota DLP HDTV 82/0 266 Running 91,850
28 21 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Jack Daniel’s 79/0 265 Running 100,850
29 33 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe’s 76/0 265 Running 136,786
30 5 27 Mike Skinner Toyota Bad Boy Mowers 73/0 265 Running 82,875
31 22 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota NAPA AUTO PARTS 70/0 265 Running 93,833
32 41 45 Kyle Petty Dodge Wells Fargo 67/0 265 Running 91,522
33 42 40 Dario Franchitti * Dodge Target 64/0 265 Running 92,225
34 28 01 Regan Smith * Chevrolet Coors Light 61/0 264 Running 89,575
35 4 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Nicorette / DuPont 63/5 262 Accident 130,286
36 7 66 Scott Riggs Chevrolet State Water Heaters 60/5 260 Running 81,150
37 14 00 David Reutimann Toyota Aaron’s Dream Machine 52/0 258 Running 80,925
38 9 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 49/0 255 Accident 80,725
39 16 44 Dale Jarrett Toyota UPS 46/0 231 Accident 80,525
40 12 10 Patrick Carpentier * Dodge Valvoline 43/0 182 Accident 80,275
41 20 77 Sam Hornish Jr. * Dodge Mobil 1 40/0 152 Running 125,650
42 32 7 Robby Gordon Dodge Jim Beam 37/0 142 Accident 87,930
43 25 20 Tony Stewart Toyota The Home Depot 39/5 107 Accident 128,839

Here are the top 12 points positions as of right now:
1 +4 Carl Edwards 491 Leader
2 -1 Kyle Busch 470 -21
3 -1 Ryan Newman 450 -41
4 +2 Kasey Kahne 444 -47
5 +2 Kevin Harvick 428 -63
6 +3 Greg Biffle 427 -64
7 +3 Jeff Burton 421 -70
8 +4 Martin Truex Jr. 371 -120
9 +4 Elliott Sadler 368 -123
10 +13 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 361 -130
11 -8 Tony Stewart 355 -136
12 -8 Kurt Busch 348 -143

Slow posting this I know, but I didn’t get to watch hardly any of it, so, I’m in no rush, even with Gordon finishing third. With all of the delays for weepers, rain, etc, I think I only saw about 20 laps of this race, I changed channels after they quit covering it, so I missed whatever laps they ran Sunday evening, and work knocked me out of seeing it on Monday as well. Apparently, Carl Edwards ran well, as did Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon.

The difference was night and day.

Under blue skies Monday, some 21 hours after the race had started, Carl Edwards put the finishing touches on the rain-delayed Auto Club 500 at beleaguered Auto Club Speedway.

After caution flew on the final lap for Dale Jarrett’s spin, Edwards crossed the finish ahead of runner-up Jimmie Johnson and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon, who atoned for disappointing finishes in the Feb. 17 Daytona 500.

Kyle Busch claimed the Sprint Cup points lead with a fourth-place finish in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, and Matt Kenseth, who had won the previous two February races at the 2-mile track, ran fifth. Martin Truex Jr., Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne and Daytona 500 winner Ryan Newman completed the top 10. Source: Edwards wins at Fontana on a sunny California day

Kyle Busch claimed the points lead, I don’t think this is his first time leading the points, but I’m not sure off the top of my big melon head. Gordon said his car blew in turn 2 of the final lap, so, thanks to Dale Jarrett for bringing out the caution on the final lap to freeze the field.

Here is how they finished:

1 9 99 Carl Edwards Ford Dish Network 190/5 250 Running 340,500
2 1 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe’s 180/10 250 Running 252,336
3 2 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont Cromax Pro 170/5 250 Running 214,186
4 22 18 Kyle Busch Toyota Interstate Batteries 165/5 250 Running 154,050
5 4 17 Matt Kenseth Ford Carhartt 160/5 250 Running 169,841
6 11 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker 150/0 250 Running 144,308
7 6 20 Tony Stewart Toyota The Home Depot 146/0 250 Running 158,061
8 10 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 147/5 250 Running 148,761
9 20 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Budweiser 143/5 250 Running 133,616
10 13 12 Ryan Newman Dodge Samsung HDTV / ALLTEL 139/5 250 Running 143,625
11 39 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull 130/0 250 Running 98,700
12 8 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet AT&T Mobility 132/5 250 Running 142,258
13 36 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 124/0 250 Running 92,800
14 24 6 David Ragan Ford AAA Insurance So. Cal. 121/0 250 Running 104,850
15 14 16 Greg Biffle Ford 3M 123/5 250 Running 104,350
16 16 8 Mark Martin Chevrolet Principal Financial Group / Mark Martin’s 700th start 115/0 250 Running 128,208
17 32 38 David Gilliland Ford FreeCreditRep
ort.com 112/0 250 Running 111,508
18 28 7 Robby Gordon Dodge Jim Beam 114/5 250 Running 116,708
19 3 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet DIRECTV 106/0 250 Running 106,150
20 21 42 Juan Montoya Dodge Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit 103/0 250 Running 121,508
21 31 66 Scott Riggs Chevrolet Haas Automation 100/0 250 Running 104,708
22 18 26 Jamie McMurray Ford Crown Royal 102/5 250 Running 97,850
23 40 00 David Reutimann Toyota Aaron’s Dream Machine 94/0 249 Running 101,758
24 27 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge U2 3D / Best Buy 91/0 249 Running 114,770
25 19 43 Bobby Labonte Dodge Hamburger Helper “My Hometown Helper” 88/0 249 Running 125,136
26 38 21 Bill Elliott Ford Little Debbie 85/0 249 Running 105,345
27 29 15 Paul Menard Chevrolet Quaker State / Menards 82/0 248 Running 94,300
28 41 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota NAPA AUTO PARTS 79/0 248 Running 92,247
29 25 96 J.J. Yeley Toyota DLP HDTV 76/0 248 Running 93,500
30 34 22 Dave Blaney Toyota CAT Paving Products 73/0 248 Running 85,250
31 17 01 Regan Smith * Chevrolet Coors Light 70/0 248 Running 91,575
32 26 40 Dario Franchitti * Dodge Target 72/5 248 Running 89,875
33 37 44 Dale Jarrett Toyota UPS 69/5 247 Running 82,600
34 43 78 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet Furniture Row
/ DenverMattress.com 61/0 246 Running 81,450
35 42 34 John Andretti Chevrolet Front Row Motorsports 63/5 245 Running 81,225
36 30 28 Travis Kvapil Ford Yates Racing 55/0 242 Running 108,289
37 23 41 Reed Sorenson Dodge Energizer e2 Lithium 52/0 240 Running 108,064
38 35 45 Kyle Petty Dodge Wells Fargo 49/0 236 Running 80,600
39 33 70 Jeremy Mayfield Chevrolet Haas Automation 46/0 231 Running 80,480
40 15 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet AMP Energy / National Guard 43/0 203 Running 88,325
41 12 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Freight 40/0 193 Running 115,191
42 5 5 Casey Mears Chevrolet CARQUEST / Kellogg’s 37/0 20 Accident 98,110
43 7 77 Sam Hornish Jr. * Dodge Mobil 1 34/0 20 Accident 125,539

Here are the top 12 in points so far this year:
1 +3 Kyle Busch 335 Leader 2 0 0 2 2
2 -1 Ryan Newman 329 -6 2 0 1 1 2
3 — Tony Stewart 316 -19 2 0 0 1 2
4 -2 Kurt Busch 299 -36 2 0 0 1 1
5 +13 Carl Edwards 296 -39 2 0 1 1 1
6 — Kasey Kahne 294 -41 2 0 0 0 2
7 +6 Kevin Harvick 268 -67 2 0 0 0 1
8 +17 Jimmie Johnson 267 -68 2 1 0 1 1
9 — Greg Biffle 262 -73 2 0 0 0 1
10 +1 Jeff Burton 261 -74 2 0 0 0 0
11 +1 Brian Vickers 257 -78 2 0 0 0 0
12 +7 Martin Truex Jr. 253 -82 2 0 0 0 1

That top 12 is pretty solid, it’s only missing Jeff Gordon, who is in 14th, Denny Hamlin, who is in 31st, and possibly Dale Earnhardt Jr., who is in 23rd.