CP MOTORSPORTS - EDWARDS OUTLASTS COMPETITION IN SOUTHERN 500 VICTORY
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Winning in NASCAR is a team sport. From the top executives all the way down to the pit crews. It's difficult to win if the chain is not strong, link by link.
Just ask Carl Edwards.
"Well, I feel like my pit crew ought to be sitting up here doing interviews," Edwards said. "They won that race for us. It was just amazing to come down third and to go out leading the race."
Edwards won the prestigious Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway Sunday night thanks to a timely exchange of pit stops while under caution with ten laps to go. Edwards, driving the No. 19 Arris Toyota, beat then race leader Brad Keselowski off of pit road to take the lead for the race's final restart.
Edwards feels honored to be amongst legends as the newest Southern 500 champion.
"I feel like it's an honor to drive here," Edwards said. "Tonight just was really special for a number of reasons, not just because it's the Southern 500 but because of how well my crew worked on pit road, how well (crew chief) Darian (Grubb) called the race. We came back, we didn't quit. All the people, like (car owner) Coach (Joe Gibbs) said, from ARRIS. This whole deal, this fourth team, a lot of people really had a lot of faith in me and Coach and Darian to come on board and do this, and so a win like this is really special, especially leading into the Chase. This is what we needed. We just needed a shot in the arm and needed to have a good night like this. All over it's cool.
"I hope I never forget those last 25 laps. That was really fun and the restart was fun, but truly racing with Brad and Kevin was a blast. I really had a good time."
Edwards held off a ferocious initial attack from Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin to cruise to his second victory of the season. But it wasn't always sunshine and butterflies for Edwards as flat right front tire saw the NASCAR veteran go as many as two laps down earlier in the race.
Pole winner Brad Keselowski led 196 laps but couldn't catch up to Edwards during the race's final green flag run. Keselowski salvaged a second place finish with a late pass of third place finisher Denny Hamlin.
In a race which saw a record 18 cautions, Keselowski admitted he couldn't get in a rhythm.
"Long race, long night," Keselowski said. "We led a lot of laps which is something to be very appreciative of and we obviously started on the pole and that was great. It seemed like one of those races that kept cycling with yellows and pit stops, yellows and pit stops. I don't know how many yellows there were, I don't know if I've ever drove a Sprint Cup race with this many yellows before. A lot of yellows and a lot of back and forth there and we just came up short at the end, which was a bummer."
Joey Logano led 29 laps brought home a fourth place finish while defending Southern 500 winner Kevin Harvick led 44 laps and finished in the fifth spot. Kurt Busch recovered from a late race spin after apparent contact with Martin Truex, Jr, to finish in sixth place.
Kyle Busch finished in seventh place; the finish officially clinched Busch's spot in NASCAR's Chase for the Championship.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr, took the checkered flag in eighth place with Martin Truex, Jr, and Kyle Larson rounding out the top ten.
Seven time Darlington winner Jeff Gordon finished 16th in what is expected to be his last race at The Lady in Black.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race Number 25
Unofficial Race Results for the 66Th Annual Bojangles' Southern 500 -
Sunday, September 6, 2015
Darlington Raceway - Darlington, SC - 1.366 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 367 Laps - 501.322 Miles - Purse: $5,762,276
Leader
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Driver Rating Winnings Status Tms Laps
1 13 19 Carl Edwards ARRIS Toyota 367 47 4 106.0 $279,625 Running 3 15
2 1 2 Brad Keselowski Miller High Life Ford 367 44 2 137.4 $252,981 Running 6 196
3 6 11 Denny Hamlin Sport Clips Toyota 367 42 1 114.7 $180,915 Running 3 57
4 4 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 367 41 1 118.1 $182,073 Running 2 29
5 3 4 Kevin Harvick Budweiser/Jimmy John's Chevrolet 367 40 1 123.6 $175,190 Running 4 44
6 2 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation Chevrolet 367 39 1 116.4 $133,365 Running 2 7
7 10 18 Kyle Busch M&M's Crispy Toyota 367 38 1 96.8 $149,731 Running 1 3
8 26 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Valvoline Chevrolet 367 36 91.6 $120,165 Running
9 7 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row/Visser Precision Chevrolet 367 35 106.6 $129,660 Running
10 16 42 Kyle Larson Mello Yello Chevrolet 367 35 1 99.6 $128,873 Running 1 3
11 11 43 Aric Almirola STP Ford 367 33 85.2 $137,141 Running
12 15 5 Kasey Kahne HendrickRideAlong.com Chevrolet 367 33 1 78.9 $112,935 Running 1 2
13 23 31 Ryan Newman Caterpillar Chevrolet 367 31 78.3 $130,635 Running
14 20 1 Jamie McMurray McDonald's/Cessna Chevrolet 367 30 81.3 $127,726 Running
15 17 14 Tony Stewart Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet 367 30 1 91.0 $125,249 Running 1 10
16 5 24 Jeff Gordon 3M Chevrolet 367 28 96.8 $140,571 Running
17 28 15 Clint Bowyer Buddy Baker Tribute Toyota 367 27 71.1 $129,493 Running
18 24 16 Greg Biffle Ortho Ford 367 26 75.1 $126,018 Running
19 19 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe's Chevrolet 367 25 80.3 $137,996 Running
20 31 40 Landon Cassill(i) #Snap Honor Chevrolet 367 0 60.7 $93,710 Running
21 14 20 Matt Kenseth Dollar General Toyota 367 23 73.6 $134,996 Running
22 29 3 Austin Dillon American Ethanol Chevrolet 367 22 62.8 $128,846 Running
23 34 47 AJ Allmendinger Kroger/House-Autry Chevrolet 367 21 54.0 $124,018 Running
24 35 7 Alex Bowman Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 367 20 49.9 $106,818 Running
25 25 83 Matt DiBenedetto # Cosmo Motors Toyota 367 19 50.1 $105,613 Running
26 12 27 Paul Menard Moen/Menards Chevrolet 367 18 59.3 $97,255 Running
27 38 38 David Gilliland Love's Travel Stops Ford 367 18 1 42.7 $108,213 Running 1 1
28 33 9 Sam Hornish Jr. Winn Dixie Ford 367 16 58.5 $114,200 Running
29 32 13 Casey Mears GEICO Chevrolet 366 15 53.2 $105,202 Running
30 9 21 Ryan Blaney(i) Snap-on Tools Ford 366 0 66.6 $85,955 Running
31 41 23 Jeb Burton # Estes Toyota 364 13 34.9 $86,755 Running
32 42 33 Mike Bliss(i) Little Joe's Auto Chevrolet 363 0 35.5 $84,055 Running
33 27 51 Justin Allgaier Brandt Chevrolet 354 11 39.6 $91,855 Running
34 36 26 JJ Yeley(i) Beds For Kids Toyota 348 0 33.8 $83,655 Running
35 18 6 Trevor Bayne AdvoCare Ford 342 9 52.0 $128,035 Running
36 40 34 Brett Moffitt # Dockside Ford 332 8 31.2 $83,360 Running
37 43 98 TJ Bell Premium Motorsports Ford 325 7 28.7 $83,138 Running
38 8 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Cargill Ford 313 6 54.5 $86,348 Running
39 39 46 Michael Annett Pilot Flying J Chevrolet 300 5 34.7 $74,285 Running
40 21 55 David Ragan Ol' Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota 275 4 73.6 $97,499 Accident
41 22 25 Chase Elliott(i) NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 227 0 45.4 $66,285 Accident
42 30 10 Danica Patrick GoDaddy Chevrolet 190 2 39.3 $70,285 Accident
43 37 35 Cole Whitt Speed Stick Ford 5 1 23.5 $58,785 Accident
Race Comments: Carl Edwards won the Bojangles' Southern 500, his 25th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory and first at Darlington Raceway. Prior to the start of the race, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field for the reasons indicated: No. 10 (backup car) and No. 25 (rear gear change).
Failed to Qualify: (3) 32 Josh Wise, 62 Timmy Hill(i), 30 Travis Kvapil(i).
Time of Race: 04 Hrs, 28 Mins, 35 Secs. Average Speed: 111.993 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.902 Seconds
Caution Flags: 18 for 89 laps: Laps: 8-13 (#25, 34 and 35 Accident on the backstretch [None]); 46-50 (#31 Accident in Turn 4 [47]); 62-65 (Debris on the frontstretch [16]); 110-114 (#46 Accident in Turn 2 [40]); 121-124 (#33 Accident in Turn 4 [13]); 126-132 (#26, 33 and 46 Accident on the backstretch [83]); 134-138 (#22 and 48 Accident in Turn 4 [10]); 166-169 (#6 Accident on the backstretch [47]); 190-194 (#10 Accident iin Turn 4 [5]); 199-202 (#17 Accident in Turn 4 [6]); 208-211 (#16 Accident in Turn 2 [19]); 229-237 (#25 Accident in Turn 1 [20]); 247-251 (#6 Accident in Turn 3 [38]); 266-269 (#55 Accident in Turn 4 [38]); 279-282 (#55 and 27 Accident on the frontstretch [None]); 301-305 (Debris on the frontstretch [7]); 308-312 (#41 and #78 Accident in Turn 4 [7]); 356-359 (#23 Spin in Turn 1 [48]).
Lead Changes: 24 among 11 drivers: B. Keselowski 1-62; C. Edwards 63-65; K. Kahne 66-67; D. Hamlin 68-109; K. Harvick 110; D. Hamlin 111-117; B. Keselowski 118-137; K. Harvick 138-139; B. Keselowski 140-193; Kurt Busch 194; B. Keselowski 195-202; Kurt Busch 203-208; K. Larson 209-211; T. Stewart 212-221; D. Hamlin 222-229; K. Harvick 230-247; J. Logano 248-266; Kyle Busch 267-269; J. Logano 270-279; K. Harvick 280-302; D. Gilliland 303; B. Keselowski 304-344; C. Edwards 345; B. Keselowski 346-356; C. Edwards 357-367.
Chase Grid Outlook: 1.J. Johnson 817 (4 wins);2.KyBusch 471 (4)3.J. Logano 906 (3);4.M. Kenseth 776 (3);5.K. Harvick 948 (2);6.D. Earnhardt Jr. 855 (2);7.Ku.Busch 752 (2);8.C. Edwards 713 (2);9.B. Keselowski 837 (1);10.M. Truex Jr. 806 (1);11.D. Hamlin 754 (1);12.J. Mcmurray 726 (0);13.R. Newman 714 (0);14.J. Gordon 700 (0);15.P. Menard 692 (0);16.C. Bowyer 682 (0)
3M Lap Leader : Denny Hamlin, #11 57 Laps American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award : Joey Logano, #22
Coors Light Pole Award : Brad Keselowski, #2 178.874 mph Duralast Brakes "Brake in the Race" : Brad Keselowski, #2
Ingersoll Rand Power Move : Kurt Busch, #41 9 positions Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race : Roush-Yates Engines, #2
Mobil 1 Driver of the Race : Carl Edwards, #19 Moog Chassis Parts Problem Solver of the Race : Carl Edwards, #19 crew chief Darian Grubb, 0.228 seconds
Sherwin-Williams Fastest Lap : Matt Kenseth, #20 Sunoco Rookie of the Race : Matt DiBenedetto, #83
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: Sep. 12, 2015 - Richmond International Raceway