“It is such a tough thing”, Edwards said of racing a teammate for the win.
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Aside from crediting Rogers with tuning the handling of his vehicle to perfection, Edwards said that an aggressive pep talk from his crew chief was what gave him the confidence to go for the last-lap win. You can either finish first or you can finish second.
Busch seemed less than amused after being denied his third victory in the last four races.
Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet was strong early and late and came home third, followed by Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kasey Kahne, who scored his first top five since the Chase race at Kansas last October.
“It was fun”, Johnson said. “That is what made it fun and that’s what I miss, that is the stuff I dearly miss with this series is having days like today where you get on track and you are sliding around and the drivers get to make the difference”. He was too loose to start, and then it wasn’t as good at the end as it was in the middle.
First off if my can’t ever get sick I don’t hear much because that would take from fans feel pet hospital.
“We had a really great auto…and just kind of gave it up a little bit there on the last lap, but I guess that’s racing”.
Instead of arguing over lugnuts, penalties and politics, the water cooler conversation shifted on Sunday toward the on-track product – specifically Carl Edwards and his perfectly-executed final lap bump-and-run on Kyle Busch. Keselowski was running up front after staying out during a lap 268 caution. Edwards wins his second race of the season and Busch had to watch his teammate steal a win from him. Kurt Busch lost additional spots when the race returned to green. He had one of the best cars of the day, but it wasn’t the best vehicle. Kyle was so good. That last run, Kyle took off and there was nothing I could do. So, going back down the back straightaway I thought, ‘I’m going for the bottom.
With all five of their team-affiliated cars finishing in the top ten in today’s Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond, it’s a nice time to be driving a Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.
Leading a race-high 151 laps, Edwards was using every lane Kyle Busch wasn’t as the laps ticked down. He soon was joined up front by Kyle Busch when Busch moved into second on lap 79. Kevin Harvick was fifth and Denny Hamlin finished sixth.
Edwards admitted that he had second thoughts about executing the late bump-and-run pass for the lead on a JGR teammate.
For team owner Joe Gibbs, there was a lot to celebrate but there was also some trepidation in the closing laps with two of his drivers battling. Kenseth recovered to finish seventh. Asked whether he had expectations of contact or whether he agreed that teammates can race differently when both have wins, Busch ignored the subjects of those questions. Even though Edwards won at Bristol, tire issues proved costly for the company and certainly affected the overall driver performance.
“Everybody on our Busch Light/Jimmy John’s team did a good job”, Harvick said. I thought it would be a bump and go, but we got the win.
CONCORD, N.C. – Brittany Force raced to her second Top Fuel victory of the season Sunday at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals, becoming the first female driver to win the unique event. He started 18th and suffered a flat tire while a lap down on lap 268.
That’s what you call back-to-backflip for the No. 19 Toyota in the Toyota Owners 400.
Harvick started on the pole to begin the 2016 Toyota Owners 400 and he ran a great race.
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Despite being excited about going to Talladega this weekend, Kansas next weekend and all the races left in the FOX NASCAR 2016 schedule, it was sad to see our last short-track race of broadcast season end. Scheduled as a daytime affair for the first time since 1997, the weather and a new Goodyear tire compound came together and produced a ton of action.
