Formula One: Nico Rosberg of Mercedes captured the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai to extend his flawless start to the season and become just the fourth driver to win six straight races. It was his fourth at the Bristol half mile. “This is just great”.
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“It’s really just fun to be a part of something like this, and the fact that we’re running well, that’s just icing on the cake”. “Awesome to be here”.
For Edwards, the issues of his teammates had to be on his mind late in the going, and with challenges from Kurt Busch, Chase Elliott, Kevin Harvick, and even Dale Earnhardt Jr, who himself overcame a battery failure coming to the initial green flag, he and team needed to focus. The auto was about a 15th or 10th-place vehicle. “Just lucky on those last restarts where we lined up”. Trevor Bayne finished fifth, his first top-five since he won the Daytona 500 in 2011. After the last one, he came into the pits for repairs and accidentally tapped a fan with his vehicle.
“Not a day we were hoping for”, he said.
The race started with a heavy JGR presence up front with Edwards and Kenseth, the defending race victor, leading four Camrys in the top five. “Every single week he’s been up front, had a chance, I think, to lead laps and have a chance to win, and something happens to him”. I’m really happy with the way that everybody worked together. It did bring out the most cautions so far with 15 this season, and if that wasn’t dramatic enough, I don’t know what is. It took them a long time to mesh, and while they finished a more-than-respectable fifth in the standings, there still seemed to be a little bit of a disconnect between them. Thanks to Haas Automation, Monster Energy, and Chevrolet.
“Overall, the whole day was a really good balance of being really aggressive and trying to make sure I didn’t make mistakes”. Should be quick on long runs.
In lap 177 Elliott had no choice but to make a pit stop as his right rear wheel was loose. “I fee like we have a lot of good things to come for this AdvoCare team”.
In many ways, the Food City 500 was a testament to Edward’s composure and mental acuity at this stage of his career.
Edwards led the final 104 laps Sunday, which included holding off challengers on five restarts over the final 84 laps.
In 32 Cup races since he returned last May from injury, Busch has seven wins, 18 top-5s and 22 top-10s with 1,255 laps led. Kenseth restarted the race as leader on Lap 59.
In a day where his teammates had no luck, Edwards got to flip out in his own way.
After melting a tire bead 52 laps in and spinning out on Lap 116, he battled back into the top 10 before another crash ended his race, according to Pockrass. Busch was able to take the lead for 41 laps, while Harvick 13 laps earlier. He rallied back after two speeding penalties but then, just past the halfway point, he had another flat tire and slammed the wall again.
Busch’s teammate, Matt Kenseth, suffered a similar fate, hitting the wall twice after right-front tires failed. The track is little, the cars are fast and the patience is thin.
“I got no power”, Earnhardt said over his radio.
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“I’m not just saying this because he won this race, but he’s already like a brother”. I hate it for all these guys, all the work and effort and everybody at M&M’s – all our M&M’s and Mars associates. He keeps a level head when we have down days like Martinsville. We had a really fast auto. “We drove up from the back to the front a couple times and showed them what we’re made of, but unfortunately it doesn’t matter when you’re in the garage”. On lap 355, Carl Edwards was still in the lead when Kurt Busch flew right past him.
