“I’m really looking forward to getting there and seeing how this book writes out”, said Xfinity Series driver Brendan Gaughan. “I haven’t done one for a while”.
Advertisement
Edwards was joined up front by his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates – Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin – at the start of the race, but he was the only driver of the four to have a flawless day while all three of his teammates had issues, primarily with right-front tires.
Edwards has 25 career Cup victories, including three at Bristol.
Carl Edwards pole winning vehicle.
According to Food City 500 pole victor Carl Edwards, the research and react approach will continue today at Bristol Motor Speedway.
It was by far the worst showing of the season for Busch, who had four other top-five finishes in addition to his two recent victories.
“This is awesome”, Edwards said.
Next was teammate and defending race victor Matt Kenseth at 127.419, with Joey Logano third in a Ford at 127.191. “I’m going to go out and race”. Granted, Larson got the lead through some pit strategy – but he was able to maintain it until there were 64 laps to go. “I just ran too low for a lap and was too tight and had to slow down”. Edwards led the final 104 laps among a race-high 276 of 500. At least twice down the stretch Larson navigated through a small gap while racing three-wide and had just enough to seal off the inside track from Busch in the corners.
Earnhardt meanwhile had to overcome a dead battery that stalled his No. 88 Chevy at the start and initially left him two laps down.
F1: Nico Rosberg took the pole for the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai but Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton will have to start from the last row after an early exit from qualifying because of a power unit problem. “We were just lucky on those restarts as to where we lined up and that really helped us”.
This was when Edwards ran into a lapped traffic problem. “We drove up from the back to the front a couple times and showed what we were made of, but obviously it doesn’t matter when you’re in the garage”. “So, if I would have seen a vehicle sideways at the right time I probably would have tried to speed up”.
Busch and Larson, who had waged a torrid battle for the top spot, were forced to settled for second and third, respectively. Two-time Super Bowl champion quarterback and Nationwide spokesman Peyton Manning will serve Sunday as the Honorary Race Official. He’s only scored two top five’s at Bristol and hasn’t scored one in seven straight races overall.
“We got an additional $50,000 from Hellmann’s and myself, so that is $145,000 to Blessings in a Backpack”, Earnhardt Jr. said. And countless drivers banged fenders and suffered sheetmetal damage in the 15 caution-flag periods during the race.
UP NEXT: Richmond International Raceway on April 24. Suarez is the series point leader by six over Jones with Allgaier eight behind. By winning the race, Jones is essentially locked in to making the 12-driver Xfinity Series Chase in its inaugural season.
Sprint Cup Series driver Kyle Busch (18) enters the pits after hitting the wall as driver Jimmie Johnson (48) and driver Martin Truex Jr.
Advertisement
■The Xfinity Series race will go off after the heats and be 200 laps.
