Carl Edwards picks up his second win of the season in the Federated Auto Part 400 at Richmond International Raceway. He credited the win to his pit crew saying, “That’s my pit crew that won this race for us, just an awesome job by them.” The No. 99 team took four tires and still managed to get off pit road second to Paul Menard who took two in an effort to get track position.
The race was not without controversy, however, including the final restart with Edwards. As the green flew, Edwards clearly beat leader Paul Menard to the line. There was no call, however, and Edwards easily drove to the win. Edwards talked about the restart in the media center after the race saying, “What happened on the restart is Paul had two tires. I knew he was going to be at a big advantage with grip –big disadvantage with grip. He took off. I waited until he went to go. As we were going, his car actually touched my door. I think it surprised him a little bit or something. He turned a little bit. I heard his engine speed up. He spun the tires.”
Ryan Newman missed the Chase, losing a wildcard spot to Martin Truex Jr. on a tie breaker. Newman, who had taken the lead from Edwards before the last caution, looked to be on his way to a win and would have easily clinched the final wildcard spot. It was not to be however. The caution flew for a spin that involved Truex’s teammate, Clint Bowyer.
Many instantly believed that Bowyer spun on purpose to bring out the yellow to give his teammate an opportunity to beat make the Chase. According to ESPN reporter, Marty Smith, Dale Earnhardt Jr. said, “(15) was on the brakes in the middle of the corner, trying to slow it down so he could spin out without really getting into trouble.”
When asked about the controversy, Truex responded, “You know, I don’t know. I don’t have any thoughts on it honestly. I didn’t even know it happened until after the race. Marty (Smith) asked me that question. I was like, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Newman was asked about the possibility of Bowyer spinning on purpose to help his teammate, he responded, “They are teammates. I don’t know if he looked at the scoring pylon, knew I was leading, it doesn’t matter. If that was the case, I’ll find out one way or the other.” He continued, “At the same time we still had the opportunity and win it on pit road, and we didn’t.” Newman also stated on a television interview that to be a championship team, they needed a championship pit crew and they did not have that tonight.
Perhaps one of the biggest stories of the night was Kurt Busch who became the first driver to make the Chase with a single car operation. Busch has been up and down all season, but has been running strong in recent weeks. Busch came into the night with only a six point cushion over Jeff Gordon. Busch led 73 laps en route to a second place finish.
Gordon, who started from the pole, looked strong early leading the first 49 laps, but handling problems dropped him out of the top ten. He did have a chance late in the race thanks to a few lucky cautions that came out at just the right time. The last caution, however, allowed Joey Logano to take the wave around and pick up enough spots to knock Gordon out of the top ten.
The points have now been reset. Matt Kenseth with five wins is now the leader, followed by Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards.
When it was all said and done we had everything we could ask for – drama, controversy, success stories and heartbreaks. It was another exciting finish to the regular season. The Chase begins next week in the Geico 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.
