Cleaning Up: Edwards outguns Busch at Michigan

Carl Edwards led the Roush Fenway Racing charge at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday in his No. 99 Ford, pulling away to his second win in three Sprint Cup Series races by holding off the always challenging Kyle Busch in a two-lap dash in the 3M Performance 400.

A caution flag fell six laps from the finish after Denny Hamlin lost an engine, setting Edwards and Busch up for a final battle.

“It means a lot to me. Four years ago today I ran my first Cup race for Jack Roush and he took a giant gamble on me I felt like at the time,” Edwards remembered. “Jack won the race that day, I believe Greg (Biffle) won it, and we finished 10th and all five of the cars were in the top 10, and to be a part of that again today, for Ford Motor Company, for Roush and for all the guys, it’s an honor.”

He also won the Nationwide Series’ Carfax 250 on the two-mile track on Saturday.

Edwards now has five Cup wins this season, second only to Busch who has eight. Edwards also sits second to Busch in the point standings and in bonus points for their earned wins once the final 10-race Chase starts.
 
Busch was Edwards’ closest competitor at the finish, trailing him at the line by just .947-seconds. His Toyota led 34 laps on the day while Edwards, with the more dominant car, took his turn out front for a race-high 84 of the 200 laps.
 
“We just didn't quite have the car capable enough of being able to beat those guys today,” Busch said. “We were good there on that one run on that one set of tires and then that was pretty much all we had. So to come out of here with that we're happy with that at least we've got something to build on.”

Edwards’ Sunday performance bested his Roush Fenway teammates David Ragan, Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth and Jamie McMurray who all finished within the top 10.

Michigan has always been a good track for car owner Jack Roush, who now has 11 career wins at MIS. The success isn’t by coincidence. His company headquarters are located in nearby Livonia.

His youngest driver, Ragan, nearly pulled off his first career win, using pit strategy late in the running. Ragan kept his No. 6 Ford on track while the majority of the lead lap cars pitted on lap 180 during a caution flag for debris, inheriting the lead. Two laps later however, Edwards swooped in to reclaim the top spot.

The third-place effort tied the highest of Ragan’s career (Richmond, 2007). The run fell at a good time, as he finished 30th last weekend at Watkins Glen and sits in the thick of an extremely tight battle to get into the top 12 for the Chase cutoff.

“It definitely would’ve been great to win but you don’t want to take unnecessary risks and take out a top-5 finish and finish 20th or something,” Ragan said. “I just drove as hard as I could and tried not to make any mistakes. At this point in the season a third place is great, but a win would’ve been better — but a 20th would’ve been just about devastating for us, trying to make the Chase.”

Ragan now sits 26-points behind the 12th place pointman, Denny Hamlin.

On the other end of the Chase spectrum were Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne and the aforementioned Hamlin. All three slipped three positions in the standings, leaving them vulnerable in their current Chase slots.

On lap 98 Gordon hit the wall at the exit of Turn 2 after cutting down a right side tire. Laps before, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson was forced to the pits for fresh left side tires and to fix damaged sheetmetal, which was causing a tire rub. The two made contact after a restart that fell on lap 89 for a Ryan Newman and Dave Blaney wreck. Gordon and Johnson were running three-wide with Tony Stewart when they got together, causing damage to both machines.

Gordon finished the event 42nd and sits ninth in the standings, only 82-markers ahead of Clint Bowyer, who is just outside of the Chase in 13th.

"Now we just don't worry about anything,” a frustrated Gordon said from the garage. “We can just drive as hard as we can, do anything we possibly can and just go all out and that's all we can do and we'll see where we end up.”

Hamlin and Kahne both suffered engine troubles and finished 39th and 40th, respectively. They are also at risk of missing the Chase, sitting 11th (Kahne) and 12th (Hamlin) in the standings with Hamlin but 26-points ahead of Bowyer.

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