Edwards bumps Busch to win at Bristol

Carl Edwards pulled the classic bump and run move on Kyle Busch at the historic Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday night and drove off to win his sixth race of the year, his third Sprint Cup Series victory in the last three races.

Busch dominated the Sharpie 500 leading 417 of the 500 laps but Edwards, hungry for more bonus points, used a late race restart in his favor to take the lead. Edwards kept his No. 99 Ford Fusion within striking distance during the eighth and final restart and entering turn 1 on lap 470, tapped Busch’s Toyota just slightly in the rear as he drove to the inside and into the lead. Busch then had to battle Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin for the second position as Edwards drove to his second straight win under the Bristol lights.

“That’s one of those deals where I couldn’t get by him and I couldn’t get by him and I just had to ask myself, ‘Would he do that to me?’ And he has before, so that’s the way it goes,” Edwards said from victory lane. “They keep talking about rivalries, we might have one now.”

Following the checkered flag under the cool down lap, Busch, still reeling over the bump and run 30 laps prior, drove around the track to catch up with Edwards and then slammed into his driver’s side door. Now stewing himself, Edwards drove down track into Busch, spinning the second place car before heading to victory lane.

“You know, to pass a guy, to hit him getting into the corners and chatter his tires, is what he did. But I tried to get him back, I thought better of it and tried to pull down and pass him back. I didn't have a good enough car to stick and Denny (Hamlin) got to his outside and he got by me. I had to battle with him towards the end. We were as clean as could be, of course, but just one other dude we had a problem with,” Busch explained.

Edwards added, “It’s too bad we tore up the car a little bit after the race but I guess he wasn’t happy about it and I can understand. I have a lot of respect for the guy and he was real fast, but we can’t give up points when they’re right there for us to take.”

Busch still leads Edwards — and the series — with eight wins. The wins transfer to 10 bonus points apiece once the points reset and the Chase begins. Edwards now has 50 points. Though he’s won six races, his Las Vegas bonus points were thrown out after his car failed post race inspection.

The night was a big one for all Chase contenders with only two events remaining before the final cutoff.

A multi-car wreck on lap 216 shook things up near the lower rung of the Chase standings after Casey Mears moved up the racetrack into the Michael Waltrip machine, igniting a seven-car crash. Mears sourced his transition as an error on his spotter’s behalf, explaining that he was told he was “clear.”

Once Mears and Waltrip made the initial contact, Clint Bowyer, Kasey Kahne, Sam Hornish, Jr., Reed Sorenson and Robby Gordon were collected.

The red flag was displayed for 12 minutes for cleanup.

The accident may become a key moment of the season for Kahne if he is unable to make up lost ground in the point standings in order to make the Chase cutoff in two weeks in Richmond. After suffering heavy damage to his No. 9 Dodge, he finished the event 40th. He entered Bristol 11th in the standings but dropped three positions to 14th.

Bowyer on the other hand was on the outside looking as he sat in the 13th position, 26 markers out of 12th. Initially, his No. 07 Gil Martin-led pitcrew made repairs to his damaged Chevrolet under three straight pitstops before the race returned to green flag racing on lap 222.

He recovered, finishing the event solidly within the top 10 in the seventh position. He is now in the 12th and final slot in the point standings.

Kevin Harvick and Jeff Gordon closed out the top five, following third place finisher Hamlin across the stripe.

Ryan Newman, Bowyer, Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth and David Ragan, who started the race at the rear of the field in a backup car, closed out the top 10.

Ragan trails Bowyer by just 12 markers for the prestigious 12th place points slot.

Other contenders Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Burton, who sit third through fifth respectively, had their own Bristol blunders.

Earnhardt was penalized at the start of the race for illegally passing before the start/finish line and fell two laps down in 18th.

Johnson made a green flag pitstop after cutting a tire early in the event. He finished 33rd.

Burton failed to finish the race after being involved in an accident on lap 197.

Edwards, the polesitter, led only 84 laps with Busch sliding into the lead on lap 55. From that point on, it was all Busch. That was until the race hit the 50 laps to go mark when he lost over a two-second lead as the yellow flag waved for debris. He led the field down pitroad for the final round of pitstops and edged Edwards on the exit. But the restart was what mattered.

It fell on lap 466 and Edwards promptly began challenging Busch. Busch wiggled a bit, opening the door for Edwards to pull to his bumper. Edwards nudged Busch just slightly but enough to take the position as Busch drifted high after the contact. Busch dug in and tried to retaliate, barely brushing Edwards but Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin crept into the picture and refused to let Busch drive away. A dozen laps later, the duo’s battle ended as Busch slid comfortably back into the second spot with his eyes firmly focused on the leader Edwards. By that time, Edwards had pulled away to nearly a two-second lead.

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