CP MOTORSPORTS - EDWARDS WINS 600-MILE STRATEGIC BATTLE
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NASCAR's longest day turned into its most strategic night.
Behind the strategy of new crew chief Darian Grubb, Carl Edwards was able to cruise to the checkered flag in Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 from Charlotte Motor Speedway. The victory is Edwards' 24th of his career and his first win in Charlotte's 600-mile event.
Edwards lost the championship on a tiebreaker in 2011 when Grubb's strategy propelled Tony Stewart to a victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The title run shortcoming fueled Edwards desire to work with Grubb and believes the crew chief's call won the race.
"That's what made the race for us," Edwards admitted. "Darian (Grubb) does such a good job, and ever since Tony (Stewart) and I battled for that championship; I've wanted to work with him and now I can. That's what he does on the box - he takes a mediocre day like that, and he puts us in a good position."
The win is the first for Edwards in his debut season as a member of Joe Gibbs Racing and his first win outside of a Ford in Sprint Cup competition. The triumph also secured a Charlotte-sweep for JGR with Denny Hamlin winning last week's Sprint All-Star Race.
"JGR is back, and these Toyotas are great," Edwards said. "I was the slowest of the group tonight and I just had the best guys on the pit box here and did a great job. Subway - I will be having a Coke along with my sub sandwich this week and guacamole on that. ARRIS came on in a huge way to start this fourth team. Toyota took a chance on me - I went to Kentucky the other week and saw where these Camrys are built.
"TRD (Toyota Racing Development) has been behind me 100 percent."
Edwards' former Roush-Fenway Racing teammate Greg Biffle was able to use pit stop strategy to his advantage as well. Biffle scored his best finish of the Sprint Cup season finishing in second-place.
Despite the Toyota-Ford top-two finish, Biffle still believes Chevrolet is ahead of the other manufacturers.
"We certainly haven't come anywhere close to catching them. One common thread it looks like to me is Chevy," Biffle said. "It looks like they're head and shoulders better than the Toyotas and Fords because the Ganassi cars are pretty fast, all the Haas cars, which are Hendrick-affiliated, so there are really eight cars there, but the Childress cars and the single-car, 78 team, led the whole race.
"He (Martin Truex, Jr) led the whole race. He had the fastest car, so it's pretty obvious those are all Chevys. They definitely kind of have a stranglehold on it, it seems like."
Dale Earnhardt, Jr, joined the group of drivers who employed pit strategy and managed a third place finish. The finish for Earnhardt, Jr, is his best career finish in the Coca-Cola 600. Edwards' JGR teammate Matt Kenseth managed to salvage a fourth-place finish after starting from the pole but struggling for the majority of the race.
Martin Truex, Jr, appeared to have the fastest car for most of the race leading 131 laps. But Truex, Jr, came out on the wrong end of the strategy games and settled for a fifth-place finish.
Truex, Jr, hasn't enjoyed much success in races determined on fuel mileage.
"I don't know what to do about fuel mileage races," Truex, Jr, admitted. "I never, ever, ever have in my whole career. I guess I don't get good fuel mileage...It hurts to run fifth after running that hard and leading that many laps but at the same time it's pretty awesome to run like that, too. We just got to keep on plugging away and sooner or later we're going to get a little bit of luck on our side, right now we just can't get anything to go our way."
Ryan Newman finished in sixth place with Brad Keselowski finishing right behind in seventh-place. Denny Hamlin, treated for dehydration in the infield care center following the race, settled for an eighth-place finish. Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch rounded out the top-ten.
Kyle Busch, who has missed every points-earning race this season with an injury, ran in the top-ten for most of the race but ended with an eleventh place finish. Busch's return did not come without a shred of disappointment.
"I feel pretty good, all in all, I felt like that was a great race for us," Busch said. "We ran really strong, we ran up front, we showed we had some speed. But it certainly is frustrating to finish where we did, and that's disappointing. But sometimes you win these things by fuel mileage races, so congratulations to our teammate Carl (Edwards)."
Busch knows next week's race at Dover will be another test of his physical fitness.
"This race here is actually quite relative to next week at Dover next week, this one's an endurance race for as long as it is and I think it sets you up for that Dover race," Busch added. "The Dover race is more taxing on your body, I feel like it beats you up a little more. It being 400 laps makes it a tough stretch, it may not be 600 miles but 400 laps there is certainly a long time at Dover. This was a good night to come out here - I feel good. I really didn't get tired or anything like that; I probably could go a little bit longer...about ten more laps would've been nice for us, but it is what it is."
With his top-ten finish, Kevin Harvick maintained his stranglehold on the point lead over Martin Truex, Jr, who is in second place 41 points behind.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race Number 12
Unofficial Race Results for the 56Th Annual Coca-Cola 600 - Sunday, May 24, 2015
Charlotte Motor Speedway - Concord, NC - 1.5 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 400 Laps - 600 Miles - Purse: $6,660,588
Leader
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Driver Rating Winnings Status Tms Laps
1 3 19 Carl Edwards Subway Toyota 400 47 4 107.2 $363,390 Running 3 25
2 4 16 Greg Biffle Ortho Ford 400 42 97.7 $277,263 Running
3 15 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Nationwide Chevrolet 400 41 105.8 $217,255 Running
4 1 20 Matt Kenseth DeWalt Toyota 400 41 1 98.4 $252,716 Running 2 26
5 10 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row/Visser Precision Chevrolet 400 41 2 132.8 $182,350 Running 4 131
6 19 31 Ryan Newman Quicken Loans Chevrolet 400 38 79.2 $166,570 Running
7 6 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Ford 400 38 1 104.4 $172,911 Running 2 3
8 5 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Office Toyota 400 37 1 114.8 $143,720 Running 2 53
9 8 4 Kevin Harvick Budweiser/Jimmy John's Chevrolet 400 36 1 116.8 $174,045 Running 3 26
10 14 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation Chevrolet 400 35 1 122.2 $140,045 Running 3 118
11 17 18 Kyle Busch Skittles Toyota 400 33 103.3 $157,301 Running
12 33 5 Kasey Kahne LiftMaster Chevrolet 400 32 87.0 $128,685 Running
13 2 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 400 32 1 103.7 $161,793 Running 2 17
14 23 27 Paul Menard Serta/Menards Chevrolet 400 30 91.2 $120,735 Running
15 18 24 Jeff Gordon Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet 400 29 82.0 $156,371 Running
16 11 3 Austin Dillon Cheerios Chevrolet 400 28 85.2 $147,271 Running
17 21 43 Aric Almirola United States Air Force Ford 399 27 72.7 $146,046 Running
18 28 25 Chase Elliott(i) NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 399 0 66.5 $103,910 Running
19 22 1 Jamie McMurray Cessna/McDonald's Chevrolet 399 25 60.3 $136,826 Running
20 24 15 Clint Bowyer Cherry 5-hour Energy/Special Operations Warrior 399 24 61.1 $140,368 Running
21 12 14 Tony Stewart Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet 399 23 64.7 $132,399 Running
22 20 10 Danica Patrick GoDaddy Chevrolet 398 22 58.4 $111,760 Running
23 34 13 Casey Mears GEICO Military Chevrolet 398 21 59.0 $128,993 Running
24 26 9 Sam Hornish Jr. Twisted Tea Ford 398 20 53.4 $128,305 Running
25 9 42 Kyle Larson Target Chevrolet 398 19 66.1 $129,468 Running
26 31 7 Alex Bowman Culer Chevrolet 397 18 47.6 $116,518 Running
27 27 6 Trevor Bayne AdvoCare Ford 397 17 47.5 $141,210 Running
28 37 35 Cole Whitt Speed Stick Ford 396 16 39.1 $113,343 Running
29 30 47 AJ Allmendinger Scott Products Chevrolet 395 15 57.3 $125,618 Running
30 25 95 Michael McDowell Thrivent Financial Ford 394 14 45.0 $97,335 Running
31 40 34 Brett Moffitt # CSX/Play It Safe Ford 393 13 36.8 $97,185 Running
32 36 46 Michael Annett Pilot Flying J Chevrolet 393 12 37.2 $95,560 Running
33 39 38 David Gilliland Love's Travel Stops Ford 392 12 1 38.3 $115,957 Running 1 1
34 42 83 Matt DiBenedetto # Dustless Blasting Toyota 392 10 33.0 $95,285 Running
35 38 98 Josh Wise RoyalTeakCollection.com Ford 392 9 29.0 $98,135 Running
36 43 33 Alex Kennedy # HonorandRemember.org Chevrolet 389 8 26.8 $97,535 Running
37 29 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Fastenal Ford 382 7 59.0 $102,761 Running
38 41 23 JJ Yeley(i) Hope for the Warriors Toyota 377 0 30.4 $89,413 Engine
39 32 40 Landon Cassill(i) Snap Fitness Chevrolet 375 0 38.1 $85,350 Running
40 13 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe's Patriotic Chevrolet 370 4 68.7 $129,286 Running
41 7 55 David Ragan Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota 353 3 62.7 $105,164 Engine
42 16 21 Ryan Blaney(i) Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford 281 0 66.6 $73,350 Engine
43 35 51 Justin Allgaier Brandt Chevrolet 135 1 40.2 $77,850 Accident
Race Comments: Carl Edwards won the Coca-Cola 600, his 24th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory.
Failed to Qualify: #26 Jeb Burton; #32 Mike Bliss(i); #39 Travis Kvapil(i); #30 Jeff Green(i); #62 Brendan Gaughan(i)
Time of Race: 04 Hrs, 03 Mins, 34 Secs. Average Speed: 147.803 MPH Margin of Victory: 4.785 Seconds
Caution Flags: 8 for 39 laps: Laps: 27-30 (Competition [23]); 91-94 (#48 spin turn 4 [51]); 137-141 (#51 accident turn 3 [None]); 231-235 (#6 accident turn 4 [43]); 275-278 (#48 spin turn 4 [5]); 283-291 (Oil on the track from #21 [17]); 329-332 (#46 spin backstretch [20]); 338-341 (Debris turn 4 [31]).
Lead Changes: 22 among 9 drivers: M. Kenseth 0; C. Edwards 1-2; M. Kenseth 3-27; D. Gilliland 28; M. Kenseth 29; J. Logano 30-43; D. Hamlin 44-63; K. Harvick 64-78; Kurt Busch 79; B. Keselowski 80; K. Harvick 81-90; M. Truex Jr. 91; B. Keselowski 92-93; J. Logano 94-96; Kurt Busch 97-189; C. Edwards 190-191; M. Truex Jr. 192-236; Kurt Busch 237-260; M. Truex Jr. 261-329; D. Hamlin 330-362; M. Truex Jr. 363-378; K. Harvick 379; C. Edwards 380-400.
Chase Grid Outlook: 1.J. Johnson 393 (3 wins);2.K. Harvick 473 (2);3.J. Logano 407 (1);4.D. Earnhardt Jr. 401 (1);5.B. Keselowski 381 (1);6.M. Kenseth 372 (1);7.D. Hamlin 321 (1);8.C. Edwards 312 (1);9.M. Truex Jr. 432 (0);10.J. Mcmurray 353 (0);11.J. Gordon 346 (0);12.K. Kahne 345 (0);13.R. Newman 343 (0);14.A. Almirola 339 (0);15.P. Menard 336 (0);16.C. Bowyer 296 (0).
3M Lap Leader : Kurt Busch, #41 118 Laps American Ethanol Green Flag Restart : Martin Truex Jr, #78
Coors Light Pole Award : Matt Kenseth, #20 194.252 mph Duralast Brakes "Brake in the Race" : Matt Kenseth, #20
Ingersoll Rand Power Move : Dale Earnhardt Jr, #88 11 positions Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race : Toyota Racing Development (TRD), #20
Mobil 1 Driver of the Race : Carl Edwards, #19 Moog Steering & Suspension Problem Solver of the Race : Dale Earnhardt Jr, #88 G. Ives, .160 sec
Sherwin-Williams Fastest Lap : Denny Hamlin, #11 Sunoco Rookie of the Race : Brett Moffitt, #34
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: May. 31, 2015 - Dover International Speedway
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