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Winning in NASCAR is a team sport. From the top executives all the way down to the pit crews. It's difficult to win if the chain is not strong, link by link.

Just ask Carl Edwards.

"Well, I feel like my pit crew ought to be sitting up here doing interviews," Edwards said. "They won that race for us. It was just amazing to come down third and to go out leading the race."

Edwards won the prestigious Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway Sunday night thanks to a timely exchange of pit stops while under caution with ten laps to go. Edwards, driving the No. 19 Arris Toyota, beat then race leader Brad Keselowski off of pit road to take the lead for the race's final restart.

Edwards feels honored to be amongst legends as the newest Southern 500 champion.

"I feel like it's an honor to drive here," Edwards said. "Tonight just was really special for a number of reasons, not just because it's the Southern 500 but because of how well my crew worked on pit road, how well (crew chief) Darian (Grubb) called the race. We came back, we didn't quit. All the people, like (car owner) Coach (Joe Gibbs) said, from ARRIS. This whole deal, this fourth team, a lot of people really had a lot of faith in me and Coach and Darian to come on board and do this, and so a win like this is really special, especially leading into the Chase. This is what we needed. We just needed a shot in the arm and needed to have a good night like this.  All over it's cool.

"I hope I never forget those last 25 laps. That was really fun and the restart was fun, but truly racing with Brad and Kevin was a blast. I really had a good time."

Edwards held off a ferocious initial attack from Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin to cruise to his second victory of the season. But it wasn't always sunshine and butterflies for Edwards as flat right front tire saw the NASCAR veteran go as many as two laps down earlier in the race.

Pole winner Brad Keselowski led 196 laps but couldn't catch up to Edwards during the race's final green flag run. Keselowski salvaged a second place finish with a late pass of third place finisher Denny Hamlin.

In a race which saw a record 18 cautions, Keselowski admitted he couldn't get in a rhythm.

"Long race, long night," Keselowski said. "We led a lot of laps which is something to be very appreciative of and we obviously started on the pole and that was great. It seemed like one of those races that kept cycling with yellows and pit stops, yellows and pit stops. I don't know how many yellows there were, I don't know if I've ever drove a Sprint Cup race with this many yellows before. A lot of yellows and a lot of back and forth there and we just came up short at the end, which was a bummer."

Joey Logano led 29 laps brought home a fourth place finish while defending Southern 500 winner Kevin Harvick led 44 laps and finished in the fifth spot. Kurt Busch recovered from a late race spin after apparent contact with Martin Truex, Jr, to finish in sixth place. 

Kyle Busch finished in seventh place; the finish officially clinched Busch's spot in NASCAR's Chase for the Championship.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr, took the checkered flag in eighth place with Martin Truex, Jr, and Kyle Larson rounding out the top ten.

Seven time Darlington winner Jeff Gordon finished 16th in what is expected to be his last race at The Lady in Black.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race Number 25
Unofficial Race Results for the 66Th Annual Bojangles' Southern 500 - 
Sunday, September 6, 2015
Darlington Raceway - Darlington, SC - 1.366 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 367 Laps - 501.322 Miles - Purse: $5,762,276
Leader
Fin    Str    Car    Driver    Team    Laps    Pts    Bns    Driver Rating    Winnings    Status    Tms    Laps
1    13    19    Carl Edwards    ARRIS Toyota    367    47    4    106.0    $279,625    Running    3    15
2    1    2    Brad Keselowski    Miller High Life Ford    367    44    2    137.4    $252,981    Running    6    196
3    6    11    Denny Hamlin    Sport Clips Toyota    367    42    1    114.7    $180,915    Running    3    57
4    4    22    Joey Logano    Shell Pennzoil Ford    367    41    1    118.1    $182,073    Running    2    29
5    3    4    Kevin Harvick    Budweiser/Jimmy John's Chevrolet    367    40    1    123.6    $175,190    Running    4    44
6    2    41    Kurt Busch    Haas Automation Chevrolet    367    39    1    116.4    $133,365    Running    2    7
7    10    18    Kyle Busch    M&M's Crispy Toyota    367    38    1    96.8    $149,731    Running    1    3
8    26    88    Dale Earnhardt Jr.    Valvoline Chevrolet    367    36        91.6    $120,165    Running        
9    7    78    Martin Truex Jr.    Furniture Row/Visser Precision Chevrolet    367    35        106.6    $129,660    Running        
10    16    42    Kyle Larson    Mello Yello Chevrolet    367    35    1    99.6    $128,873    Running    1    3
11    11    43    Aric Almirola    STP Ford    367    33        85.2    $137,141    Running        
12    15    5    Kasey Kahne    HendrickRideAlong.com Chevrolet    367    33    1    78.9    $112,935    Running    1    2
13    23    31    Ryan Newman    Caterpillar Chevrolet    367    31        78.3    $130,635    Running        
14    20    1    Jamie McMurray    McDonald's/Cessna Chevrolet    367    30        81.3    $127,726    Running        
15    17    14    Tony Stewart    Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet    367    30    1    91.0    $125,249    Running    1    10
16    5    24    Jeff Gordon    3M Chevrolet    367    28        96.8    $140,571    Running        
17    28    15    Clint Bowyer    Buddy Baker Tribute Toyota    367    27        71.1    $129,493    Running        
18    24    16    Greg Biffle    Ortho Ford    367    26        75.1    $126,018    Running        
19    19    48    Jimmie Johnson    Lowe's Chevrolet    367    25        80.3    $137,996    Running        
20    31    40    Landon Cassill(i)    #Snap Honor Chevrolet    367    0        60.7    $93,710    Running        
21    14    20    Matt Kenseth    Dollar General Toyota    367    23        73.6    $134,996    Running        
22    29    3    Austin Dillon    American Ethanol Chevrolet    367    22        62.8    $128,846    Running        
23    34    47    AJ Allmendinger    Kroger/House-Autry Chevrolet    367    21        54.0    $124,018    Running        
24    35    7    Alex Bowman    Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet    367    20        49.9    $106,818    Running        
25    25    83    Matt DiBenedetto #    Cosmo Motors Toyota    367    19        50.1    $105,613    Running        
26    12    27    Paul Menard    Moen/Menards Chevrolet    367    18        59.3    $97,255    Running        
27    38    38    David Gilliland    Love's Travel Stops Ford    367    18    1    42.7    $108,213    Running    1    1
28    33    9    Sam Hornish Jr.    Winn Dixie Ford    367    16        58.5    $114,200    Running        
29    32    13    Casey Mears    GEICO Chevrolet    366    15        53.2    $105,202    Running        
30    9    21    Ryan Blaney(i)    Snap-on Tools Ford    366    0        66.6    $85,955    Running        
31    41    23    Jeb Burton #    Estes Toyota    364    13        34.9    $86,755    Running        
32    42    33    Mike Bliss(i)    Little Joe's Auto Chevrolet    363    0        35.5    $84,055    Running        
33    27    51    Justin Allgaier    Brandt Chevrolet    354    11        39.6    $91,855    Running        
34    36    26    JJ Yeley(i)    Beds For Kids Toyota    348    0        33.8    $83,655    Running        
35    18    6    Trevor Bayne    AdvoCare Ford    342    9        52.0    $128,035    Running        
36    40    34    Brett Moffitt #    Dockside Ford    332    8        31.2    $83,360    Running        
37    43    98    TJ Bell    Premium Motorsports Ford    325    7        28.7    $83,138    Running        
38    8    17    Ricky Stenhouse Jr.    Cargill Ford    313    6        54.5    $86,348    Running        
39    39    46    Michael Annett    Pilot Flying J Chevrolet    300    5        34.7    $74,285    Running        
40    21    55    David Ragan    Ol' Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota    275    4        73.6    $97,499    Accident        
41    22    25    Chase Elliott(i)    NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet    227    0        45.4    $66,285    Accident        
42    30    10    Danica Patrick    GoDaddy Chevrolet    190    2        39.3    $70,285    Accident        
43    37    35    Cole Whitt    Speed Stick Ford    5    1        23.5    $58,785    Accident        
 Race Comments:    Carl Edwards won the Bojangles' Southern 500, his 25th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory and first at Darlington Raceway. Prior to the start of the race, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field for the reasons indicated: No. 10 (backup car) and No. 25 (rear gear change). 
 Failed to Qualify:    (3) 32 Josh Wise, 62 Timmy Hill(i), 30 Travis Kvapil(i).
 Time of Race:    04 Hrs, 28 Mins, 35 Secs.    Average Speed:    111.993 MPH    Margin of Victory:    0.902 Seconds
 Caution Flags:    18 for 89 laps: Laps: 8-13 (#25, 34 and 35 Accident on the backstretch [None]); 46-50 (#31 Accident in Turn 4 [47]); 62-65 (Debris on the frontstretch [16]); 110-114 (#46 Accident in Turn 2 [40]); 121-124 (#33 Accident in Turn 4 [13]); 126-132 (#26, 33 and 46 Accident on the backstretch [83]); 134-138 (#22 and 48 Accident in Turn 4 [10]); 166-169 (#6 Accident on the backstretch [47]); 190-194 (#10 Accident iin Turn 4 [5]); 199-202 (#17 Accident in Turn 4 [6]); 208-211 (#16 Accident in Turn 2 [19]); 229-237 (#25 Accident in Turn 1 [20]); 247-251 (#6 Accident in Turn 3 [38]); 266-269 (#55 Accident in Turn 4 [38]); 279-282 (#55 and 27 Accident on the frontstretch [None]); 301-305 (Debris on the frontstretch [7]); 308-312 (#41 and #78 Accident in Turn 4 [7]); 356-359 (#23 Spin in Turn 1 [48]).
 Lead Changes:    24 among 11 drivers: B. Keselowski 1-62; C. Edwards 63-65; K. Kahne 66-67; D. Hamlin 68-109; K. Harvick 110; D. Hamlin 111-117; B. Keselowski 118-137; K. Harvick 138-139; B. Keselowski 140-193; Kurt Busch 194; B. Keselowski 195-202; Kurt Busch 203-208; K. Larson 209-211; T. Stewart 212-221; D. Hamlin 222-229; K. Harvick 230-247; J. Logano 248-266; Kyle Busch 267-269; J. Logano 270-279; K. Harvick 280-302; D. Gilliland 303; B. Keselowski 304-344; C. Edwards 345; B. Keselowski 346-356; C. Edwards 357-367.
Chase Grid Outlook:     1.J. Johnson 817 (4 wins);2.KyBusch 471 (4)3.J. Logano 906 (3);4.M. Kenseth 776 (3);5.K. Harvick 948 (2);6.D. Earnhardt Jr. 855 (2);7.Ku.Busch 752 (2);8.C. Edwards 713 (2);9.B. Keselowski 837 (1);10.M. Truex Jr. 806 (1);11.D. Hamlin 754 (1);12.J. Mcmurray 726 (0);13.R. Newman 714 (0);14.J. Gordon 700 (0);15.P. Menard 692 (0);16.C. Bowyer 682 (0)
3M Lap Leader    : Denny Hamlin, #11 57 Laps    American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award    : Joey Logano, #22 
Coors Light Pole Award    : Brad Keselowski, #2 178.874 mph    Duralast Brakes "Brake in the Race"    : Brad Keselowski, #2 
Ingersoll Rand Power Move    : Kurt Busch, #41 9 positions    Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race    : Roush-Yates Engines, #2 
Mobil 1 Driver of the Race    : Carl Edwards, #19     Moog Chassis Parts Problem Solver of the Race    : Carl Edwards, #19 crew chief Darian Grubb, 0.228 seconds
Sherwin-Williams Fastest Lap    : Matt Kenseth, #20     Sunoco Rookie of the Race    : Matt DiBenedetto, #83 
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race:    Sep. 12, 2015 - Richmond International Raceway