Edwards wins as other wreck

Carl Edwards
Getty Images for NASCAR

After a violent wreck on the final lap wiped out a handful of top contenders, Carl Edwards took the checkered flag in Saturday's 5-Hour Energy 200 Nationwide Series race at Dover International Speedway.

The wreck erupted as Edwards was racing Joey Logano after a restart on the second attempt at a green-white-checkered-flag finish. Kyle Busch finished second, followed by Reed Sorenson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and David Reutimann. Elliott Sadler finished sixth and took over the points lead in the series standings.

The victory was Edwards' third of the season and the 32nd of his career, good for fourth on the career Nationwide victory list.

Edwards, who started from the pole as the fastest driver in practice after rain forced the cancellation of qualifying, pulled away from runner-up Logano over the final 13 laps before Michael Annett's wreck on Lap 197 forced the race to overtime.

Carl Edwards leads as Joey Logano (No. 20) collides with Clint Bowyer (No. 33) at the end of the NASCAR Nationwide Series 5-hour Energy 200
Getty Images for NASCAR

At first, Edwards thought he had hit Logano to start the massive Lap 209 wreck that destroyed the cars of Logano and Clint Bowyer, among others.

"Damn it—I didn't mean to hit him," Edwards radioed after the accident. "Is everybody all right?"

Replays showed clearly, however, that Edwards made no contact with Logano as the two raced for the lead. Logano had a lead of almost a car-length before the rear of his car stepped out and he slammed the outside wall. Logano bounced off the wall and into the path of Bowyer, whose Chevrolet careened into the inside wall.

"I'm just glad it worked out," Edwards said after the race. "I'm glad that I didn't hit him. I'm glad that everyone was OK. But that's a product of what we do. When it comes down to it … this racetrack, we're driving so hard here, and there's so much grip, and you're giving everything you can, and the cars are so close there at then end. …

"Obviously, Joey was racing as hard as he possibly could. I was racing as hard as I could. Man, that's why they call it the Monster Mile."

Busch failed in his bid to tie Mark Martin for the career Nationwide wins lead at 49.

Busch's hopes for the record-tying victory suffered a blow during a bizarre chain of events near the midpoint of the race. On Lap 86, Alex Kennedy's Dodge wrecked on the backstretch, bouncing between the outside and inside walls.

After the car came to a stop near the bottom of the track, Kennedy attempted to rejoin the action under caution, but his car didn't turn as expected when Kennedy pulled up on the banking. Instead it rolled straight toward the outside wall and into the path of Kevin Swindell, who was making his Roush Fenway Racing debut in place of sidelined Trevor Bayne.

At nearly the same moment, the nose of Busch's Toyota sustained damage as a line of cars accordioned on the way to pit road. Busch nosed into the No. 20 Toyota of Logano, and Reed Sorenson sustained damaged to his front valance when he ran into the back of Busch's car.
Busch restarted 18th on Lap 101 after his crew taped the nose of the car. He had just passed Jason Leffler for the sixth position when Justin Allgaier, the series points leader entering the race, blew his right front tire and slammed the Turn 3 wall to bring out the sixth caution of the race.

Under orders from crew chief Tony Eury Jr., Josh Wise was the only driver who didn't pit under the yellow and inherited the lead as rain stopped the race.

"We were the last car on the lead lap, so why not stay out and take the gamble?" Wise said during the red-flag period, hoping that rain would end the race at that point.

The gamble didn't work. After the rain stopped, Wise brought his car to the pits under caution and surrendered the lead to Edwards for a restart on Lap 149. But Logano passed Edwards for the top spot on Lap 150 and stayed out front until Edwards overtook him on Lap 187.

Notes: Kennedy and his spotter were summoned to the NASCAR hauler to discuss the mistake in judgment that led to the wreck with Swindell. … The stoppage after Lap 144 lasted 28 minutes 26 seconds. … Allgaier's DNF was his first in 22 races.

Results

FIN ST CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR PTS/BNS LAPS STATUS
1 1 60 Carl Edwards Ford Fastenal 0 209 Running
2 13 18 Kyle Busch Toyota MAC Tools 0 209 Running
3 10 32 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet Dollar General 41/0 209 Running
4 2 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford Mississippi Flood Relief / NASCAR Unites 41/1 209 Running
5 32 164 David Reutimann Toyota 5-Hour Energy Extra Strength Grape 0 209 Running
6 8 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet OneMain Financial 38/0 209 Running
7 14 09 Kenny Wallace Toyota G-Oil 37/0 209 Running
8 12 30 James Buescher Chevrolet ABF Freight 0 209 Running
9 18 88 Aric Almirola Chevrolet Degree Men 35/0 209 Running
10 21 01 Mike Wallace Chevrolet G&K Services 34/0 209 Running
11 9 38 Jason Leffler Chevrolet Great Clips 33/0 209 Running
12 6 22 Brad Keselowski Dodge Ruby Tuesday 0 208 Accident
13 11 20 Joey Logano Toyota GameStop 0 208 Accident
14 3 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Rheem Heating, Cooling & Water Heating 0 208 Accident
15 31 14 Mike Bliss Chevrolet TriStar Motorsports 29/0 208 Accident
16 15 66 Steve Wallace Toyota 5-Hour Energy 28/0 208 Accident
17 16 7 Josh Wise Chevrolet "We Salute You" 28/1 208 Running
18 17 99 Ryan Truex * Toyota Pastrana Waltrip Racing 26/0 207 Running
19 20 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota NEMCO Motorsports 25/0 207 Running
20 19 62 Michael Annett Toyota Pilot Flying J / 5-Hour Energy 24/0 205 Running
21 35 167 J.R. Fitzpatrick Ford Go Canada Racing 23/0 204 Running
22 30 15 Timmy Hill * Ford Lilly Trucking of Virginia 22/0 204 Running
23 26 39 Danny Efland Ford C3i Sports 21/0 203 Running
24 25 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet Co-ops USA.com / NCB Development Corporation 20/0 202 Running
25 23 19 Eric McClure Chevrolet Hefty BlackOut / Reynolds 19/0 201 Running
26 38 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet Victory In Jesus 18/0 184 Running
27 28 28 Derrike Cope Chevrolet Maxelence 17/0 166 Engine
28 29 70 Dennis Setzer Dodge All American Sports Pouch 16/0 140 Electrical
29 4 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet Wolfpack Rentals 15/0 138 Accident
30 7 11 Brian Scott Toyota Shore Lodge 14/0 87 Accident
31 21 Tim George Jr. Chevrolet Applebee's / Potomac Family Dining Group 13/0 86 Accident
32 24 23 Alex Kennedy Dodge St. Baldrick's Foundation / Funny Dan The Race Car Man 0 84 Accident
33 27 81 Donnie Neuenberger Dodge Eagle Convenience Stores 11/0 70 Too Slow
34 40 141 Carl Long Ford Lilly Trucking of Virginia 11/1 52 Rear Gear
35 22 40 Scott Wimmer Chevrolet Key Motorsports 10/1 44 Transmission
36 34 79 Tim Andrews Ford Sleep Inn Rehoboth Beach 0 44 Transmission
37 43 113 Jennifer Jo Cobb * Ford drivenmale.com / DriverBoutique.com 7/0 43 Axle
38 36 52 Kevin Lepage Chevrolet TRX Alliance 6/0 19 Accident
39 41 0 Brad Teague Chevrolet G&K Services 0 10 Engine
40 39 55 Brett Rowe Chevrolet Salvation Army / Imperial Bedding Company 4/0 7 Handling
41 37 44 Jeff Green Chevrolet TriStar Motorsports 3/0 6 Vibration
42 42 104 Charles Lewandoski * Ford Go Green Racing 2/0 4 Ignition
43 33 182 Blake Koch * Dodge Daystar.com 1/0 1 Accident

* Denotes Rookie