Carl Edwards wins Carfax 250 in Michigan

Carl Edwards
Mark Scheuern/AutoRacing1

If there’s such a thing as home cooking at a NASCAR race track, Michigan International Speedway served as Jack Roush’s kitchen for Saturday’s Carfax 250.

In a race that ended under caution because of Danny Efland’s wreck on the white-flag lap, polesitter Carl Edwards gave Roush Fenway Racing its first NASCAR Nationwide Series victory at the two-mile track since 1998. It was Ford’s first Michigan win in the series since Ryan Newman took the checkered flag in 2001.

“I’m so happy we won this thing," said Edwards, who won his third Nationwide race of the season, all since Drew Blickensderfer replaced Pierre Kuettel as crew chief in late June. “We’ve been so close before. It feels good to put a Ford here in Victory Lane."

“We always enjoy racing here in front of the home crowd," said Roush, whose Michigan headquarters are in nearby Livonia. “It’s a race track that suits our cars and our driving style."

Edwards, the defending series champion, had a lead of more than three seconds when Efland crashed with less than a lap remaining. Brian Vickers finished second, followed by Tony Stewart, who ran his last Nationwide event for Joe Gibbs Racing. Mark Martin was fourth, and Greg Biffle came home fifth.

Stewart made his ninth and final start in Gibbs’ No. 20 Toyota. Five of those starts have ended in Victory Lane.

“It’s not like I won’t ever get to see those guys (the No. 20 crew) again, but I know it’s the last time I’m going to drive that car for those guys," Stewart said. “When you’re that successful, you hate to see it end."

Vickers gave up time to Edwards on short runs but gained as his tires began to wear. Though the race went green for the final 25 laps, Vickers wasn’t able to make a substantial dent in Edwards’ advantage.

“On old tires, when handling was more important, we could run the top (of the track) and keep our engine wound up," said Vickers, who will start from the pole for Sunday’s 3M Performance 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at MIS. “I felt like we had something for ‘em, but, unfortunately, we just ran out of time."

Vickers also thought a recent NASCAR rule change that diminished the size of holes in the tapered spacer on Toyota engines made a difference.

“I think we had a better car (than Edwards did)," Vickers said, “but with the new Toyota restrictor plate NASCAR put on us, he definitely had us beat on power. There’s not a lot we can do about that."

Edwards had a different view of the engine rule change.

"Well, it kept them from having a giant advantage the whole day, like they've had for the first half of the year," he said. “To me, I like the change they made."

Notes: In winning his 16th Nationwide Series race, Edwards trimmed Clint Bowyer’s points lead to 113. After contact with David Reutimann’s Toyota on Lap 91, Bowyer lost ground and finished 10th … With Stewart in the No. 20 car, Joey Logano took the wheel of the No. 18 JGR Toyota and finished seventh.

Results

FIN

ST CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR PTS/BNS LAPS STATUS
1 1 60 Carl Edwards Ford Planters 195/10 125 Running
2 3 32 Brian Vickers Toyota ABF U-Pack Moving 175/5 125 Running
3 7 20 Tony Stewart Toyota Old Spice / Give Kids The World 170/5 125 Running
4 10 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet GoDaddy.com 160/0 125 Running
5 8 16 Greg Biffle Ford CitiFinancial 155/0 125 Running
6 20 1 Mike Bliss Chevrolet Miccosukee Resort & Gaming 155/5 125 Running
7 6 18 Joey Logano Toyota Z-Line Designs 146/0 125 Running
8 17 38 Jason Leffler Toyota Great Clips / "Best of Both Worlds" Concert DVD 142/0 125 Running
9 12 47 Kelly Bires Ford Clorox 138/0 125 Running
10 14 2 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Camping World / RV Sales 134/0 125 Running
11 22 88 Brad Keselowski Chevrolet U.S. Navy 130/0 125 Running
12 21 59 Marcos Ambrose Ford Kingsford Hickory Charcoal 127/0 125 Running
13 19 40 Dario Franchitti * Dodge Fastenal 124/0 125 Running
14 16 22 Josh Wise Dodge Supercuts 121/0 125 Running
15 23 7 Mike Wallace Toyota GEICO 118/0 125 Running
16 4 64 David Stremme Chevrolet Penske Truck Rental 115/0 125 Running
17 26 111 Jason Keller Chevrolet CARFAX / America's Incredible Pizza Company 112/0 125 Running
18 24 25 Bobby Hamilton Jr. Ford Eckrich 109/0 125 Running
19 2 33 Cale Gale * Chevrolet Camping World/ RVs.com 106/0 124 Running
20 9 27 David Gilliland Ford Ford. Drive one. 103/0 124 Running
21 25 30 Stanton Barrett Chevrolet INTERUSH.net 100/0 124 Running
22 13 29 Scott Wimmer Chevrolet Holiday Inn / Holiday Inn Express 97/0 124 Running
23 18 170 Mark Green Chevrolet Foretravel Motorcoach 94/0 124 Running
24 34 292 Brian Keselowski * Dodge K Automotive Performance 91/0 124 Running
25 39 4 Derrike Cope Chevrolet JVC 88/0 122 Running
26 43 89 Morgan Shepherd Dodge Racing With Jesus 85/0 122 Running
27 41 24 Eric McClure Chevrolet Hefty 82/0 122 Running
28 42 01 Danny Efland Chevrolet SponsorDavis.com 79/0 121 Running
29 33 81 D.J. Kennington Dodge Mahindra Tractors 76/0 121 Running
30 37 28 Kenny Wallace Chevrolet U.S. Border Patrol 73/0 121 Running
31 40 52 Donnie Neuenberger Chevrolet Quaker City Casting 70/0 120 Running
32 36 161 Brandon Whitt Ford Specialty Racing 67/0 117 Running
33 15 9 Patrick Carpentier * Dodge Hellmann's 64/0 98 Engine
34 5 99 David Reutimann Toyota Aaron's Dream Machine 61/0 98 Running
35 38 223 Robert Richardson Jr. Chevrolet R3 Motorsports 58/0 57 Accident
36 11 6 David Ragan Ford Discount Tire 55/0 51 Accident
37 32 05 Burney Lamar Ford 31-W Insulation / CertainTeed 52/0 40 Electrical
38 27 66 Steve Wallace Chevrolet Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches 49/0 40 Running
39 29 90 Johnny Chapman Chevrolet MSRP Motorsports 46/0 19 Transmission
40 31 91 Justin Hobgood Chevrolet MSRP Motorsports 43/0 15 Electrical
41 28 173 Kevin Lepage Dodge Derrike Cope Inc. 40/0 14 Brakes
42 35 298 Johnny Sauter Chevrolet Curb Agajanian Performance Group PE 11 Ignition
43 30 331 Kenny Hendrick Chevrolet INTERUSH.net 34/0 1 Ignition