Carl Edwards enjoyed sweet redemption in Sin City on Sunday.
One week after Edwards’ dominant No. 99 Ford was wrecked at Phoenix, he outraced Tony Stewart, who was by far the class of the field in the Kobalt Tools 400, to record his 19th career Sprint Cup victory.
“This is the best start to a season that I’ve ever had,” Edwards said. “Daytona could have gone either way. That was a lot of luck involved in our good finish (second) at Daytona. Phoenix was a very strong performance from everyone but we had bad luck there.
“I felt today we had a solid top-three car all day. Those are three different types of tracks with success on all three, so I am really excited about the season. This is a great start.”
Stewart led 163 laps and smoked the field from the point. But during a pit stop with just more than 100 laps remaining, Stewart’s team failed to detach an air hose properly from the No. 14 Chevrolet, and the driver was issued a penalty for leaving the pits with equipment attached to the car. Stewart had to drop to 24th — the end of the line for cars on the lead lap back.
For Edwards, Stewart’s misfortune provided a solid opportunity.
“With Tony, the first thing that went through my mind was that we would see him again in a minute because that car was spectacular,” Edwards said. “He did a great job driving it. That was a gift for us to have that penalty.
“In the end, it really put him in a position where he had to take two (tires) to get to the lead. He had to take four when we took two. It may have been the difference in the race there.”
Stewart climbed to the 15th position before Jeff Gordon cut a tire on Lap 195 to ignite the seventh and final caution. Stewart moved to the point on Lap 199 after a two-tire gamble to gain track position and held that spot until he was forced to pit for fuel and four tires on Lap 235.
Edwards’ team performed a two-tire stop six laps later and, when the green flag pit stops cycled out, the No. 99 took over the lead on Lap 245. Stewart was able to pass Juan Pablo Montoya for second place on Lap 262, but he couldn’t catch Edwards with five laps to go.
"We gave one away today,” Stewart said. "It is just unbelievable. The fastest thing on the planet and gave it away. But, we can take away today that we had the fastest car."
Edwards’ victory — his third in the past five races — vaulted the No. 99 team 12 positions to third in the points standings, seven behind leader Tony Stewart.
PROBLEMS FOR THE A-LISTERS
Chase for the Sprint Cup regulars suffered a variety of issues on Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
While all the Roush Fenway Racing cars were stout throughout the weekend, Edwards’ teammates Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle experienced problems in the race that knocked both cars out of contention. Kenseth, the polesitter, cut a tire on Lap 13. With 254 laps to recover, he and his No. 17 crew fought back and finished 11th.
“The way the race went and the way our car was in traffic, we weren’t as close as we wanted to be and couldn‘t get our lap back,” Kenseth said. “Finally, we got it back with 70 to go and couldn’t do any better than we did there.”
Biffle led twice in the early stages, but his car ran out of gas on Lap 146 while running third. The No. 16 Ford dropped back two laps and never recovered. Biffle finished 28th, three laps off the pace, and is now mired 31st in the points standings.
Kyle Busch rebounded after first cutting a tire on Lap 96, but when his engine expired on Lap 108, his day was over. Busch, who entered the weekend with the points lead, finished 38th and went into a free fall to 14th in the standings.
Last week’s victor, Jeff Gordon, had his day cut short when he blew a tire and slammed into the Turn 4 wall on Lap 196. Gordon had raced in the top 10 for most of the event but had to settle for 36th. Gordon dropped 14 positions to 19th in the points standings.
FAST AND FURIOUS FROM THE FIELD
A number of non-Chase regulars were not only lucky but good in Las Vegas on Sunday.
For Marcos Ambrose, qualifying second and finishing fourth was his best effort ever on an intermediate racetrack. He barely missed winning the pole position when fellow Ford driver Matt Kenseth knocked him off Friday.
During the race, Ambrose led a lap, remained in the top 10 throughout the race and posted his best finish since starting at Richard Petty Motorsports.
“It was a great day,” Ambrose said. “It was a great first top five for RPM. I have to thank Richard Petty for believing in me and giving me a shot and (sponsor) Stanley and everybody.
“It is going to be a great year. We had great pit stops and a good crew today. There was a ton of good energy out here today, just a ton of good energy. I am really happy with the finish.”
Martin Truex Jr.’s sixth-place finish was his career best at Las Vegas. The effort was Truex’s first top 10 on the 1.5-miler and his top run in the No. 56 NAPA Toyota since last spring at Martinsville when he finished fifth — his only top five since moving to Michael Waltrip Racing.
“This team has been on it this year,” said Truex, who moved into seventh in the points standings. “We really hit on some things at the end of last season. The communication is going great, (chief engineer) Chad (Johnson) and I are really on the same page as far as getting the car set up.
“We had a good car in practice all weekend, we had a good run last week. It’s just been good — the communication has been going really well and we’re building a lot better race cars. He’s really learning what I need in them — there's going to be a lot more of this, this year.”
With his eighth-place showing, Dale Earnhardt Jr. posted consecutive top-10 finishes for the first time since last summer when he finished eighth at Loudon and fourth at Daytona. Although Earnhardt wrecked in the closing laps of this year's Daytona 500, his performances the past two weeks, under the direction of new crew chief Steve Letarte, has elevated NASCAR's most popular driver to 10th in the points standings.
Brian Vickers scored his first top 10 since returning to action this season after being sidelined last May for blood clots. Vickers’ 10th-place finish marks the first time he’s outrun new Red Bull Racing teammate Kasey Kahne.
It appears Paul Menard could have a breakout season, and this week's 12th-place finish is another solid effort for the team. The decision to bring crew chief Slugger Labbe from Richard Petty Motorsports to Richard Childress Racing has expedited the learning curve for the driver with the new organization. Menard is currently the top RCR driver in the points standings at sixth.
David Reutimann was solid throughout the weekend and ran in the top 10 for most of the race. Reutimann missed the pit cycle and was forced to refuel late in the race but still salvaged a 13th-place finish.
“We had a fast TUMS Toyota today, but every time it seemed like we were going to break into the top five, something put us back," said Reutimann, who is 25th in the points standings. "We kept battling back and ended up with a decent finish. It isn’t what we wanted or think we deserved, but it moved us up in points and we’ll try to gain even more at Bristol. We’re turning this thing around. Bristol was great to us last year, and I think that will be true again this year.”
SAY WHAT?
Kyle Busch’s response when crew chief Dave Rogers asked spotter Eddie D’Hondt to check the damage on the No. 18 Toyota:
“Load it up boys. There are flames in my face.”
