Racetrack Insider - News and Views of the Motorsports Industry from Insiders Drew Patey and Buddy Judy

Broken Foot Doesn't Hold Back Edwards

Even with a broken foot suffered from an accident last week playing frisbee, Carl Edwards was able to win his fourth Nationwide Series race of the season Friday night at Richmond International Raceway. Edwards started the race from the 39th position after engine problems hampered his qualifying effort. But in the race, it was easy to see he had a fast race car as he came from the back of the pack to contend for the lead early on. With 25 laps remaining, the yellow flags waved and the leaders pitted for the last time. Edwards was running second to Safety-Kleen's Kevin Harvick and it was the Edwards boys that pulled off a super fast pit stop and gave the Ford the lead and eventually the win. Harvick finished a close second to Edwards, but his night was sealed when he got into a tangle with Denny Hamlin with 47 to go. Hamlin got loose on the outside of Harvick and bumped into Harvick, denting in his fender and leaving the Harvick Chevy just a little off. That's all Edwards needed to stay ahead of Harvick and take the trophy. Kyle Busch was also strong on Friday and finished third after leading the race for 30 laps, passing Safety-Kleen's Brad Keselowski on lap 113. Brad led the most laps during the night, but as the race progressed, he didn't have enough horsepower to stay with Edwards and Harvick and had to settle for fourth at the end. David Reutimann was in the hunt at the end but dropped to fifth at the checkered flag, while Martin Truex Jr was sixth. Busch still has a dominating lead in the points over Edwards as the Nationwide teams get a weekend off before Dover.