Edwards Takes the Checkered in UAW-Dodge 400 Victory

In a race full of unexpected twists, including a new record and two all star drivers unable to finish, Carl Edwards was able to pull out his second victory in a row in the Sprint Cup Series.

At first, it seemed as though the race would fly by rather smoothly in Las Vegas, with little drama following the fraught-filled Auto 500 the previous week. Then, after 108 laps of the 250 lap race, Tony Stewart hit the wall after one of his tires blew out and had to be assisted off the track as he limped from his car and did not finish the race. Immediately after his accident, Stewart said his legs were tingling so badly, he wondered how seriously he had injured himself. He had also wrecked in the Nationwide race the day before and had a sore ankle as the result. The latest report is that he is okay, but still a little sore.

It seemed as though the yellow flag wouldn’t get a rest as Brian Vickers collided with the #5 car, setting off the 8th caution flag of the night, then Dale Jarrett bringing it out for the 9th time after his crash into the wall.

The 11th (and record breaking at this track) caution came out with only 4 laps to go as Jeff Gordon brushed against Matt Kenseth and crashed into the wall as well in his new car that he unveiled in Las Vegas.

Gordon, who only had one race last year that he didn’t finish, was concerned about the fact that the energy absorbent materials that were used on the rest of the wall to lessen impact were not on the part of the wall that he hit (also known as SAFER – Steel and Foam Energy Reduction). He was noted as saying that he felt the force in his chest during his accident and hit so hard that the radiator came clear out of the car.

With so much debris on the road, the yellow turned to red and all cars were stopped dead in their tracks with Edwards leading the way and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. right behind him. Earnhardt had been having trouble all day getting his tires not to spin out on restarts and the dead stop did not help.

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On the green flag, the pursuit was on, but no one could catch Edwards. Edwards’ team had a rough day, narrowly escaping a fine from a renegade tire that got loose on the track from their pit crew. But they prevailed as Edwards got the checkered flag followed closely by Earnhardt and Biffle. Edwards now has the lead in the Sprint Cup for the first time in his career.

By Angela Moore
Pro Racing Fans Staff Writer

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