Memphis Motorsports Park is quickly becoming known for providing unique races. Last year there were 25 caution flags, just one shy of the record 26, and this year, the Nationwide Series race saw only seven cars on the lead lap at the end of the Kroger 250.
That left little competition for Carl Edwards as he claimed his fifth win of the season and cut 80 points off of Clint Bowyer’s lead in the championship standings. He now trails by 116 with three races remaining.
Edwards, who missed qualifying at Memphis Motorsports Park because of practice for Sunday’s Sprint Cup Race in Atlanta, started 34th in his No. 60 Roush-Fenway Racing Ford, but gained ground quickly after making an early stop for fresh tires.
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He took the lead from Mike Bliss on lap 69, and never trailed after that, taking his fifth Nationwide Series victory of the season and 18th of his career.
Finishing second behind Edwards was David Reutimann, who again appears to be headed for a top-five finish in the points, while Kenny Wallace ran third and was followed by Austin Dillon and Joey Logano.
Chase Miller ran sixth and was followed across the finish line by Mike Bliss, Ragan, Steve Wallace and David Stremme. Finishing ahead of Bowyer were Cale Gale, Jason Leffler, Landon Cassill, Mike Wallace and Marcos Ambrose.
Reutimann, who battled back from two laps down, kept his Toyota on Edwards’ bumper for the final two laps couldn’t overtake him for the lead in a green-white-checker finish brought on by Brian Keselowski’s accident with four laps to go.
“It came down to the last couple of laps where I could have easily had gotten into his back bumper, moved him and gone on,” Reutimann said, “but that’s not the way I like to do things. It’s not the way I was taught to race. Hopefully it will come back someday, but now it just feels lousy to lose.”
Earlier, in the heat of the moment, Reutimann had said: “Long story short, I should’ve moved him. He would’ve moved me for sure.”
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