When Carl Edwards saw the Ford of Roush Fenway Racing teammate Ricky Stenhouse Jr. blow by him with 21 laps left in Saturday’s Alliance Truck Parts 250, he was worried.
Just as crew chief Mike Beam predicted he would, however, Edwards caught Stenhouse in the closing laps, passed his teammate on Lap 117 of 125 and pulled away to win his fourth Nationwide Series race of the season and the 33rd of his career.
“Ricky drove his heart out—that guy is unbelievable,” Edwards said in victory lane. “I didn’t think I was going to be able to get him, but it was like his car got tightened up. Man, he did a good job. … I thought Ricky was setting sail.
“I didn’t think I was going to be able to catch him. His car, I don’t think, was balanced as well as mine was, and he was somehow making it go that fast. So he’s someone I’m a little nervous about for the future.” NASCAR.com
“This is coming home for me,” said Roush, who has ties to Michigan dating to when he began working for Ford during the 1960s. “The fact that we’ve been able to have the success we’ve had in our backyard is really fun.”
It was Roush Fenway’s record fifth series win at Michigan. After his victory, Edwards did his usual back flip, then went running into the stands to celebrate. He finished second in a Nationwide race at MIS in August and won one in 2008.
Stenhouse led laps 104-116, but Edwards remained patient and denied Stenhouse what would have been his second win of the year.
“It was more work than I thought it was going to be,” Edwards said. “I really had to drive hard. He is really getting good at this. He is going to be very tough.” The Associated Press
“The car just got too tight,” Stenhouse said. “We needed about a 15-lap run there at the end, going green with our new tires. We got too tight at the end.”
Kyle Busch, who was attempting to tie Mark Martin’s series record of 49 wins, finished third. Busch has five victories in the series so far this season, but his last win came on May 6 at Darlington.
Paul Menard, the pole sitter, took the fourth spot, while Trevor Bayne’s fifth-place run gave Roush Fenway three of the top-five finishing positions. Bayne bounced back from a pit road mishap he encountered in the early going. He sustained slight damage to the front end of his car when he got into the back of Kenny Wallace while they drove on pit road.
Joey Logano finished sixth, and Martin, who competed in his third of a scheduled four Nationwide races this season, placed seventh. MiamiHerald.com
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NASCAR Nationwide Series: Alliance Truck Parts 250 at Michigan - Race Results
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