NASCAR: Carl Edwards Wins At Atlanta Motor Speedway

HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) - Carl Edwards passed Denny Hamlin on a late restart, then held on to win Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway to keep his championship hopes alive.

But his seventh win of the season barely dented Jimmie Johnson’s points lead. Johnson had a rough start to the race - earning a rare pit-road penalty that dropped him a lap off the pace - but stormed back to finish second with an impressive final sprint through the field.

A debris caution with 13 laps to go gave Johnson a chance to dip onto pit road for two fresh tires, and he was 11th when the race resumed with eight laps remaining. Johnson then picked off the cars in front of him one at a time to widen his lead to 183 points over Edwards.

Pep Boys Auto 500 results

At Atlanta Motor Speedway

Hampton, Ga.

Lap length: 1.54 miles

(Start position in parentheses)

1. (4) Carl Edwards, Ford, 325 laps, 140 rating, 190 points, $357,800.
2. (1) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 325, 109, 175, $256,836.
3. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 325, 118, 170, $215,691.
4. (10) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 325, 130.5, 170, $198,316.
5. (12) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 325, 101.5, 155, $134,525.
6. (19) Kurt Busch, Dodge, 325, 113.5, 155, $120,575.
7. (20) Jamie McMurray, Ford, 325, 94.4, 146, $117,475.
8. (13) David Ragan, Ford, 325, 83.5, 142, $119,625.
9. (7) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 325, 110.8, 138, $148,636.
10. (2) Greg Biffle, Ford, 325, 85.7, 139, $113,425.
11. (9) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 325, 105, 135, $108,300.
12. (22) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 325, 86.6, 127, $112,975.
13. (6) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 325, 91.8, 124, $144,461.
14. (39) AJ Allmendinger, Dodge, 325, 66.8, 121, $103,975.
15. (16) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 325, 92.8, 118, $129,208.
16. (17) Ryan Newman, Dodge, 325, 74.5, 115, $133,950.
17. (8) Tony Stewart, Toyota, 325, 78.2, 112, $140,211.
18. (3) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 325, 78, 109, $135,383.
19. (35) Robby Gordon, Dodge, 324, 64, 106, $119,208.
20. (5) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 324, 74.9, 103, $108,800.
21. (18) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 324, 75.7, 100, $99,450.
22. (14) Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 323, 64.4, 97, $124,683.
23. (25) Travis Kvapil, Ford, 323, 59.2, 94, $117,914.
24. (36) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 323, 45.4, 91, $132,625.
25. (23) Elliott Sadler, Dodge, 323, 52.4, 88, $115,095.
26. (21) Bobby Labonte, Dodge, 323, 48.1, 85, $124,486.
27. (28) David Gilliland, Ford, 323, 59.5, 82, $103,008.
28. (26) David Reutimann, Toyota, 323, 54.4, 79, $86,150.
29. (38) Marcos Ambrose, Toyota, 323, 43.7, 76, $100,033.
30. (32) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 322, 42.4, 73, $94,225.
31. (27) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 322, 52, 70, $93,075.
32. (43) Tony Raines, Chevrolet, 322, 37.5, 67, $82,400.
33. (15) Kasey Kahne, Dodge, 320, 59.1, 64, $113,166.
34. (34) Scott Speed, Toyota, 320, 33, 66, $82,175.
35. (40) Ken Schrader, Toyota, 320, 33.4, 58, $89,900.
36. (41) Chad McCumbee, Dodge, 319, 29.3, 55, $93,408.
37. (29) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 317, 56.7, 52, $91,147.
38. (37) Bill Elliott, Ford, 316, 30.9, 49, $99,820.
39. (30) Reed Sorenson, Dodge, 316, 43.6, 46, $108,564.
40. (24) Juan Pablo Montoya, Dodge, accident, 302, 76.3, 43, $109,133.
41. (33) Dave Blaney, Toyota, accident, 301, 41.3, 40, $81,100.
42. (42) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, accident, 296, 27.9, 37, $81,010.
43. (31) Scott Riggs, Chevrolet, 197, 33.2, 34, $81,262.

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Race Statistics

Winner’s Average Speed: 134.272 mph.

Time of Race: 3 hours, 43 minutes, 39 seconds.

Margin of Victory: 2.684 seconds.

Caution Flags: 10 for 43 laps.

Lead Changes: 18 among 8 drivers.

Lap Leaders: J.Johnson 1-20; C.Edwards 21-36; S.Speed 37; J.Johnson 38-45; C.Edwards 46-88; M.Kenseth 89; D.Earnhardt Jr. 90; C.Edwards 91-111; G.Biffle 112; M.Kenseth 113-131; C.Edwards 132; M.Kenseth 133-209; C.Edwards 210; Ku.Busch 211-221; M.Kenseth 222; Ku.Busch 223; M.Kenseth 224-253; D.Hamlin 254-309; C.Edwards 310-325.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): M.Kenseth, 5 times for 128 laps; C.Edwards, 6 times for 98 laps; D.Hamlin, 1 time for 56 laps; J.Johnson, 2 times for 28 laps; Ku.Busch, 2 times for 12 laps; G.Biffle, 1 time for 1 lap; D.Earnhardt Jr., 1 time for 1 lap; S.Speed, 1 time for 1 lap.

Top 12 in Points: 1. J.Johnson, 6,248. 2. C.Edwards, 6,065. 3. G.Biffle, 6,063. 4. J.Burton, 6,030. 5. K.Harvick, 5,941. 6. J.Gordon, 5,936. 7. C.Bowyer, 5,934. 8. T.Stewart, 5,847. 9. M.Kenseth, 5,835. 10. D.Earnhardt Jr., 5,829. 11. D.Hamlin, 5,823. 12. Ky.Busch, 5,783.

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NASCAR Driver Rating Formula

A maximum of 150 points can be attained in a race.

The formula combines the following categories: Wins, Finishes, Top-15 Finishes, Average Running Position While on Lead Lap, Average Speed Under Green, Fastest Lap, Led Most Laps, Lead-Lap Finish.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)