NASCAR: Carl Edwards Wins Dickies 500 At Texas Motor Speedway

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - Carl Edwards won for the second straight week, squeezing a victory out of his last tank of gas. And this time Jimmie Johnson ran out of magic.

The combination of the win by Edwards and a 15th-place finish by Johnson in Sunday’s Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway moved the race winner within 106 points of NASCAR Sprint Cup points leader Johnson with just two races remaining.

Although Edwards dominated most of the race, leading 199 of the first 264 laps on the 1.5-mile oval, it was a daring call by crew chief Bob Osborne that got Edwards this win after several other drivers used two-tire strategies to get ahead of him near the finish.

“Oh yeah,“ Edwards screamed as he crossed the finish line. “I did it. Fuel mileage. Great job.“

Dickies 500 results

At Texas Motor Speedway

Fort Worth, Texas

Lap length: 1.5 miles

(Start position in parentheses)

1. (16) Carl Edwards, Ford, 334 laps, 146.7 rating, 195 points, $496,300.
2. (1) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 334, 99.9, 175, $389,961.
3. (4) Jamie McMurray, Ford, 334, 124, 170, $228,025.
4. (3) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 334, 119.5, 165, $219,300.
5. (19) Greg Biffle, Ford, 334, 113.6, 160, $177,775.
6. (29) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 334, 106.7, 155, $166,675.
7. (23) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 334, 97, 146, $191,311.
8. (2) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 334, 97.1, 142, $165,358.
9. (6) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 334, 99.6, 138, $170,016.
10. (12) David Reutimann, Toyota, 334, 108.6, 139, $128,400.
11. (18) David Ragan, Ford, 334, 88.7, 130, $124,875.
12. (20) Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 334, 80.9, 127, $147,033.
13. (38) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 333, 73.8, 124, $156,783.
14. (14) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 333, 80.9, 121, $120,700.
15. (7) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 333, 82, 118, $156,861.
16. (8) Tony Stewart, Toyota, 333, 69.2, 115, $149,811.
17. (17) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 333, 70, 112, $139,566.
18. (13) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 332, 81.7, 114, $112,125.
19. (37) Brad Keselowski, Chevrolet, 332, 57.9, 106, $99,775.
20. (5) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 332, 80.8, 108, $113,675.
21. (24) Marcos Ambrose, Toyota, 332, 57.2, 100, $121,158.
22. (11) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 332, 72.2, 97, $110,675.
23. (21) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 332, 55.7, 94, $146,250.
24. (28) Kasey Kahne, Dodge, 331, 70.3, 91, $133,116.
25. (10) Scott Riggs, Chevrolet, 331, 58.5, 88, $118,508.
26. (36) AJ Allmendinger, Dodge, 331, 58.9, 85, $101,550.
27. (15) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 331, 54.2, 82, $115,408.
28. (31) Ryan Newman, Dodge, 331, 52.4, 79, $139,925.
29. (41) Dave Blaney, Toyota, 331, 39.8, 76, $112,408.
30. (32) Ken Schrader, Toyota, 331, 39.5, 73, $108,950.
31. (39) Bill Elliott, Ford, 330, 38.9, 70, $115,595.
32. (42) Travis Kvapil, Ford, 330, 41.6, 67, $127,264.
33. (33) Scott Speed, Toyota, 330, 39.9, 64, $99,350.
34. (25) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 329, 39.5, 61, $105,600.
35. (30) Elliott Sadler, Dodge, 329, 32, 58, $122,795.
36. (22) Robby Gordon, Dodge, 329, 30.8, 55, $113,772.
37. (9) Reed Sorenson, Dodge, 328, 63.2, 52, $123,239.
38. (27) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 328, 33, 49, $95,825.
39. (35) Bobby Labonte, Dodge, 328, 31.9, 46, $132,561.
40. (43) Joey Logano, Toyota, 327, 25.7, 0, $95,425.
41. (40) Kurt Busch, Dodge, engine, 267, 55.6, 40, $95,205.
42. (34) David Gilliland, Ford, parked, 266, 46.4, 37, $95,005.
43. (26) Juan Pablo Montoya, Dodge, accident, 262, 80, 34, $123,098.

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Race Statistics

Average Speed of Race Winner: 144.219 mph.

Time of Race: 3 hours, 28 minutes, 26 seconds.

Margin of Victory: 8.310 seconds.

Caution Flags: 5 for 26 laps.

Lead Changes: 16 among 9 drivers.

Lap Leaders: J.Gordon 1-15; C.Bowyer 16-48; D.Reutimann 49-52; D.Earnhardt Jr. 53; C.Bowyer 54-56; C.Edwards 57-111; D.Reutimann 112; B.Vickers 113-117; C.Edwards 118-144; G.Biffle 145; C.Edwards 146-240; Ky.Busch 241; C.Edwards 242-263; Ky.Busch 264; J.McMurray 265-320; G.Biffle 321; C.Edwards 322-334.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): C.Edwards, 5 times for 212 laps; J.McMurray, 1 time for 56 laps; C.Bowyer, 2 times for 36 laps; J.Gordon, 1 time for 15 laps; D.Reutimann, 2 times for 5 laps; B.Vickers, 1 time for 5 laps; G.Biffle, 2 times for 2 laps; Ky.Busch, 2 times for 2 laps; D.Earnhardt Jr., 1 time for 1 lap.

Top 12 in Points: 1. J.Johnson, 6,366; 2. C.Edwards, 6,260; 3. G.Biffle, 6,223; 4. J.Burton, 6,154; 5. J.Gordon, 6,111; 6. C.Bowyer, 6,099; 7. K.Harvick, 6,087; 8. M.Kenseth, 5,973; 9. T.Stewart, 5,962; 10. Ky.Busch, 5,938; 11. D.Earnhardt Jr., 5,937; 12. D.Hamlin, 5,935.

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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.)