It wasn’t a bump draft or a tandem draft. Carl Edwards slammed into Ricky Stenhouse ’s out of control Ford Mustang into Victory Lane at Iowa Speedway’s Nationwide series race.
The two Roush Fenway drivers had a hard battle for the lead a little earlier, but Stenhouse pulled ahead only to blow an engine shortly before the start-finish line.
Edwards’ in-car camera showed his windshield blurred by engine smoke and fluid. Edwards couldn’t avoid Stenhouse’s car and propelled him through the checkered flag. Even the flagman looked amazed by the incident.
"It was a close one, but we made it," Stenhouse said following his second win of the year. "He hit us pretty square and shot us across the line."
After the race second-place Edwards said: "I still haven't seen the replay with the audio, but that's the most amazing finish I've been involved with in a long time. That was spectacular.”
It wasn’t as nice all race long however as the teammates battled each other for the lead. Stenhouse, who led the final 22-laps, admitted that he drove aggressively and told his crew that he wasn’t backing down.
It wasn’t a big surprise when Stenhouse’s crew chief told Edwards, after the race but before the teammates spoke: “He thinks you hate him.”
But Edwards, who signed a multi-year, multi-million dollar renewal with Roush Fenway Racing earlier in the week, wasn't angry. Meanwhile, polesitter Elliott Sadler rebounded from two poor finishes in-a-row for a third place finish.
Sam Hornish Jr., the Penske driver who was let go in team downsizing, filled in the for the recuperating Brad Keselowski and led 39-laps before tire problems and a brake fire put him out of contention with 100 laps to go.
"It was just a disappointing night,” explained Hornish. “We had a really good car for the first 150 laps. We ran over a piece of debris and cut down the right front tire and in trying to get into the pits, we broke a brake line.
"So we spent the rest of the race trying to get all four brakes back, but we never seemed to get there. It's unfortunate that the night ended like it did…”
Stenhouse has a 12-point lead over Reed Sorenson and Sadler is in third, 29 points out of first place.
The two Roush Fenway drivers had a hard battle for the lead a little earlier, but Stenhouse pulled ahead only to blow an engine shortly before the start-finish line.
Edwards’ in-car camera showed his windshield blurred by engine smoke and fluid. Edwards couldn’t avoid Stenhouse’s car and propelled him through the checkered flag. Even the flagman looked amazed by the incident.
"It was a close one, but we made it," Stenhouse said following his second win of the year. "He hit us pretty square and shot us across the line."
After the race second-place Edwards said: "I still haven't seen the replay with the audio, but that's the most amazing finish I've been involved with in a long time. That was spectacular.”
It wasn’t as nice all race long however as the teammates battled each other for the lead. Stenhouse, who led the final 22-laps, admitted that he drove aggressively and told his crew that he wasn’t backing down.
It wasn’t a big surprise when Stenhouse’s crew chief told Edwards, after the race but before the teammates spoke: “He thinks you hate him.”
But Edwards, who signed a multi-year, multi-million dollar renewal with Roush Fenway Racing earlier in the week, wasn't angry. Meanwhile, polesitter Elliott Sadler rebounded from two poor finishes in-a-row for a third place finish.
Sam Hornish Jr., the Penske driver who was let go in team downsizing, filled in the for the recuperating Brad Keselowski and led 39-laps before tire problems and a brake fire put him out of contention with 100 laps to go.
"It was just a disappointing night,” explained Hornish. “We had a really good car for the first 150 laps. We ran over a piece of debris and cut down the right front tire and in trying to get into the pits, we broke a brake line.
"So we spent the rest of the race trying to get all four brakes back, but we never seemed to get there. It's unfortunate that the night ended like it did…”
Stenhouse has a 12-point lead over Reed Sorenson and Sadler is in third, 29 points out of first place.