Carl Edwards held off Brad Keselowski claiming the first victory for a Ford Mustang in NASCAR’s Nationwide series. Paul Menard finished third in a Chevrolet.
Edwards started on the pole and lead a race high 169 of the 200 laps in winning Friday night's Nationwide Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.
It was Edwards' second consecutive victory in the NNS at Texas and Roush Fenway's sixth series win at the 1.5-mile track. It was Edwards' 30th career Nationwide Series win, making him just the fifth driver ever to accomplish that feat. The win was Roush Fenway's 14th overall NASCAR win at Texas.
"That was big," said Edwards. "Just an unreal race; the car was fast. The first win for the Mustang."
Keselowski, who drove a Dodge, said: “I thought that we were really close today. It was a good battle at the end. I hope everybody enjoyed it.
"I thought that I might be able to get him (Carl Edwards), but he had about six or seven lap newer tires and, more importantly, he had the clean air and the ability to put his car where he wanted to and he did a good job with that.
"I caught a few breaks in lapped traffic to inch closer. I felt like I could almost get him and then I’d lose the nose with an aero push. That’s just racing.”
Kyle Busch, a threat in any NASCAR division, had his day cut short when he was taken out by a backmarker while attempting to chase down Edwards early in the race.
“I kind of saw it coming and tried to turn left, but it was too late,” Busch said. “It didn’t happen that fast, but there was no time to react. You can’t just stomp on the brakes and turn left. You’re already maxed out with your tires.
"It’s real unfortunate. I don’t know how long his tire was going down, but if it was going down for the whole front straightaway, he should’ve gotten to the slowest speed and ran the apron," Busch said.
Joey Logano finished fourth in a Toyota while Elliott Sadler was the top-placed full-time Nationwide driver in fifth for Chevrolet.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Edwards’s teammate who led five laps in the race, maintained his Nationwide Series points lead after qualifying third and finishing eighth. Jason Leffler is second in the standing after finishing 14th.
Edwards started on the pole and lead a race high 169 of the 200 laps in winning Friday night's Nationwide Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.
It was Edwards' second consecutive victory in the NNS at Texas and Roush Fenway's sixth series win at the 1.5-mile track. It was Edwards' 30th career Nationwide Series win, making him just the fifth driver ever to accomplish that feat. The win was Roush Fenway's 14th overall NASCAR win at Texas.
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| Carl Edwards (Photo: Getty Images/NASCAR) |
"That was big," said Edwards. "Just an unreal race; the car was fast. The first win for the Mustang."
Keselowski, who drove a Dodge, said: “I thought that we were really close today. It was a good battle at the end. I hope everybody enjoyed it.
"I thought that I might be able to get him (Carl Edwards), but he had about six or seven lap newer tires and, more importantly, he had the clean air and the ability to put his car where he wanted to and he did a good job with that.
"I caught a few breaks in lapped traffic to inch closer. I felt like I could almost get him and then I’d lose the nose with an aero push. That’s just racing.”
Kyle Busch, a threat in any NASCAR division, had his day cut short when he was taken out by a backmarker while attempting to chase down Edwards early in the race.
“I kind of saw it coming and tried to turn left, but it was too late,” Busch said. “It didn’t happen that fast, but there was no time to react. You can’t just stomp on the brakes and turn left. You’re already maxed out with your tires.
"It’s real unfortunate. I don’t know how long his tire was going down, but if it was going down for the whole front straightaway, he should’ve gotten to the slowest speed and ran the apron," Busch said.
Joey Logano finished fourth in a Toyota while Elliott Sadler was the top-placed full-time Nationwide driver in fifth for Chevrolet.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Edwards’s teammate who led five laps in the race, maintained his Nationwide Series points lead after qualifying third and finishing eighth. Jason Leffler is second in the standing after finishing 14th.