Carl Edwards took the checkered flag at NASCAR’s All-Star race then wrecked his Ford Fusion at Charlotte Motor Speedway late Saturday night.
Usually, it’s one or the other.
So elated at winning NASCAR’s non-points paying one million dollar bonus race Edwards wheeled his car into the infield do a victory spin, instead he tore the front off of his car.
"Bob (Osborne, crew chief of the #99) is a little ticked off about it," said Carl Edwards. "You guys know, I usually just pull down there and I do a backflip and I thought, 'I'm gonna do a little slide through the grass. This will be great.' As soon as I turned in the grass I found the drainage cover, I guess."
When told there was no drain cover Edwards explained "Really? Wow, so it just dug in the splitter and I didn’t expect that. Bob has been doing a really good job of keeping the splitter down. It helps on the race track and it doesn’t help in the grass."
The key to the race which is run in four segments comes down to the final 10-lap dash for the cash. All drivers were required to pit for four tires at beginning of the final segment and Edwards crew got him out ahead of Kyle Busch who finished second in a Toyota.
On the final restart he got ahead of Busch who is known as the best on restarts.
"As far as he jumped out on me really surprised me. He took off so far, I was like 'Damn, there ain’t no way I am going to be able to run him down in this short period of time.'," Kyle Busch said.
David Reutimann was third in a Toyota.
The race which is usually promoted as NASCAR’s version of gloves off boxing was tame by current NASCAR history.
David Ragan, Edwards Roush Fenway Racing teammate, took the lead from Brad Keselowski in the Sprint Showdown, a qualifying race prior to the All-Star. Both drivers then transferred into the All-Star event.
Usually, it’s one or the other.
So elated at winning NASCAR’s non-points paying one million dollar bonus race Edwards wheeled his car into the infield do a victory spin, instead he tore the front off of his car.
"Bob (Osborne, crew chief of the #99) is a little ticked off about it," said Carl Edwards. "You guys know, I usually just pull down there and I do a backflip and I thought, 'I'm gonna do a little slide through the grass. This will be great.' As soon as I turned in the grass I found the drainage cover, I guess."
When told there was no drain cover Edwards explained "Really? Wow, so it just dug in the splitter and I didn’t expect that. Bob has been doing a really good job of keeping the splitter down. It helps on the race track and it doesn’t help in the grass."
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| Carl Edwards gets out of his broken car after the finish line - Photo: nascar.com |
The key to the race which is run in four segments comes down to the final 10-lap dash for the cash. All drivers were required to pit for four tires at beginning of the final segment and Edwards crew got him out ahead of Kyle Busch who finished second in a Toyota.
On the final restart he got ahead of Busch who is known as the best on restarts.
"As far as he jumped out on me really surprised me. He took off so far, I was like 'Damn, there ain’t no way I am going to be able to run him down in this short period of time.'," Kyle Busch said.
David Reutimann was third in a Toyota.
The race which is usually promoted as NASCAR’s version of gloves off boxing was tame by current NASCAR history.
David Ragan, Edwards Roush Fenway Racing teammate, took the lead from Brad Keselowski in the Sprint Showdown, a qualifying race prior to the All-Star. Both drivers then transferred into the All-Star event.