Carl Edwards won the Sharpie 500 tonight at Bristol Motor Speedway over Kasey Kahne in a race dominated by those two drivers. Edwards led 182 laps and Kahne led 305…..leaving only 13 circuits to spread around to the others. For Carl, this was his second win of the season (he took Michigan in June) and 6th of his Nextel Cup career (he’s now solo in 63rd place on the all-time win list). His first short-track win was #99 for Roush Racing (and their fourth of the season) and was worth $297,050 from the over $6.1M in posted awards. Gotta wonder how happy NASCAR’s gonna be with ESPN if they keep referring to that blank #31 as the “AT&T” Chevy, huh? Kasey Kahne (2nd) had his best finish since he won at Lowe’s Motor Speedway last October. His Top-5 gives us 29 drivers at that mark this season….same as last year. Clint Bowyer (3rd) tied his career-best finish tonight. He was also 3rd at California last September. Bobby Labonte (8th) had his best finish since he was 8th at Phoenix in April. J. J. Yeley (13th) had his best finish since he was runner-up at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in May. David Stremme (14th) had his best finish since he was 8th at Talladega in April. Scott Riggs (18th) had his best finish since he was 18th at Pocono in June. Michael Waltrip (23rd) had his best finish since he was 10th at Michigan in June (only four races). STREAKIN….Tony Stewart has 6 Top-10’s in a row. This Week’s Elevator…UP: Operator of the Week is J. J. Yeley (+27), followed by Greg Biffle (+24) and David Stremme (+22). DOWN: The Big Dropper was David Ragan (-37), followed by Ricky Rudd (-30), Dave Blaney (-26), and Jamie McMurray (-23). Kurt Busch lost five points of his margin to Dale Earnhardt Jr….but it’s still rather formidable at 158 points with two races to the “Chase”. His Magic Number to eliminate Little E has moved up to 15th. Kasey Kahne (27th to 23rd) advanced the most spots in the points tonight, while Jamie McMurray (16th to 19th) fell the most poisitions.(Stock Car Fans)(8-25-2007)
