* Carl Edwards won the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway from the first-place starting position, the only series race he has won from the pole. Edwards scored his 13th career series victory in 145 career races. He has scored six victories in 2008, winning at California, Las Vegas, Texas, the second Pocono race, the second Michigan race and the second Bristol race. He scored his second victory in nine races at Bristol. Edwards led 84 of the 500 laps, including the final 31 laps. * Edwards remains second in the points standings and trails leader Kyle Busch by 212 points. * Roush Fenway Racing has scored 10 wins at Bristol, ranking second all time. * Ford scored its sixth victory in 2008. Toyota has nine wins, Chevrolet has five while Dodge has four in 2008. * Busch (who finished second) scored his 15th top-5 finish in 24 races this season, the most among all drivers. Busch has competed in 57 NASCAR races this season (Cup, Truck and Nationwide) and has led 3,321 laps. Busch is racking up a career’s worth of points in a single season, winning 17 races so far (eight Cup, six Nationwide and three Truck). Busch led 415 consecutive laps during the Cup race, the most consecutive laps a driver has led during a race this season. Denny Hamlin led the first 206 laps at the first Richmond race earlier this season. * Busch’s 415 laps were the most consecutive laps led in a race since Richard Petty led 461 in a row at Dover in September 1974. The 415 laps led by Busch are the most laps that Busch has led in a single series race during his career. He led 248 laps at Richmond in September 2006. * Hamlin finished third and posted his fifth third-place finish in 2008. * Dale Earnhardt Jr. had to pit on Lap 6 for passing at the start of the race before he reached the start/finish line. He lost a lap under the green-flag pass-through penalty. He finished 18th. * Jimmie Johnson had a flat right rear tire and struggled to get off the track after making contact with Sterling Marlin. Johnson lost 13 laps on pit road for repairs before rejoining the field. Johnson finished 33rd and dropped from third to fourth in the points standings. * The first 97 laps ran caution-free before 15th-place Martin Truex Jr. cut a right front tire, collecting A.J. Allmendinger on the track for the first caution of the night. Allmendinger was forced behind the wall, and lost 98 laps before returning to the race. Truex returned 100 laps down. * Elliott Sadler had a “bad seat belt” that came loose on Lap 113 while under green-flag conditions. Sadler lost eight laps for the repair and finished 32nd. * The second caution of the night involved Chase contender Jeff Burton, Marlin, Joe Nemechek and Sam Hornish Jr. on Lap 195. Burton was slowing for the spinning Marlin when Nemechek hit him from behind. Burton’s car suffered severe damage. He posted his second DNF of the season in finishing 42nd, but remained fifth in the standings. * The Turn 1 accident on Lap 215 involving Clint Bowyer, Casey Mears, Robby Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Reed Sorenson, Michael Waltrip and Hornish resulted in a red flag on Lap 216. Kahne dropped from 11th to 14th in the points, finishing 40th. He is 56 points behind 12th-place Bowyer. * The race featured four lead changes from three drivers. * The race had eight cautions for 56 laps. * Busch and Edwards are 391 or more points ahead of 13th-place David Ragan and are mathematically locked in for the 2008 Chase. * Any driver with a 323-point lead over 13th-place Ragan is locked into the Chase if he starts the remaining two races. Based on the above, Earnhardt (third) and Johnson (fourth) are locked in the 2008 Chase if they start the final two races.(ESPN.com)(8-25-2008)
