Carl Edwards Flips Atlanta
Written by John Davison · March 20, 2005
Jimmie Johnson, fresh off last week’s strong showing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, continued his domination of NASCAR’s NEXTEL Cup racing but with one turn left to go, Carl Edwards, winner in Saturday’s Aaron’s 312 Busch Grand National race, drove around Johnson to score his first ‘Cup win, capping a weekend with a pair of career-first wins for the 25-year-old back flipper from Missouri.
The margin of vicotry was a scant 0.028 second over last season’s dominant driver, Jimmie Johnson. “Let me tell you, Jimmie Johnson is an incredible competitor,” said Edwards in Victory Lane after the race. The finish saw Edwards ease up next to Johnson as the pair exited the last turn of the race, scrubbing the lettering off Edwards’ left-side tires on Johnson’s car. Later, the left-rear tire on Edwards’ Ford showed the resullts of his desperate charge to the victory, with cord showing in spots.
“The middle and the top has been good for me. I tried to move up some to see what grip was up there. I guess I just needed to move up a little more.He found a way around me on the top and beat me to the start/finish,” said a disappointed but still excited Johnson after the race. Johnson led the most laps of the day, 156, to third-place Greg Biffle’s 151.
The race started with a big bang, a red flag resulting from the back straight crash that involved the cars of Casey Mears, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte, Travis Kvapil and Shane Hmiel, among others. Gordon and Labonte both had their cars badly damaged, Labonte spending over 50 laps in the garage making repairs.
Unofficial Finishing Order, Golden Corral 500:
Fin, St, Driver, Car, Laps, Pts/Bonus, Status
1) 4, Carl Edwards, No. 99 Scotts Ford, 325, 185/5, Running
2) 3, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, 325, 180/10, Running
3) 6, Greg Biffle, No. 16 Post-it/National Guard Ford, 325, 170/5, Running
4) 12, Mark Martin, No. 6 Viagra Ford, 325, 165/5, Running
5) 5, Kasey Kahne, No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge, 325, 155/0, Running
6) 8, Brian Vickers, No. 25 GMAC/ditech.com Chevrolet, 325, 150/0, Running
7) 37, Michael Waltrip, No. 15 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 325, 146/0, Running
8) 27, Dave Blaney, No. 07 Snap-On Tools/Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet, 325, 147/5, Running
9) 17, Scott Riggs, No. 10 Valvoline Chevrolet, 325, 138/0, Running
10) 11, Elliott Sadler, No. 38 Combos Ford, 325, 134/0, Running
11) 13, Jamie McMurray, No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge, 325, 130/0, Running
12) 42, Kyle Busch *, No. 5 Kellogg’s Chevrolet, 325, 127/0, Running
13) 14, Jeremy Mayfield, No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge, 325, 124/0, Running
14) 1, Ryan Newman, No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge, 325, 126/5, Running
15) 38, Jeff Burton, No. 31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet, 325, 118/0, Running
16) 39, Sterling Marlin, No. 40 Coors Light Dodge, 325, 115/0, Running
17) 9, Tony Stewart, No. 20 The Home Depot Chevrolet, 325, 112/0, Running
18) 16, Mike Bliss, No. 0 NetZero Best Buy Chevrolet, 324, 109/0, Running
19) 15, Casey Mears, No. 41 Nicorette Fresh Mint Gum Dodge, 324, 106/0, Running
20) 33, Scott Wimmer, No. 22 Caterpillar Dodge, 324, 103/0, Running
21) 36, Kevin Harvick, No. 29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet, 324, 100/0, Running
22) 18, Bill Elliott, No. 91 Visteon Dodge, 324, 97/0, Running
23) 34, Dale Jarrett, No. 88 UPS Ford, 323, 99/5, Running
24) 35, Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet, 323, 91/0, Running
25) 10, Jason Leffler, No. 11 FedEx Express Chevrolet, 323, 88/0, Running
26) 28, Ken Schrader, No. 49 Red Baron Frozen Pizza Dodge, 323, 85/0, Running
27) 32, Rusty Wallace, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, 322, 82/0, Running
28) 40, Jeff Green, No. 43 Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories Dodge, 321, 79/0, Running
29) 22, Jimmy Spencer, No. 50 U.S. Micro Corporation Dodge, 314, 76/0, Running
30) 29, Kevin Lepage, No. 37 Carter’s Royal Dispos-all Dodge, 314, 73/0, Running
31) 23, Matt Kenseth, No. 17 Trex Decking & Railing Ford, 311, 70/0, Running
32) 24, Kurt Busch, No. 97 Sharpie/IRWIN Industrial Tools Ford, 304, 67/0, Running
33) 31, Ricky Rudd, No. 21 Motorcraft Genuine Parts Ford, 300, 64/0, Running
34) 26, Robby Gordon, No. 7 Harrah’s Chevrolet, 290, 61/0, Out of Race
35) 7, Joe Nemechek, No. 01 CENTRIX Financial Chevrolet, 280, 58/0, Out of Race
36) 41, Kyle Petty, No. 45 Georgia-Pacific/Brawny Dodge, 271, 55/0, Out of Race
37) 19, Bobby Labonte, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet, 266, 52/0, Out of Race
38) 2, Bobby Hamilton Jr., No. 32 Tide Chevrolet, 245, 49/0, Running
39) 25, Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet, 214, 46/0, Out of Race
40) 30, Mike Wallace, No. 4 Lucas Oil Products Chevrolet, 113, 43/0, Out of Race
41) 43, Mike Garvey, No. 75 Jani-King/KGB Swim Wear Dodge, 15, 40/0, Out of Race
42) 20, Travis Kvapil *, No. 77 Kodak/Jasper Engines Dodge, 0, 37/0, Out of Race
43) 21, Shane Hmiel, No. 08 Win Fuel Chevrolet, 0, 34/0, Out of Race
*: Rookie
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How good was the finish? Even “The Cat In The Hat” ran out to Edward’s car for the back flip. How tired was Edwards? He almost belly flopped his flip! An exciting young driver with a lot of charm, talent and a good team. With luck a definite top ten Chase contender.