By Brandon Mudd
MADISON, Ill. – After a three-day, 125-mile bike ride from Columbia, Mo., and a charity track walk Saturday afternoon with area race fans, Carl Edwards had enough energy left to dominate the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 at Gateway International Raceway late Saturday night. The victory was Edwards’ second here, his first coming in 2006.
“Man, it’s just really, really special to win here for me,” a buoyant Edwards said. “I just can’t thank my guys enough. We had unbelievable pit stops.”
After he started the race third (his Roush Fenway Racing teammate and fellow Missourian Jamie McMurray earned the pole position), Edwards dominated the NASCAR Nationwide Series event, leading a race-high 79 laps and beating rookie Joey Logano by a margin of 6.877 seconds.
Logano led the first practice Friday night and despite having never even seen the 1.25-mile oval, was considered by many a favorite to win. Several series veterans, including defending NNS champion Edwards, had the 18-year-old in their sights.
“It just felt good to beat that 20 car,” Edwards said. “That was really good. But a win here is very special. It’s a really, really great feeling.”
For his part, the young Joe Gibbs Racing driver was content with the runner-up, his second to Edwards in less than a month. Both of those wins came with sponsorship from Save-A-Lot Foods, a St. Louis-based company.
“It was a good finish,” Logano said on pit road after the race. “That’s two races in a row that we finished second to Carl Edwards. I’d like to beat him for a change! We’ll go back home and go back to work. He’s really stout here at his home track and that’s cool for him to win here, but I’d much rather be where he is right now.”
The race was halted for caution six times for 25 laps, including a competition caution flag at lap 20. NASCAR implemented that after a partial power outage at the track caused by a problem at a nearby substation delayed the start of the race briefly.
In addition to the cautions, the race was also stopped under red-flag conditions for nearly 25 minutes after rookie Landon Cassill got into the back of Scott Wimmer, setting off a chain reaction that also took out Wimmer as well as former NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Mike Bliss and two-time and defending race winner Reed Sorenson. Cassill went on to finish sixth, the highest-finishing rookie of the race.
David Reutimann was strong early on, leading twice for 33 laps, but was involved in an incident with Brad Keselowski on Lap 142, relegating Reutimann to a 25th-place finish.
“We were just fortunate that David Reutimann wasn’t in the race at the end,” Edwards said. “He was really fast; I thought he had the car to beat.”
St. Louis natives Mike Wallace and Kenny Wallace finished 11th and 18th, respectively, while McMurray finished 27th after having oil pump difficulties late in the race. Rounding out the top-ten were Jason Keller (third), Jason Leffler (fourth), Keselowski (fifth), rookie James Buescher who tested at GIR earlier this month in an ARCA car (seventh), NNS points leader Clint Bowyer (eighth), David Stremme (ninth), and Edwards’ Roush Fenway Racing teammate David Ragan (tenth).
NASCAR returns to Gateway International Raceway Sept. 6 when the Craftsman Truck Series makes its annual trip to the St. Louis area. For tickets, call 866-35-SPEED or visit GatewayRaceway.com.
MADISON, Ill. – After a three-day, 125-mile bike ride from Columbia, Mo., and a charity track walk Saturday afternoon with area race fans, Carl Edwards had enough energy left to dominate the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 at Gateway International Raceway late Saturday night. The victory was Edwards’ second here, his first coming in 2006.
“Man, it’s just really, really special to win here for me,” a buoyant Edwards said. “I just can’t thank my guys enough. We had unbelievable pit stops.”
After he started the race third (his Roush Fenway Racing teammate and fellow Missourian Jamie McMurray earned the pole position), Edwards dominated the NASCAR Nationwide Series event, leading a race-high 79 laps and beating rookie Joey Logano by a margin of 6.877 seconds.
Logano led the first practice Friday night and despite having never even seen the 1.25-mile oval, was considered by many a favorite to win. Several series veterans, including defending NNS champion Edwards, had the 18-year-old in their sights.
“It just felt good to beat that 20 car,” Edwards said. “That was really good. But a win here is very special. It’s a really, really great feeling.”
For his part, the young Joe Gibbs Racing driver was content with the runner-up, his second to Edwards in less than a month. Both of those wins came with sponsorship from Save-A-Lot Foods, a St. Louis-based company.
“It was a good finish,” Logano said on pit road after the race. “That’s two races in a row that we finished second to Carl Edwards. I’d like to beat him for a change! We’ll go back home and go back to work. He’s really stout here at his home track and that’s cool for him to win here, but I’d much rather be where he is right now.”
The race was halted for caution six times for 25 laps, including a competition caution flag at lap 20. NASCAR implemented that after a partial power outage at the track caused by a problem at a nearby substation delayed the start of the race briefly.
In addition to the cautions, the race was also stopped under red-flag conditions for nearly 25 minutes after rookie Landon Cassill got into the back of Scott Wimmer, setting off a chain reaction that also took out Wimmer as well as former NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Mike Bliss and two-time and defending race winner Reed Sorenson. Cassill went on to finish sixth, the highest-finishing rookie of the race.
David Reutimann was strong early on, leading twice for 33 laps, but was involved in an incident with Brad Keselowski on Lap 142, relegating Reutimann to a 25th-place finish.
“We were just fortunate that David Reutimann wasn’t in the race at the end,” Edwards said. “He was really fast; I thought he had the car to beat.”
St. Louis natives Mike Wallace and Kenny Wallace finished 11th and 18th, respectively, while McMurray finished 27th after having oil pump difficulties late in the race. Rounding out the top-ten were Jason Keller (third), Jason Leffler (fourth), Keselowski (fifth), rookie James Buescher who tested at GIR earlier this month in an ARCA car (seventh), NNS points leader Clint Bowyer (eighth), David Stremme (ninth), and Edwards’ Roush Fenway Racing teammate David Ragan (tenth).
NASCAR returns to Gateway International Raceway Sept. 6 when the Craftsman Truck Series makes its annual trip to the St. Louis area. For tickets, call 866-35-SPEED or visit GatewayRaceway.com.
