Edwards Wins 24 Hours Of California

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Edwards Celebrates * CIA Stock Photo

It was a long way from where it started to where it finally wound up. The Auto Club 500 wasn't an auto race, it was a marathon. Not only for the drivers and crews but for track personnel, NASCAR employees, the fans and the media. The race was red-flagged twice and the second one lasted over night. It was finally resumed at 1:00 PM Eastern time, 24 hours after the original start time.

On Monday the track was hotter and slicker than it had been on Sunday night and that changed the dynamics of setups on all the cars. Slicker usually means an advantage for guys that like that kind of track. Carl Edwards is one of those drivers, the slicker the better.

Edwards battled with and then out-ran Jimmie Johnson to win his first ever Sprint Cup race at the newly renamed Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Edwards passed Johnson with 13 laps to go.

"I told my guys, 'We got them right where we want them,' " said Edwards, who still had a second race to run in the Nationwide Series. "We could have a 55-hour red flag, and we're still going to race as hard as possible. I enjoy that kind of stuff."

Johnson hung on for second.

"It's a good rebound from Daytona and we'll roll on," said Johnson. "I was too loose off the corners to do anything with Carl."

The victory was the eighth of a 123 race career for Edwards. It also was the fourth straight win in the spring race at the speedway. Edwards joins his Roush Fenway Racing Ford teammates Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth as winners at the 2-mile track.

Jeff Gordon, who looked like he was untouchable on Sunday night, lost the magic on Monday and finished third.

"Carl Edwards was in another league. We've got some work to do to catch those guys," said Gordon, who blew an engine on the final (yellow Flag) lap.

Kyle Busch brought his Interstate Batteries Toyota home in the fourth spot while Matt Kenseth was fifth.

Rounding out the top ten were Martin Truex Jr., Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne and Ryan Newman.

Regan Smith claimed Raybestos Rookie of the Race honors for the first time this season. He was credited with a 31st-place finish.

“I think we learned a lot. We tried some stuff that I just couldn’t run like some of our teammates could run, setup-wise," Smith said. We’re going to go back to Vegas and I felt like we were decent leaving there, do our own thing and work on our own thing and go from there. It was not what we wanted for a good performance. We got a gift on the Raybestos Rookie points there, basically. You don’t want it like that but until we get going here and get this car figured out we’ll take it. It is what it is at that point, you know. We’re going to work hard to make sure we get better.”

For the first time in NASCAR’s modern era, three drivers are unofficially tied for the lead in the Raybestos Rookie standings in the Sprint Cup Series. Smith, Dario Franchitti and Sam Hornish Jr. all have 20 points entering next week’s race at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway. By leading the Auto Club 500 once for one lap, Franchitti became the first Raybestos Rookie to lead a lap in the Sprint Cup Series this season. He was one of 15 different drivers to lead the race. He is the first Raybestos Rookie to lead a lap in the Auto Club 500 since J.J. Yeley led once for two laps in 2006.

Jimmie Johnson was the lap leader of the race. Johnson led nine times for 76 laps to earn WIX Filters Lap Leader of the Race honors in the Auto Club 500. Johnson had led at least one lap in both 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. In 11 races at Auto Club Speedway, Johnson has scored seven top-10 finishes. He grabbed his 61st top-five in 148 superspeedway starts.

"We were a little too loose, actually really loose off as the day wore on and Carl, probably two-thirds of the race on, his stuff was strong,"quipped Johnson. "It’d give up a little at the end of a run but he was so quick up until that point where as we’d run I’d start loosing forward traction and just getting sideways off the corners and couldn’t hang with him.”

The Sprint Cup Series moves to Las Vegas Speedway next Sunday March 2nd, 2008, for the UAW-Dodge 400. The race is scheduled to start at 3:30 PM / Eastern Time on Fox.


For full final race results...     (Insider Racing News)
For top-40 Nextel Cup drivers points...     (Insider Racing News)

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