Carl Edwards scored his 24th career NASCAR Sprint Cup series win Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Edwards didn’t have the fastest car, didn’t lead the most laps, but was able to stretch out his fuel to the end to score his first win at Joe Gibbs Racing, and his first at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Here’s how the longest race of the NASCAR season the Coca-Cola 600 played out Sunday.
Matt Kenseth led to the green from pole but Edwards came up from third and was side by side for the lead; Joey Logano was close behind. By lap 3 Kenseth was able to move ahead and take sole possession of the lead as Edwards and Logano fell in behind, Denny Hamlin was fourth Kyle Larson fifth. By lap 12 Kenseth’s lead was 1.2 seconds. Martin Truex Jr. had slipped into fifth with Kevin Harvick close behind; Larson had fallen to seventh. By lap 19 the lead was 2.8 seconds and Kenseth was continuing to pull away.
Kenseth had a lead of 3.5seconds on lap 26 when NASCAR put out a pre-announced competition caution. MORE>>>
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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