THREE FORDS FINISH TOP FIVE IN NASCAR SPRINT CUP

• Carl Edwards was the top Ford driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup race in Daytona, Fla., finishing second in the No. 99 Fusion. Edwards remains fourth in the standings.
   
• David Ragan was the top Ford driver in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race in Daytona, Fla., finishing ninth in the No. 6 Fusion. He remains third in the standings.
    
• Memo Gidley and Brad Jaeger were the top Ford drivers in the Grand-Am Rolex Series race in Daytona, Fla., taking sixth in the No. 77 Ford-Dallara Daytona Prototype.
    
• Mike Canney and Hugh Plumb were the top Ford drivers in the Grand-Am KONI Challenge race at Watkins Glen, N.Y., finishing fourth in the No. 60 Mustang FR500C.
    
• Luca Pirri and Jurgen von Gartzen won the first FIA GT3 race in the No. 19 Ford GT at Oschersleben, Germany.
    
• Eric de Doncker finished in the top three twice in three races in the GT4 European Cup in Oschersleben, Germany.
    

DEARBORN, Mich., July 6, 2008 - In a race that used to be called the "Firecracker 400," Ford's Carl Edwards and Toyota's Kyle Busch gave fans a fireworks show of their own, battling side-by-side for the lead on the final lap when a wreck involving several cars behind them caused the caution flag to come out, ending the race before the two got to the finish line.

Edwards and Busch were so close when the caution flag came out that NASCAR officials had to review the video before announcing Busch as the winner by just a bumper.

Edwards' strong run, combined with two other Fords in the top five, highlighted an exciting weekend for Ford Racing worldwide.

"I'd have given anything to be able to run at least down to the end of the back straightaway, but that's the way it went, and Kyle did a great job," said Edwards. "They were real fast. That was a little nerve-wracking there, before they announced the winner, but I don't know what to tell you. Second place is second place. I really wanted to win. Matt [Kenseth] did a great job helping me. That was very cool."

Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 Fusion, finished right behind Edwards in third place. Their Roush Fenway Racing teammate, David Ragan, joined them in the top five with a fifth-place performance. Travis Kvapil was running a strong 11th going into the final lap before being caught up in the last-lap wreck. NASCAR eventually placed him 31st.

Ragan was able to land another top-10 finish when he crossed the line ninth during the NASCAR Nationwide Series race on the previous day.

"We ran around a little bit in the top 10," said Ragan. "The car was just real tight all night, didn't have any grip. Overall, the car was just sliding around a lot. And that's typical racing here at Daytona. It's a shame we couldn't get it a little bit better in practice. We just kept fighting and had good pit stops and just made the right decisions there the last few laps."

The Grand-Am Rolex Series was also in Daytona this past week. Memo Gidley and Brad Jaeger drover their No. 77 Ford-Dallara Daytona Prototype to a sixth-place finish.

Grand-Am also had an event in Watkins Glen, N.Y., where the KONI Challenge Series was in action. Mike Canney and Hugh Plumb landed a fourth place finish in the No. 60 Mustang FR500C. Andy Lally and Ray Mason were right behind in their No. 52 Mustang FR500C, finishing fifth.

In Europe, Luca Pirri and Jurgen von Gartzen chalked up another victory for the Ford GT in the FIA GT3 European Championship. The duo took the victory in the first race of the weekend in Oschersleben, Germany. A Ford GT has now won five of the six races this season.

The GT4 European Cup was also in Oschersleben, where defending champion Eric de Doncker earned two podium finishes out of three races in his No. 1 Mustang FR500GT4.   De Doncker was able to finish third in the first race and second in the third race.

Next weekend, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the NASCAR Nationwide Series will be in Chicago while the NHRA will be back in action in Denver.

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