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- Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Fusion, won Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race in Las Vegas, Nev. Edwards moves up four spots in the standings to first with a 21-point lead over second place driver Kyle Busch.
- Edwards win moves him to the top of the Sprint Cup standings and Ford moves to the top of the Manufacturers’ Championship standings.
- Greg Biffle was the top Ford driver in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race, finishing second in his No. 16 Fusion. Biffle moves up 14 spots to 14th in the standings. Biffle started the race from the 23rd position.
Edwards, who is known for doing his trademark back flip after victories, followed his win in Fontana, Calif., on Monday with another win in Las Vegas, Nev., on Sunday. With the No. 99 Fusion dominating for the second straight week, Edwards was able to secure the points lead and holds a 21-point lead over second place driver Kyle Busch.
“Two wins in a row is a great start, but it’s still a long season,” said Dan Davis, director, Ford Racing Technology. “What these last two weeks do show, however, is that all the hard work our Ford Racing engineers were doing with our teams over the winter is starting to show up on the track.
“We said before the season that we thought we would be as competitive as anyone this year,” Davis added. “And I think after three races, it’s showing we were right.”
The victory marked the sixth Ford win in the 11 Sprint Cup races held at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the most of any manufacturer. Edwards, who earned his first win at the track, led the most laps despite having a few issues on pit road during the day.
“It was a great car,” said Edwards. “We just had a great Ford Fusion and I’m starting to agree with Jack [Roush, car owner]. He told me this week he’s gonna start making Bob [Osborne, crew chief] wear a helmet and I asked him why and he said because the stuff that’s going on between his two ears is really important and we need to protect it. Bob’s a smart guy and I’m just proud to be driving this race car, but a little bit of trouble on pit road – got a penalty – had to start at the end of the longest line, and then at the end I was extremely nervous. I thought we were gonna receive another penalty for a tire that got away and NASCAR made a judgment call in our favor after looking at the tape. I believe it was the right one and I’m just very grateful for them looking at that and giving that to us.”
By winning two of the first three races of the year and getting an early lead in the standings, Edwards looks to establish momentum for the rest of the season. “We do this to win. That’s the thing,” Edwards said. “Winning these races is the greatest part of this whole thing for me. Winning a championship would be the ultimate, so what we’re trying to do is win the championship this year. That’s our number one goal. The greatest part about winning these races is we get the 10 points per race that will help us out, if we make the chase. So that’s really good, but, really, truly, it’s just the feeling of winning. That’s an amazing feeling.”
Edwards was just a few laps away from another victory in Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race, but Mark Martin uncharacteristically hit Edwards while he was leading the race, sending him into the wall with only four laps to go.
Greg Biffle had a strong weekend by landing two top-three finishes with his No. 16 Fusions. Biffle finished third in the Sprint Cup race and second in the Nationwide Series race.
“I’m unhappy that I didn’t win today,” said Biffle after the Sprint Cup race, “but I’m super-excited about how fast the car was. The car was driveable all day from the green flag to the checkered flag. Eight percent of the laps I was as fast or faster than the leader, but I kept screwing up and never got my track position where I needed it, so that is a bunch of confidence. I’m so excited about it that I can’t wait till next week and these next couple of weeks to get to some more race tracks and give it another shot because I felt like we could have won today.”
After Edwards and Biffle, two more Fusions landed top-10 finishes as David Ragan was sixth and Travis Kvapil finished eighth.
Matt Kenseth appeared to be heading to a top-three finish until Jeff Gordon got loose and made contact with Kenseth’s No. 17 Fusion, sending both cars spinning with only 11 laps to go. Though Kenseth didn’t suffer much damage, his car dropped several positions before eventually finishing 20th.
Next weekend the NASCAR Sprint Cup, NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will compete at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
