Edwards wins on fuel mileage in Charlotte

Carl Edwards scored his first victory for Joe Gibbs Racing with a calculated run in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte.

The Toyota driver made the best of the fuel strategy to conserve his way to the chequered flag ahead of former Roush Fenway Ford team-mate Greg Biffle.

The result backed up victory for fellow JGR driver Denny Hamlin in Charlotte’s All-Star race last weekend.

“JGR is back,” beamed Edwards in victory lane.

“These Toyotas are great. I was the slowest of the group tonight and I just had the best guys on the pit box.

“Darian (Grubb, crew chief) did a great job. Ever since Tony (Stewart) and I battled for that championship I wanted to work with him and now I can.

“He takes a mediocre day and puts us in a good position.”

Matt Kenseth added to the joy for JGR by recovering from a loose wheel to trail Dale Earnhardt Jr home in fourth.

The front-runners had diverged into two distinct strategies when the final yellow was called with 62 of the 400 laps remaining.

While Edwards led seven cars who elected to pit and then conserve to the end, the bulk of the field stayed out, running faster but forced to make a final stop.

Martin Truex Jr was the most high profile victim of the latter strategy, leading a race high 131 laps only to finish fifth.

“I don’t know what to do about fuel mileage races,” he said. “I’ve never come out on the right end of them.”

Brothers Kurt and Kyle Busch, who returned from an injury sustained in Daytona, were also long-time front-runners before coming home 10th and 11th respectively.

Jimmie Johnson was a notable absentee from the late race fight after crashing out of the top five on lap 273.

VIDEO: Carl Edwards wins the Coke 600

VIDEO: Victory Lane

RESULTS: Coca-Cola 600 – Charlotte Motor Speedway 

POS.	CAR #	DRIVER	MANUFACTURER	STARTING POS.	LAPS	LAPS LED	FINAL STATUS	POINTS	BONUS POINTS
1	19	Carl Edwards	Toyota	3	400	25	Running	47	4
2	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	4	400	0	Running	42	0
3	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr	Chevrolet	15	400	0	Running	41	0
4	20	Matt Kenseth	Toyota	1	400	26	Running	41	1
5	78	Martin Truex Jr	Chevrolet	10	400	131	Running	41	2
6	31	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	19	400	0	Running	38	0
7	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	6	400	3	Running	38	1
8	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	5	400	53	Running	37	1
9	4	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	8	400	26	Running	36	1
10	41	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	14	400	118	Running	35	1
11	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	17	400	0	Running	33	0
12	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	33	400	0	Running	32	0
13	22	Joey Logano	Ford	2	400	17	Running	32	1
14	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	23	400	0	Running	30	0
15	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	18	400	0	Running	29	0
16	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	11	400	0	Running	28	0
17	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	21	399	0	Running	27	0
18	25	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	28	399	0	Running	0	0
19	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	22	399	0	Running	25	0
20	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	24	399	0	Running	24	0
21	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	12	399	0	Running	23	0
22	10	Danica Patrick	Chevrolet	20	398	0	Running	22	0
23	13	Casey Mears	Chevrolet	34	398	0	Running	21	0
24	9	Sam Hornish Jr	Ford	26	398	0	Running	20	0
25	42	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	9	398	0	Running	19	0
26	7	Alex Bowman	Chevrolet	31	397	0	Running	18	0
27	6	Trevor Bayne	Ford	27	397	0	Running	17	0
28	35	Cole Whitt	Ford	37	396	0	Running	16	0
29	47	AJ Allmendinger	Chevrolet	30	395	0	Running	15	0
30	95	Michael McDowell	Ford	25	394	0	Running	14	0
31	34	Brett Moffitt	Ford	40	393	0	Running	13	0
32	46	Michael Annett	Chevrolet	36	393	0	Running	12	0
33	38	David Gilliland	Ford	39	392	1	Running	12	1
34	83	Matt DiBenedetto	Toyota	42	392	0	Running	10	0
35	98	Josh Wise	Ford	38	392	0	Running	9	0
36	33	Alex Kennedy	Chevrolet	43	389	0	Running	8	0
37	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr	Ford	29	382	0	Running	7	0
38	23	J.J. Yeley	Toyota	41	377	0	Engine	0	0
39	40	Landon Cassill	Chevrolet	32	375	0	Running	0	0
40	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	13	370	0	Running	4	0
41	55	David Ragan	Toyota	7	353	0	Engine	3	0
42	21	Ryan Blaney	Ford	16	281	0	Engine	0	0
43	51	Justin Allgaier	Chevrolet	35	135	0	Accident	1	0

 

STANDINGS