Carl Edwards scored victory in NASCAR’s longest race
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
POS
DRIVER
POINTS
BEHIND
STARTS
WINS
TOP 5
TOP 10
DNF
1
Kevin Harvick
473
Leader
12
2
8
11
0
2
Martin Truex Jr
432
-41
12
0
3
11
0
3
Joey Logano
407
-66
12
1
6
9
0
4
Dale Earnhardt Jr
401
-72
12
1
7
8
1
5
Jimmie Johnson
393
-80
12
3
7
8
0
6
Brad Keselowski
381
-92
12
1
3
8
1
7
Matt Kenseth
372
-101
12
1
4
7
0
8
Jamie McMurray
353
-120
12
0
2
4
1
9
Jeff Gordon
346
-127
12
0
2
7
1
10
Kasey Kahne
345
-128
12
0
1
4
1
11
Ryan Newman
343
-130
12
0
4
8
0
12
Aric Almirola
339
-134
12
0
0
0
0
13
Paul Menard
336
-137
12
0
2
2
1
14
Kurt Busch
327
-146
9
1
3
5
0
15
Denny Hamlin
321
-152
12
1
3
5
1
16
Carl Edwards
312
-161
12
1
1
2
0
17
Clint Bowyer
296
-177
12
0
0
2
0
18
Danica Patrick
292
-181
12
0
0
2
0
19
Greg Biffle
284
-189
12
0
1
2
0
20
AJ Allmendinger
274
-199
12
0
0
2
2
21
Casey Mears
263
-210
12
0
0
1
1
22
Kyle Larson
256
-217
11
0
0
3
2
23
Austin Dillon
253
-220
12
0
0
1
2
24
David Ragan
238
-235
12
0
1
1
1
25
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
234
-239
12
0
1
1
1
26
Sam Hornish Jr
230
-243
12
0
0
1
0
27
David Gilliland
224
-249
12
0
0
0
0
28
Justin Allgaier
208
-265
12
0
0
1
3
29
Trevor Bayne
207
-266
12
0
0
0
1
30
Tony Stewart
202
-271
12
0
0
1
3
31
Cole Whitt
193
-280
12
0
0
0
1
32
Brett Moffitt
174
-299
10
0
0
1
0
33
Alex Bowman
150
-323
11
0
0
0
2
34
Michael Annett
149
-324
12
0
0
0
1
35
Josh Wise
125
-348
11
0
0
1
2
36
Matt DiBenedetto
119
-354
9
0
0
0
0
37
Michael McDowell
101
-372
7
0
0
0
0
38
Jeb Burton
53
-420
8
0
0
0
2
39
Alex Kennedy
48
-425
6
0
0
0
0
40
Bobby Labonte
38
-435
2
0
0
0
0
41
Kyle Busch
33
-440
1
0
0
0
0
42
Brian Vickers
32
-441
2
0
0
0
0
43
Michael Waltrip
26
-447
2
0
0
0
0
44
Reed Sorenson
22
-451
2
0
0
0
0
45
Mike Wallace
8
-465
1
0
0
0
0
46
Ron Hornaday Jr
2
-471
1
0
0
0
1
47
Ryan Blaney
0
-473
5
0
1
1
3
48
Brian Scott
0
-473
3
0
0
0
1
49
J.J. Yeley
0
-473
11
0
0
0
2
50
Regan Smith
0
-473
4
0
0
0
0
51
Chase Elliott
0
-473
3
0
0
0
0
52
Matt Crafton
0
-473
1
0
0
0
0
53
Johnny Sauter
0
-473
1
0
0
0
0
54
Chris Buescher
0
-473
5
0
0
0
0
55
Landon Cassill
0
-473
12
0
0
0
4
56
Ty Dillon
0
-473
2
0
0
0
0
57
Brendan Gaughan
0
-473
5
0
0
0
1
58
Mike Bliss
0
-473
6
0
0
0
0
59
Joe Nemechek
0
-473
1
0
0
0
0
60
Joey Gase
0
-473
2
0
0
0
1
61
Jeff Green
0
-473
1
0
0
0
0
62
Erik Jones
0
-473
1
0
0
0
0
63
Travis Kvapil
0
-473
0
0
0
0
0
64
Tanner Berryhill
0
-473
0
0
0
0
0
65
Justin Marks
0
-473
0
0
0
0
0
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