History repeated itself in more ways than one as Carl Edwards stole what looked to be a surefire win from Kyle Busch Saturday night in the Sharpie 500 at Bristol.

Edwards laid the bumper to Busch on lap 469 to seal his second straight Bristol night race victory and second straight 2008 Sprint Cup win, but it wouldn’t be Bristol without confrontation. Another meeting between newly made rivals Busch and Edwards produced a memorable final 50 laps.

Fireworks flew both on and off the track following the race as Busch came after Edwards on his cool down lap. The two rubbed door panels, and the spat ended with Busch spinning and Edwards rolling to the start/finish line for another signature back flip.

“Carl’s going to say ‘sorry, I didn’t mean to race him that way’ like he always does,” Busch said following the race.

Edwards, often known for being a good guy off the track but aggressive inside the car, came back with an unexpected response.

“I just had to ask myself would he do that to me? And I knew he would because he had before,” Edwards said in reference to his bump and run move for the lead on Busch.

In fact, the two have a storied history. Busch and Edwards tangled in last May’s Nationwide Series race at Richmond. Busch was soaring through the field from a poor starting spot and “pile drove” Edwards into an accident. Edwards lost vital points in his quest for a second straight Nationwide Championship trophy that night.

Like Edwards at Richmond, many chase contenders had their nights ruined by accidents.

Jimmie Johnson’s chance at victory ended early on lap 27 when he rubbed fenders with veteran Sterling Marlin. The no. 48 team made multiple stops to repair the car under green, but lost time put them back on the track many laps down. Johnson bounced back to finish a modest 33rd considering what the team had to overcome.

Jeff Burton later tangled with Marlin on lap 195. Although Burton didn’t lose any spots in the standings, the accident was a major set back points wise. Burton came away with a positive attitude.

“I’m really happy with how the car ran, and the best is yet to come. It was a typical Bristol wreck,” Burton said.

The no. 88 car driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr. went off to a fast start – too fast though, as he was penalized for passing multiple cars before the start finish line at the race’s onset. Earnhardt would never regain his laps and finish outside the top 10 yet again. Johnson’s misfortune allowed Earnhardt to slip into the third points position, still over 400 points back from Busch.

The race was slowed eight times for caution, and Kyle Busch led a race and career high 415 of the 500 laps. The largest Bristol Bash of the night came on lap 217 when Casey Mears slid across the nose of Michael Waltrip, sending Mears careening into the wall and causing an eight car pileup.

Mears blamed his spotter for the incident, but not all drivers were given the full run down of what happened. Clint Bowyer, who was collected in the incident, questioned the driving of Waltrip under a lengthy red flag. Although the toe was knocked out of Bowyer’s car, he managed an impressive seventh place finish.

David Ragan started shotgun on the field, but thanks to a conservative first half strategy was able to work his way up 33 spots to finish 10th. With only two races left until the Chase cutoff, Ragan sits 12 points back to Bowyer for the final playoff spot.

Edwards will look for a Sprint Cup sweep of the California Speedway next Sunday night in the Pepsi 500. The plot also thickens in the Chase for the Cup with only Edwards and Busch being mathematically locked into the Chase. With there being a 151 point potential swing in one race, a lot can happen in two.

You can contact Jonathan at jlintner@gmail.com

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