Edwards wins NNS race at Phoenix

With two racing remaining in the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series some teams and drivers were searching for solution for 2011. Entering the Wypall 200 at Phoenix International Raceway Brad Keselowski and the Penske/ Discount Tire #22 team already have the driver’s championship locked up. The only other top fight is between that #22 team and the Joe Gibbs Racing #18 team for the owners championship. Gibbs was leading entering this race.

From the drop of the green flag, and even before, it was obvious that Carl Edwards wanted this win bad. He battled early in the race with Joey Logano, who led 23 laps early in the race. Up front for the first 100 laps it was Edwards, Kyle Bush, Kevin Harvick, Justin Allgaier and Logano.

With 50 laps remaining in the race the top 5 battling were Edwards, Bush, Harvick, Keselowski and Logano. With 30 laps to go Bush was forced to pit for a cut rear tire change, no caution came out and he went down a lap to the leaders. Although he fought hard to regain ground and made his way to the first cart none lap down, the needed caution was not forthcoming. Kyle did manage to get past the leader to finish on the lead lap, but at 16th place, the last car on the lead lap, the hopes of the owners championship for Joe Gibbs Racing is all but a memory.

In the closing laps it was Edwards out front with a commanding 4.5 second lead over second place Kevin Harvick. Carl would come home the winner once again, followed across the line by Harvick, Logano, Keselowski and Sorenson in fifth. Rounding out the top 10 were Almirola, Stenhouse Jr., Allgaier, Braun and Steven Wallace 10th.

Trevor Bayne, who had to qualify on speed in the RFR unsponsored #17 car started 9th and remained in the top 15 most of the day. His intention is to turn laps as he hopes to maintain his championship points position after being released by Diamond-Waltrip Racing. Racing smart, with no real points battle in sight, Bayne brought the #17 home in 14th place, giving Roush Fenway racing five cars in the top 15 for the day.

The fight on the other end of the spectrum included a few teams with their eyes on the top 30 points position. That’s the elusive number to get your car locked into the first five races of 2011. Those teams in the battle include the #70 of ML Motorsports and driver’s Shelby Howard and Mark Green. Howard only runs a 22 race schedule, but a partnership agreement between ML Motorsports and Jay Robinson Racing provides the 70 car with more equipment and a second driver in David Green. It’s a strange situation since Howard replaced Green as the primary driver for ML after 4 races in 2009. The 70 came to PIR in 30th, 101 points ahead of the 81 team. The 35 of Mark Smith and the 23 of Robert Richardson were only 41 points ahead of the 70.

The tension for that coveted 30 spot heated up on lap 20 of this race as Mark Green and the #70 car headed for the garage with a ‘blowed up’ transmission and engine. The folks back at ML Motorsports got a sigh of relief as the #81 car finished 26th keeping the #70 locked in the field going into the final race at Homestead.

For Indycar star, Danica Patrick this was another day of over exaggerated media coverage, a bit of almost racing, a bit of beating and banging and of course the obligatory whining. The final result for Danica was in line with her previous 10 races, finishing seven laps down in 32nd place.

Unofficial Race Results

WYPALL 200 powered by Kimberly-Clark Professional

November 13, 2010 | Race 34 of 35

Pos. St. No. Driver Make Pts. Bon. Laps Status
1 60 Carl Edwards Ford 195 10 200 Running
2 33 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 170 0 200 Running
3 20 Joey Logano Toyota 170 5 200 Running
4 22 Brad Keselowski Dodge 160 0 200 Running
5 32 Reed Sorenson Toyota 155 0 200 Running
6 88 Aric Almirola Chevrolet 155 5 200 Running
7 16 Colin Braun * Ford 146 0 200 Running
8 12 Justin Allgaier Dodge 142 0 200 Running
9 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. * Ford 138 0 200 Running
10 66 Steve Wallace Toyota 134 0 200 Running
11 9 Brian Scott * Toyota 130 0 200 Running
12 40 Mike Bliss Chevrolet 127 0 200 Running
13 98 Paul Menard Ford 124 0 200 Running
14 17 Trevor Bayne Ford 121 0 200 Running
15 184 Cole Whitt Toyota 118 0 200 Running
16 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 120 5 200 Running
17 23 Coleman Pressley Chevrolet 112 0 200 Running
18 15 Michael Annett Toyota 109 0 200 Running
19 35 Tony Raines Chevrolet 111 5 200 Running
20 28 Kenny Wallace Chevrolet 103 0 200 Running
21 10 Ricky Carmichael Toyota 100 0 200 Running
22 11 James Buescher * Toyota 97 0 200 Running
23 99 Ryan Truex Toyota 94 0 198 Running
24 27 Alex Kennedy Ford 91 0 198 Running
25 5 David Starr Chevrolet 88 0 198 Running
26 81 Michael McDowell Dodge 85 0 198 Running
27 62 Brendan Gaughan Toyota 82 0 197 Running
28 87 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 79 0 197 Running
29 1 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 76 0 197 Running
30 183 John Borneman III Ford 73 0 197 Running
31 21 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet 70 0 195 Running
32 7 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 67 0 193 Running
33 38 Jason Leffler Toyota 64 0 119 Out
34 100 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 61 0 115 Running
35 179 Tim Andrews Ford 58 0 36 Running
36 49 David Green Chevrolet 55 0 31 Running
37 90 Danny O’Quinn Jr. Chevrolet 52 0 27 Running
38 70 Mark Green Chevrolet 49 0 20 Out
39 91 David Gilliland Chevrolet 46 0 20 Out
40 34 Charles Lewandoski Chevrolet 43 0 15 Running

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of SpeedwayMedia.com

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