Carl Edwards Does His 1st Back Flip on a Road Course at the Toyota/Save Mart 350 Sonoma Raceway

Car 99 Carl Edwards Aflac Ford won the 26th Annual Toyota/Save Mart 350; his 23rd win in 353 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. This is his second win and eighth Top 10 in 2014. This is also his 1st road course win and 5th Top 10 finish in ten races at Sonoma Raceway.

Carl Edwards is the 10th consecutive different winner at Sonoma Raceway.

2nd Place Car 24 Jeff Gordon Panasonic Chevrolet posted his 18th Top 10 finish in 22 races at Sonoma Raceway. It’s his 12th top-10 finish in 2014. Jeff Gordon leads the point standings by 20 points over Jimmie Johnson.

3rd Place Car 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet posted his 1st Top 10 finish in 15 races at Sonoma Raceway.

4th Place Car 1 Jamie McMurray Cessna Chevrolet was the Coors Light Pole Award Winner.

5th Place Car 27 Paul Menard Richmond/Menards Chevrolet, followed by Car 5 Kasey Kahne Great Clips Chevrolet in 6th place.

Car 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Chevrolet took 7th place, so all Hendrick Motorsports cars finished in the Top 10.

8th Place Car 9 Marcos Ambrose DeWalt Ford was expected to have a better day being a road course specialist.

9th Place Car 16 Greg Biffle 3M Ford, and lastly in the Top 10, Car 15 Clint Bowyer’s 5-hour Energy Toyota came in 10th place.

It was an exciting race with 6 Cautions for 19 laps and 11 Lead Changes among 9 drivers.

1st Caution on lap 32 for Fluid On The Track From Car 40 Landon Cassill carsforsale.com Chevrolet. The 2nd Caution marked on lap 62 for Car 83 Ryan Truex Burger King Toyota Stalled On The Track.

A 3rd Caution issued on lap 72 for Debris Turn 10.

4th Caution on lap 76 for Car 20 Matt Kenseth Dollar General Toyota, and Car 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet crashing in Turn 7.

5th Caution on lap 83 for Car 15 Clint Bowyer’s 5-hour Energy Toyota, Car 4 Kevin Harvick’s Outback / Budweiser Folds of Honor Chevrolet and Car 1 Jamie McMurray’s Cessna Chevrolet crashing in Turn 11.

6th Caution on lap 92 for Car 55 Brian Vickers Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota and Car 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. EcoPower Oil Ford for crash on the Frontstretch.
At the Green flag McMurray leads off the start of the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma.

OnLap 1 Brian Vickers briefly slid off course.

On Lap 2 Kevin Harvick moves up to fourth from sixth. Kurt Busch tells his team he has left rear damage and nose damage but should be OK. Allmendinger fought hard early-on for the lead spot.

On Lap 6 Truex Jr. was the first to head to pit road for a four-tire stop.

On Lap 8, Five-time Sonoma winner Jeff Gordon moved up to 13th from 15th.

Lap 9 saw Allmendinger taking the lead, after McMurray led for eight laps.

Lap 11 Keselowski spins after Kyle Busch makes contact with him.

Lap 12 Keselowski who was now running 28th, tells his team he will probably get spun out a few more times as bad as they are. Keselowski tells crew chief: “We need a lot of help here Paul.”

Lap 14 Danica Patrick held onto her starting position of 11th for a while, but now is running 15th.

On Lap 15 Gordon enters the top 10 after stealing the position from Logano.

During Lap 17, Ambrose knocks Patrick out of the way for 16th-place.

Lap 18 Allmendinger has now lead more laps than McMurray did.

Lap 19 Kyle Busch said, “I have no idea what to tell you” – to his crew chief regarding everything with his car.

Lap 27 Hendrick teammates Dale Jr., Gordon and Kasey Kahne headed to pit road.

Lap 31 Caution flag: Landon Cassill blows an engine. Michael Annett is the beneficiary of the free pass.

Lap 32 Harvick, Newman, Kurt Busch, Greg Biffle and Edwards to pit road under caution.

Lap 81 a Caution goes up –  Bowyer spins in Turn 11 and Harvick hits him.

Lap 86: ‘Green-flag’: Edwards steals the lead from Ambrose at the restart.

Lap 102: Gordon steals second from McMurray.

Lap 110: White flag, Edwards still in the lead, with Gordon right behind. Then Gordon trying a last ditch pass attempt on 2nd last corner.

Checkered flag Edwards wins his 1st Sprint Cup road course victory at Sonoma with a Margin of Victory of 0.591 Seconds over Gordon.

Car 99 Carl Edwards Aflac Ford passed Car 9 Marcos Ambrose DeWalt Ford for the lead moments after a restart on lap 86 and held off Car 24 Jeff Gordon Panasonic Chevrolet to win Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway.

This is Edwards 2nd win of 2014 season guaranteeing him a spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, provided he finishes in the top 30 in points after race # 26 and attempts to qualify for every race.

The win had a special meaning for Edwards because it was Gordon who was chasing him for the win.

“That’s a moment I’ll never forget, to be standing in Victory Lane and to have held off Jeff Gordon, with all the success he’s had here and in our sport,” Edwards said after climbing from his car. “It’s just really, really special.

“I’m living proof right here that, whatever it is you’re doing, just keep doing it, and don’t ever give up, because somehow things can work out. I’m just very fortunate.”

“Literally, I’m a fan of this sport, and I grew up watching Jeff Gordon go through those esses and watching how he drove his car, so to be able to hold him off like that means a lot,” Edwards said.

“I’m glad there wasn’t one or two more laps in the race, because I don’t know if it would have worked that way, but it definitely meant a lot to have Jeff Gordon in my mirror.”

Car 20 Matt Kenseth Dollar General Toyota had a bad crash in the tire barriers in the esses caused by Car 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet as bounced off the curbing and into the side of Kenseth’s car. “My bad–I hit the curb and ran into him,” Earnhardt said on his radio.

After the race Jeff Gordon said a mistake in Turn 4 5 laps before the finish may have cost him the race. “Gosh, I wish I could have had those last five or six laps to do over again,” Gordon said. “I started over-driving it a little bit trying to catch him and making a few mistakes, and I made one in particular that really cost me.

“I think if I had just stayed smooth and stuck with it looked like his car really started falling off those last couple laps, and I might have had a shot at least putting more pressure on Carl to force him to make a mistake or maybe get a run inside of him.”

Car 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Chevrolet passed the Car 15 Clint Bowyer 5-hour Energy Toyota entering Turn 11 on Lap 81. And Clint Bowyer Toyota, who had a tire going down, spun after contact from the front bumper of Car 1 Jamie McMurray Cessna Chevrolet.With nowhere to go on the inside of the corner, Car 4 Kevin Harvick Outback / Budweiser Folds of Honor Chevrolet slammed into Bowyer. Car 15 Clint Bowyer 5-hour Energy Toyota had one of the fastest cars on Sunday but had gotten mired in traffic because of a slow stop on pit road before a restart on Lap 75. The wreck dropped Harvick to 20th at the finish, but Bowyer rallied for his 10th-place result.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race Number 16 – Sunday, June 22, 2014
Unofficial Race Results for the 26Th Annual Toyota/Save Mart 350
Sonoma Raceway – Sonoma, CA – 1.99 Mile Road
Total Race Length – 110 Laps – 218.9 Miles – Purse: $5,743,595

Position Car # Driver Team Laps Status
1. Car 99 Carl Edwards Aflac Ford 110 Running
2. Car 24 Jeff Gordon Panasonic Chevrolet 110 Running
3. Car 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet 110 Running
4. Car 1 Jamie McMurray Cessna Chevrolet 110 Running
5. Car 27 Paul Menard Richmond/Menards Chevrolet 110 Running
6. Car 5 Kasey Kahne Great Clips Chevrolet 110 Running
7. Car 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Chevrolet 110 Running
8. Car 9 Marcos Ambrose DeWalt Ford 110 Running
9. Car 16 Greg Biffle 3M Ford 110 Running
10. Car 15 Clint Bowyer 5-hour Energy Toyota 110 Running
11. Car 31 Ryan Newman Caterpillar Chevrolet 110 Running
12. Car 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation Chevrolet 110 Running
13. Car 13 Casey Mears GEICO Chevrolet 110 Running
14. Car 55 Brian Vickers Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota 110 Running
15. Car 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Chevrolet 110 Running
16. Car 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 110 Running
17. Car 3 Austin Dillon Dow Chevrolet 110 Running
18. Car 10 Danica Patrick GoDaddy Chevrolet 110 Running
19. Car 14 Tony Stewart Mobil 1 / Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet 110 Running
20. Car 4 Kevin Harvick Outback / Budweiser Folds of Honor Chevrolet 110 Running
21. Car 38 David Gilliland Love’s Travel Stop Ford 110 Running
22. Car 2 Brad Keselowski Alliance Truck Parts Ford 110 Running
23. Car 43 Aric Almirola Nathan’s Famous Ford 110 Running
24. Car 95 Michael McDowell K-LOVE Radio Ford 110 Running
25. Car 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Pretzel Toyota 110 Running
26. Car 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Freight Toyota 110 Running
27. Car 26 Cole Whitt Rinnai Tankless Water Heaters Toyota 110 Running
28. Car 42 Kyle Larson Target Chevrolet 110 Running
29. Car 23 Alex Bowman Dr Pepper Toyota 110 Running
30. Car 7 Michael Annett Pilot / Flying J Chevrolet 110 Running
31. Car 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. EcoPower Oil Ford 109 Running
32. Car 36 Reed Sorenson Theme Park Connection Chevrolet 109 Running
33. Car 51 Justin Allgaier Brandt Professional Agriculture Chevrolet 109 Running
34. Car 44 JJ Yeley Phoenix Warehouse Chevrolet 109 Running
35. Car 32 Boris Said 7-Eleven / Amerigas Ford 109 Running
36. Car 34 David Ragan Long John Silver’s Free Fish & Fries Ford 109 Running
37. Car 47 AJ Allmendinger Kingsford / Clorox Chevrolet 108 Running
38. Car 66 Tomy Drissi MightyHercules.com Toyota 108 Running
39. Car 33 Alex Kennedy Media CAST Chevrolet 104 Rear Gear
40. Car 98 Josh Wise Dogecoin / Reddit.com Chevrolet 95 Running
41. Car 83 Ryan Truex Burger King Toyota 91 Running
42. Car 20 Matt Kenseth Dollar General Toyota 74 Accident
43. Car 40 Landon Cassill carsforsale.com Chevrolet 29 Engine

Race Comments: Carl Edwards won the Toyota – Save Mart 350, his 23rd NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory. Prior to the start of the race, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field for the reasons indicated: #40, #44 (driver change).
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 51 Mins, 30 Secs. Lead Changes: 11 among 9 drivers
3M Lap Leader: AJ Allmendinger, #47 35 Laps American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award: Jamie McMurray, #1 Coors Light Pole Award: Jamie McMurray, #1 96.35 mph Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race: Hendrick Engines, #1Mobil 1 Driver of the Race: Carl Edwards, #99 Moog Chassis Parts Problem Solver of the Race: Marcos Ambrose, #9 0.538 secsSherwin-Williams Fastest Lap: Casey Mears, #13 Sunoco Rookie of the Race: Austin Dillon, #3

Next Race: Jun. 28, 2014 – Kentucky Speedway

http://www.nascar.com/en_us/sprint-cup-series.html

 

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.