Posted on Sun, Aug. 24, 2008
BRISTOL, Tenn. - Carl Edwards isn't giving up anything to Kyle Busch and his domination of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, especially when it counts the most.
Edwards saw Busch lead for 415 consecutive laps last night in the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, then used his bumper to nudge Busch in the first turn on Lap 470. That move caused Busch's car to wiggle just enough so that Edwards could drive by on his way to his second consecutive win.
The triumph was also the sixth of the season for the Roush Fenway Racing driver, allowing him to close the gap of bonus points he is likely to face when the 12-race Chase for the championship begins. Busch has eight wins, and each is worth 10 Chase bonus points.
After taking the checkered flag, Edwards was making his cooldown lap around the track when Busch drove up and bumped his car. Edwards clearly wasn't amused, and when he responded by driving the nose of his car into the right side of Busch's, the fans cheered wildly.
Busch finished second.
Joe Gibbs Racing is expected to detail its plans for 2009 next week, including an announcement on the successor to the departing Tony Stewart in its No. 20 car.
The team called a news conference for tomorrow afternoon at its shop in Huntersville, N.C., and all signs seemed to point to newcomer Joey Logano's taking over Stewart's Toyota.
Team president J.D. Gibbs declined to confirm the speculation last night. "We'll have an announcement Monday," he said.
Stewart, a two-time series champion, announced earlier this summer that he is leaving JGR after this season to become co-owner of a Sprint Cup Series team now known as Haas-CNC.
Indy Racing League
SONOMA, Calif. - Helio Castroneves, despite losing his primary car in a transporter fire earlier this week, kept up the pressure, winning his third pole of the season and the 26th of his career as he and Team Penske teammate Ryan Briscoe, also driving a backup, swept the front row in qualifying for today's Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon Raceway.
Formula One
VALENCIA, Spain - Ferrari's Felipe Massa won the pole position for the European Grand Prix after edging McLaren's Lewis Hamilton in qualifying.
Massa timed a fastest lap of 1 minute, 38.989 seconds on the 3.4-mile course around the eastern city's port yesterday, with Hamilton in second after clocking 1:39.199.
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