Nationwide -- Edwards Outruns Stenhouse at Michigan

Image via Wikipedia

Carl Edwards outran his Roush Fenway teammate Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to win Saturday's Alliance Truck Parts 250 at Michigan International Speedway.  It was Edward's fourth Nationwide Series win of the season and the 33rd of his career.

Stenhouse passed Edwards for the lead with 21 laps to go, but Edwards ran him down and the two dueled for the win in the closing laps before Edwards finally retook the lead with less than ten laps to go and pulled away for a 1.669 second victory.  Edwards led a race-high 62 (of 125) laps, including the final eight.

Stenhouse finished second to give Roush Fenway a 1-2 finish.  Kyle Busch finished third, followed by Paul Menard and Trevor Bayne.  (Race results)

Mark Martin was on pit road when the third and final caution of the day flew over Aric Almirola's spin in Turn Two.  Martin inherited the lead when the leaders else pitted during the caution, but he fell back and finished seventh.

Stenhouse took over the lead in the series points standings, two points ahead of Elliott Sadler, who finished eighth.  Reed Sorenson recovered from a early pit road commitment line violation and pass-through penalty to finish 11th, but fell from first to third in the standings, four points behind Stenhouse.  Justin Allgaier is fourth, 17 points back.  Aric Almirola and Jason Leffler are tied for fifth, 54 points behind Stenhouse.

Nationwide -- Iowa Results

Image via Wikipedia

Ricky Stenhouse Jr held off Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski to win the John Deere Dealers 250 at Iowa Speedway Sunday.  It was Stenhouse's first NASCAR win and the first Nationwide win for a non-Cup driver since Justin Allgaier won at Bristol in March 2010.


Stenhouse and his Roush teammate Edwards swapped the lead several times in the late stages of the race, but Stenhouse took the lead for good on Lap 232 (of 250).  Edwards finished second, followed by Keselowski, Reed Sorenson and Elliott Sadler.  (Race results)

The race marked the first time that three women competed in the same Nationwide race.  Jennifer Jo Cobb was joined by the Cope twins, Angela and Amber, who were making their series debuts.  The Cope twins spun out on almost the same spot on the racetrack just a few laps apart -- Angela on Lap 117, Amber on Lap 129.  Cobb finished 26th, Angela 28th, and Amber 32nd.

Elliott Sadler still leads the series points standings.  Reed Sorenson is second, now just seven points behind.  Stenhouse moved into third, just eight points back.  Justin Allgaier (-20) dropped to fourth, followed by Jason Leffler (-43).