Dover, DE (Sports Network) - Carl Edwards led 122 of 200 laps to win Saturday
afternoon's Dover 200 at the Dover International Speedway. The No.60 Ford
crossed the finish line under caution ahead of pole winner Denny Hamlin.
The victory was Edwards' third of the season and 12th of his Busch career.
After winning the pole earlier in the day Hamlin led the 43-car field to the
green flag for 200 laps of racing around the famous "Monster Mile." The No.20
Chevrolet pulled away to a one-second lead early as Scott Wimmer followed
behind in second.
On lap 11 the first of 11 caution flags over the afternoon came out for a
Brent Sherman crash.
During the restart Hamlin continued to show the way. Meanwhile Nextel Cup
drivers Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth continued to make their way to the
front of the field. They started the race in 29th and 19th, respectively.
On lap 37 the second caution flag came out when Shane Huffman went flying into
the wall due to a blown right-front tire. This caution allowed the leaders to
make their first pit stops of the race.
Hamlin was able to maintain the first position when the stops were complete. A
slow stop by Wimmer dropped him to the 10th spot. Harvick and Kenseth drove in
11th and 12th after the stops.
On lap 45 the No.20 Chevrolet led Greg Biffle, Edwards, Casey Mears and
Jeff Burton to the restart.
The youngster led the first 46 laps before Biffle used the outside lane to
pass for the lead. Hamlin would take back the lead just two laps later.
The No.20 Chevrolet continued to lead despite heavy pressure from the points
leader, Edwards. On lap 52 Edwards passed Hamlin to take the first position.
The No.60 Ford quickly built a two-second margin. Hamlin and Biffle battled
for second as Edwards started to take over the race.
Edwards was still the leader when Robert Richardson brought out the caution
flag on lap 85. This allowed for another round of pit stops for the leaders.
The race off pit road was won by Edwards. Hamlin, Burton, Wimmer and Kasey
Kahne followed behind the leader. Kahne gained six spots on the stop.
Edwards held onto the first spot when the race got restarted on lap 90. A few
laps into the race Biffle unfortunately ran over some debris on the track.
His right-rear tire went down causing him to have to make an unscheduled pit
stop. Biffle was involved in a couple more incidents later in the race.
After 100 laps of racing, the halfway point, the top-five read: Edwards,
Hamlin, Burton, Wimmer and Kahne.
On lap 109 another unscheduled stop occurred when Burton had concerns of a
tire going down.
Meanwhile the No.60 Ford continued to show the way. Wimmer and Hamlin battled
behind him for second place.
The next caution flag came out due to debris on the track. Under the caution
period Edwards led the field down pit road for service.
Once again Edwards was the winner off pit road. He was followed by Hamlin,
Kahne, Jason Leffler and Mike Bliss.
The No.60 Ford led the field to the restart. But another caution was quick to
come out due to a Stephen Leicht spin out. Mike Wallace and David Ragan
couldn't avoid Leicht and they both received damage to their cars.
The red flag came out on lap 126 to allow for all the debris to be cleaned up.
On lap 130 the race finally got back underway. Edwards pulled away from the
field and continued to increase his lead. The margin reached over three
seconds by lap 145. Hamlin and Wimmer continued their battle for second while
Mears drove in the fourth spot.
With 40 laps to go the sixth caution flag of the afternoon came out. The last
pit stops for the leaders took place under the caution period.
The top-two spots belonged to Kenseth and Marcos Ambrose when they chose not
to stop. Hamlin found himself in the third spot after he won the race off pit
road. Wimmer, Edwards, Mears and Kenseth followed behind the leader.
On the restart Hamlin and Edwards used their fresh tires to pass Ambrose. But
their march to the front was halted quickly when some back markers got
together to bring out the caution flag again. With 33 laps remaining the red
flag came out to allow for the track to be cleaned for the second time.
The race got back underway with 29 laps to go and Kenseth leading Hamlin,
Edwards, Ambrose and Wimmer. Not even a lap was completed before the next
caution flag came out for a Biffle spin out.
When the race got restarted with 25 laps to go Kenseth was able to hold onto
the lead. Edwards took over the second spot when he used the inside lane to
pass Hamlin.
The ninth caution flag came out when Jason Keller spun out.
With 17 laps remaining Kenseth led the field to the restart. Kenseth received
heavy pressure from Edwards, who was running on fresher tires. Fourteen laps
to go Edwards and took the inside lane to take over the lead. Kenseth fell all
the way to fourth.
The 10th caution flag came out with 10 laps remaining when Brad Keselowski
crashed.
With only five laps left in the race Edwards led Hamlin, Wimmer, Kenseth and
Mears to the restart.
The No.60 Ford was able to pull away as Hamlin, Wimmer and Mears battled for
second. After seeing the white flag Edwards had comfortable lead when some
back markers crashed to bring out final caution flag of the day.
Edwards crossed the finish line under the caution for the win. Hamlin, Wimmer,
Mears and Kenseth completed the top-five.
The next race in the Busch Series is set for Saturday, June 9th at the
Nashville Superspeedway.