Edwards on top at Monster Mile

NATIONWIDE

Carl Edwards was sure he tapped Joey Logano.

Edwards missed him — and all the mayhem behind him.

Logano lost control on his own and tagged the wall, triggering a wreck-filled final lap that knocked out several contenders and let Edwards win the Nationwide Series 5-hour Energy 200 on Saturday at Dover (Del.) International Speedway.

“Man, that’s why they call it the Monster Mile,” Edwards said.

It was a monster of a wreck that ended a thrilling stretch run between Edwards and Logano.

Edwards’ battle with Logano off the final restart of the race turned dangerous in a hurry. Logano got loose and slid up as he tried to scoot around Edwards and hit the wall, sparking a pile up that eliminated Clint Bowyer from contention.

Bowyer’s car slid sideways down the concrete track. Debris hit one of Bowyer’s crew. Several other cars were collected.

Edwards instantly thought he hit Logano and caused the accident. But Edwards, who recently announced the birth of his son, never made serious contact and won on the second attempt of a green-white finish.

He refrained from performing his traditional winning backflip off his No. 60 Ford.

“I saw him wiggle and I wasn’t sure if I touched him or not,” Edwards said. “Not the way we wanted to finish the race.”

Maybe not. But he’ll take the result.

Bowyer, who led 37 laps, was lucky the accident wasn’t worse. His car could have sailed over the wall at the track appropriately dubbed the Monster Mile.

“It was certainly pretty wild,” he said. “It was just unfortunate.”

The accident shook up the final results. Kyle Busch was second and Reed Sorenson third. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and David Reutimann round out the top five.

Logano finished 13th and Bowyer 14th. Elliott Sadler took a 10-point lead over Sorenson in the standings.

Busch failed in his bid to tie Mark Martin for first place in career Nationwide victories. He stands on 48.

The front of Busch’s No. 18 Toyota was mashed in, but he ducked around the wreckage and finished the race.

“I didn’t want that kind of view,” he said.

The race was delayed and, later interrupted, by rain.

Josh Wise gambled and stayed out when the leaders pitted as rain started hitting the track past the halfway point. When the delay was called, Wise was in first place. He sat in his car on pit road and hoped the skies would open more.

“Hopefully we can keep this rain coming and get Josh a win,” crew chief Tony Eury Jr. said during the break.

With 56 laps left, the race restarted and Wise was quickly a non-factor. He finished 17th.

Edwards and Logano took over from there and battled for the lead. Edwards, who led a race-high 87 laps, nipped Logano for the lead with 13 laps left in the scheduled 200-lap race. It would go nine extra laps.

“I thought the rain was going to finish us,” Edwards said.

At Dover International Speedway

Dover, Del.

Lap length: 1 miles

(Start position in parentheses)

1. (1) Carl Edwards, Ford, 209 laps, 144.6 rating, 0 points, $39,775.

2. (13) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 209, 113.8, 0, $26,725.

3. (10) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 209, 109.8, 41, $28,868.

4. (2) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 209, 110, 41, $26,218.

5. (32) David Reutimann, Toyota, 209, 90, 0, $16,700.

6. (8) Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, 209, 98.7, 38, $22,418.

7. (14) Kenny Wallace, Toyota, 209, 88.3, 37, $21,928.

8. (12) James Buescher, Chevrolet, 209, 92.5, 0, $21,288.

9. (18) Aric Almirola, Chevrolet, 209, 85.7, 35, $23,318.

10. (21) Mike Wallace, Chevrolet, 209, 77.7, 34, $23,293.

11. (9) Jason Leffler, Chevrolet, 209, 97.4, 33, $20,268.

12. (6) Brad Keselowski, Dodge, accident, 208, 105.7, 0, $14,675.

13. (11) Joey Logano, Toyota, accident, 208, 116.8, 0, $14,025.

14. (3) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, accident, 208, 120.4, 0, $13,450.

15. (31) Mike Bliss, Chevrolet, accident, 208, 79.4, 29, $21,718.

16. (15) Steve Wallace, Toyota, accident, 208, 77.1, 28, $19,768.

17. (16) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, 208, 75.2, 28, $19,693.

18. (17) Ryan Truex, Toyota, 207, 83.1, 26, $20,643.

19. (20) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 207, 67.5, 25, $19,593.

20. (19) Michael Annett, Toyota, 205, 64.4, 24, $20,268.

21. (35) J.R. Fitzpatrick, Ford, 204, 56.2, 23, $13,225.

22. (30) Timmy Hill, Ford, 204, 48, 22, $19,393.

23. (26) Danny Efland, Ford, 203, 53.6, 21, $19,718.

24. (25) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 202, 57.9, 20, $19,268.

25. (23) Eric McClure, Chevrolet, 201, 48.4, 19, $19,843.

26. (38) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, 184, 42.6, 18, $12,700.

27. (28) Derrike Cope, Chevrolet, engine, 166, 47.8, 17, $19,518.

28. (29) Dennis Setzer, Dodge, electrical, 140, 40.9, 16, $19,043.

29. (4) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, accident, 138, 86.1, 15, $18,968.

30. (7) Brian Scott, Toyota, accident, 87, 65.1, 14, $19,218.

31. (5) Kevin Swindell, Ford, accident, 86, 65.4, 13, $18,863.

32. (24) Alex Kennedy, Dodge, accident, 84, 52.7, 12, $18,803.

33. (27) Donnie Neuenberger, Dodge, too slow, 70, 32.8, 11, $18,743.

34. (40) Carl Long, Ford, rear gear, 52, 44.5, 10, $12,240.

35. (22) Scott Wimmer, Chevrolet, transmission, 44, 56.9, 10, $12,210.

36. (34) Tim Andrews, Ford, transmission, 44, 46.9, 8, $12,185.

37. (43) Jennifer Jo Cobb, Ford, axle, 43, 33.6, 7, $12,165.

38. (36) Kevin Lepage, Chevrolet, accident, 19, 43.2, 6, $12,100.

39. (41) Brad Teague, Chevrolet, engine, 10, 37, 5, $12,075.

40. (39) Brett Rowe, Chevrolet, handling, 7, 37.5, 4, $12,020.

41. (37) Jeff Green, Chevrolet, vibration, 6, 36, 3, $11,990.

42. (42) Charles Lewandoski, Ford, ignition, 4, 34.5, 2, $11,950.

43. (33) Blake Koch, Dodge, accident, 1, 33, 1, $11,892.

Top 10 in Points: 1. E.Sadler, 379; 2. R.Sorenson, 369; 3. J.Leffler, 364; 4. R.Stenhouse Jr., 363; 5. J.Allgaier, 361; 6. A.Almirola, 339; 7. K.Wallace, 317; 8. B.Scott, 286; 9. S.Wallace, 282; 10. J.Wise, 274.

SPRINT CUP

Jimmie Johnson won the pole at Dover (Del.) International Speedway after rain wiped out qualifying.

Johnson will start first in today’s Sprint Cup FedEx 400 (9:30 a.m., KAYU, ESPN 700) because he posted the fast average practice speeds. This is the first time this season NASCAR had to use the new system that starts drivers based on practice speed, not the points standings.

Race today

At Dover International Speedway

Dover, Del.

Lap length: 1 mile

(Car number in parentheses)

1. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet

2. (43) A J Allmendinger, Ford

3. (88) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet

4. (4) Kasey Kahne, Toyota

5. (20) Joey Logano, Toyota

6. (22) Kurt Busch, Dodge

7. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota

8. (56) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota

9. (2) Brad Keselowski, Dodge

10. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet

11. (78) Regan Smith, Chevrolet

12. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford

13. (99) Carl Edwards, Ford

14. (6) David Ragan, Ford

15. (83) Brian Vickers, Toyota

16. (31) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet

17. (00) David Reutimann, Toyota

18. (9) Marcos Ambrose, Ford

19. (42) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet

20. (27) Paul Menard, Chevrolet

21. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet

22. (33) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet

23. (47) Bobby Labonte, Toyota

24. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford

25. (5) Mark Martin, Chevrolet

26. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota

27. (14) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet

28. (39) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet

29. (34) David Gilliland, Ford

30. (13) Casey Mears, Toyota

31. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet

32. (09) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet

33. (32) Mike Bliss, Ford

34. (7) Scott Wimmer, Dodge

35. (36) Dave Blaney, Chevrolet

36. (66) Michael McDowell, Toyota

37. (71) Andy Lally, Ford

38. (46) J.J. Yeley, Chevrolet

39. (60) Mike Skinner, Toyota

40. (30) David Stremme, Chevrolet

41. (38) Travis Kvapil, Ford

42. (87) Joe Nemechek, Toyota

43. (37) Tony Raines, Ford

Failed to Qualify

44. (81) Scott Riggs, Chevrolet