Edwards' victory lifts mood at Ford
By Don Coble| Morris News Service
Monday, August 18, 2008

BROOKLYN, Mich. --- Carl Edwards won at the Michigan International Speedway on Sunday and in the process gave Ford Motor Co., if only for a moment, a reason to celebrate.

Many of the fans sitting in the stands for the 3M Performance 400 work an hour away in Detroit for Ford, Chevrolet or Chrysler, so Edwards' win gave them a little bliss in a year of dreadful sales, record losses and an all-out Sprint Cup assault by Toyota.

Edwards dominated on the 2-mile, D-shaped oval for his fifth win of the season, leading five times for 84 of 200 laps. He passed David Ragan with 18 laps to go, and from there he kept his No. 99 Ford Fusion in front of the sport's hottest driver, Kyle Busch, during two restarts in the final 13 laps.

After his trademark back-flip, Edwards sounded more like a pitch man for one of several struggling manufacturers than a race winner.

"Ford's the greatest car on the road," he said. "They've got some exciting stuff coming. I'm glad to be part of their resurgence."

Edwards gave car owner Jack Roush his 11th victory at Michigan as a Sprint Cup owner. Equally important for Roush was the fact all five of his race teams finished in the top 10.

"This is my private playground," said Roush, who has 3,000 employees in the Detroit area working on prototype cars for the Big Three manufacturers. "It's home for me. It means a chance to play in front of the home crowd and the people at Ford."

Busch, who has a series-best eight wins, settled for second.

"We didn't have enough for the 99 there at the end," Busch said. "We weren't able to get through the corners as fast as Carl was."

The finish, however, locked Busch into the Chase for the Championship, which starts Sept. 14 at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

"It's great to be locked in and have everything go our way," Busch said. "... (But) Carl's right there. He's been there all year. We've got some work cut out for us."

Ragan had a career-best third-place finish that moved him into a tie for 13th place, just 26 points short of making the cut for the playoffs.

What helped him make up ground were problems by other contenders Jeff Gordon (crash), Kasey Kahne (engine), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (crash) and Denny Hamlin (engine).

TOP 10

At Michigan International Speedway

1. Carl Edwards

2. Kyle Busch

3. David Ragan

4. Greg Biffle

5. Matt Kenseth

6. Mark Martin

7. Brian Vickers

8. Kevin Harvick

9. Elliott Sadler

10. Jamie McMurray

UP NEXT

WHAT: Sharpie 500

WHEN: 7 p.m. Saturday

WHERE: Bristol Motor Speedway

TV: ESPN

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Carl Edwards

From the Monday, August 18, 2008 edition of the Augusta Chronicle
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