Carl Edwards has scored back-to-back victories with a final corner ‘bump-and-run’ to beat home team-mate Kyle Busch at Richmond.
Edwards closed-in on his Joe Gibbs Racing stablemate through the final laps. As they made their way through traffic, Busch had Edwards glued to his bumper, when Edwards made the dive on the final corner and moved his fellow Toyota driver up the track.
The result was the fourth-straight week that the Gibbs operation had gone to Victory Lane, after Busch had scored back-to-back wins prior to Edwards’ run. It was the first time since 2010 that Edwards had scored two wins in succession.
“Kyle is an amazing teammate,” said Edwards. “He got really slow there at the end, it’s like something happened to him on that last lap. He went down in Turn 1, and I dove it in, and I’m like ‘Man, I got something here.’
“We’ve both got wins. We’re racing for fun, getting these trophies. Just an awesome day. Man, I didn’t think we had anything for him. Kyle was so good. If (crew chief) Dave (Rogers) hadn’t screamed at me on the radio to just go get him, I don’t know if I ever would have caught him. Big win for us.”
As pleased as Edwards was, it was a far more subdued Kyle Busch post-race.
“It’s racing I guess,” said Kyle Busch.
“We had a really great car. We were fast — maybe not as good as Carl on the long run. The guys gave me everything we needed today. We lost it there on the second-to-last run, but we had a shot to win and that’s all that matters.”
Another driver in focus at Richmond was Tony Stewart, who made his first start of the season after missing the first eight races after an off-track recreational vehicle accident prior to the Daytona 500.
“What I’ll remember is how much fun I had today,” said Stewart who finished 19th despite a puncture mid race.
“This place is so cool anyway. It’s always been my favourite race track. I had a good time. I’m looking forward to running the rest of the year with these guys.”
In a similar situation to Kyle Busch 12 months ago, Stewart can still win the championship if he can win a race and finish the “regular season” inside the top 30 in points.
VIDEO: Race recap
VIDEO: Victory Lane
RESULTS: Toyota Owners 400 – Richmond International Raceway
| POS. | CAR # | DRIVER | MAKE | START | LAPS | LAPS LED | FINAL STATUS | POINTS | BONUS POINTS | |
| 1 | 19 | Carl Edwards | Toyota | 4 | 400 | 151 | Running | 45 | 5 | |
| 2 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 9 | 400 | 78 | Running | 40 | 1 | |
| 3 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 3 | 400 | 44 | Running | 39 | 1 | |
| 4 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 8 | 400 | 0 | Running | 37 | 0 | |
| 5 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | 1 | 400 | 63 | Running | 37 | 1 | |
| 6 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 5 | 400 | 1 | Running | 36 | 1 | |
| 7 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Toyota | 13 | 400 | 2 | Running | 35 | 1 | |
| 8 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 2 | 400 | 0 | Running | 33 | 0 | |
| 9 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr | Toyota | 22 | 400 | 0 | Running | 32 | 0 | |
| 10 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | 7 | 400 | 55 | Running | 32 | 1 | |
| 11 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 6 | 400 | 6 | Running | 31 | 1 | |
| 12 | 24 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 23 | 400 | 0 | Running | 29 | 0 | |
| 13 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | Chevrolet | 16 | 400 | 0 | Running | 28 | 0 | |
| 14 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 19 | 400 | 0 | Running | 27 | 0 | |
| 15 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 15 | 400 | 0 | Running | 26 | 0 | |
| 16 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 27 | 400 | 0 | Running | 25 | 0 | |
| 17 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 17 | 400 | 0 | Running | 24 | 0 | |
| 18 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 14 | 400 | 0 | Running | 23 | 0 | |
| 19 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | 18 | 400 | 0 | Running | 22 | 0 | |
| 20 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 11 | 400 | 0 | Running | 21 | 0 | |
| 21 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 24 | 400 | 0 | Running | 20 | 0 | |
| 22 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | 26 | 400 | 0 | Running | 19 | 0 | |
| 23 | 23 | David Ragan | Toyota | 30 | 400 | 0 | Running | 18 | 0 | |
| 24 | 10 | Danica Patrick | Chevrolet | 21 | 400 | 0 | Running | 17 | 0 | |
| 25 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 10 | 400 | 0 | Running | 16 | 0 | |
| 26 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | Ford | 12 | 400 | 0 | Running | 15 | 0 | |
| 27 | 38 | Landon Cassill | Ford | 28 | 399 | 0 | Running | 14 | 0 | |
| 28 | 21 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 29 | 399 | 0 | Running | 13 | 0 | |
| 29 | 13 | Casey Mears | Chevrolet | 25 | 399 | 0 | Running | 12 | 0 | |
| 30 | 83 | Matt DiBenedetto | Toyota | 36 | 399 | 0 | Running | 11 | 0 | |
| 31 | 95 | Michael McDowell | Chevrolet | 32 | 399 | 0 | Running | 10 | 0 | |
| 32 | 7 | Regan Smith | Chevrolet | 34 | 399 | 0 | Running | 9 | 0 | |
| 33 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | Chevrolet | 39 | 398 | 0 | Running | 8 | 0 | |
| 34 | 34 | Chris Buescher | Ford | 33 | 396 | 0 | Running | 7 | 0 | |
| 35 | 44 | Brian Scott | Ford | 20 | 395 | 0 | Running | 6 | 0 | |
| 36 | 46 | Michael Annett | Chevrolet | 40 | 394 | 0 | Running | 5 | 0 | |
| 37 | 93 | Ryan Ellis | Toyota | 37 | 393 | 0 | Running | 4 | 0 | |
| 38 | 32 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Ford | 38 | 392 | 0 | Running | 3 | 0 | |
| 39 | 30 | Josh Wise | Chevrolet | 31 | 390 | 0 | Running | 2 | 0 | |
| 40 | 55 | Reed Sorenson | Chevrolet | 35 | 390 | 0 | Running | 1 | 0 |
STANDINGS
| POS | DRIVER | POINTS | BEHIND | STARTS | WINS | TOP 5 | TOP 10 | DNF |
| 1 | Carl Edwards | 331 | Leader | 9 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 0 |
| 2 | Kevin Harvick | 324 | -7 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 0 |
| 3 | Jimmie Johnson | 310 | -21 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 0 |
| 4 | Kyle Busch | 302 | -29 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 1 |
| 5 | Joey Logano | 299 | -32 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 |
| 6 | Kurt Busch | 279 | -52 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 0 |
| 7 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | 278 | -53 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 1 |
| 8 | Denny Hamlin | 258 | -73 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
| 9 | Brad Keselowski | 255 | -76 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| 10 | Martin Truex Jr | 246 | -85 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 11 | Chase Elliott | 234 | -97 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| 12 | Austin Dillon | 234 | -97 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| 13 | Jamie McMurray | 224 | -107 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 14 | Kasey Kahne | 222 | -109 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 15 | Matt Kenseth | 212 | -119 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 16 | Ryan Newman | 205 | -126 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 17 | AJ Allmendinger | 204 | -127 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 18 | Trevor Bayne | 196 | -135 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 19 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | 193 | -138 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 20 | Ryan Blaney | 187 | -144 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 21 | Paul Menard | 186 | -145 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 22 | Kyle Larson | 184 | -147 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 23 | Greg Biffle | 167 | -164 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 24 | Aric Almirola | 165 | -166 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 25 | Danica Patrick | 148 | -183 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 26 | Casey Mears | 141 | -190 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | Landon Cassill | 140 | -191 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | Brian Scott | 131 | -200 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | Clint Bowyer | 126 | -205 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 30 | Matt DiBenedetto | 123 | -208 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 31 | Regan Smith | 118 | -213 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 32 | David Ragan | 116 | -215 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 33 | Michael McDowell | 100 | -231 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | Chris Buescher | 97 | -234 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 35 | Michael Annett | 87 | -244 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | Brian Vickers | 86 | -245 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 37 | Cole Whitt | 62 | -269 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 38 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | 36 | -295 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | Josh Wise | 34 | -297 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 40 | Tony Stewart | 22 | -309 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 | Michael Waltrip | 12 | -319 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 42 | Bobby Labonte | 11 | -320 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 43 | Reed Sorenson | 11 | -320 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 44 | Ryan Ellis | 4 | -327 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 45 | Robert Richardson | 3 | -328 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 46 | Ty Dillon | 0 | -331 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 47 | Joey Gase | 0 | -331 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 48 | David Gilliland | 0 | -331 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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