In what was a battle until the end, the Sharpie 500 provided some of the most action packed racing seen this season, but ultimately it was Carl Edwards who was able to take his #99 Office Depot Ford to victory lane at Bristol Motor Speedway. This would be the sixth victory of the season for Edwards, who was the defending race champion from 2007. Edwards started from the pole on Saturday night, but ran in the second place position most of the race after Kyle Busch took the lead on lap 55 in his #18 M&Ms Toyota. The drivers battled for the lead as the race wound down, and with 31 to go, Edwards was able to use the “bump and run” on Busch to regain the lead and capture the victory.
After the race, things heated up, as the younger Busch brother rammed Edwards during the cool down laps. Edwards would retaliate spinning the #18, giving fans a great finish to an exciting race. After the race, Edwards stated that he made the decision to bump Busch to make the race winning pass because Busch has already, and would again, bump him in an attempt to capture a victory. Edwards did make a point of saying Busch was not a poor loser. “No, Kyle is not a poor loser. He’s mad, and I can completely empathize with his anger. I probably would have done the exact same thing. So that’s the way I feel about that. “ Both drivers were called to the NASCAR hauler after the race as a result of the altercation.
During the Sharpie 500, the only cars battling for the win were the cars of Edwards and Busch, however there was exciting racing in the field behind the leaders.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. started the race on the wrong foot. After having to start and the rear of the field because of poor qualifying laps, Earnhardt Jr. was black flagged in the first laps of the race for making a pass of position before the start/finish line when the race began. While the move is legal during restarts, no competitor can pass before the start/finish line when the race began. The penalty would put Earnhardt Jr. one lap down, which he would not be able to make up. The #88 would finish in 18th place, two laps down.
Early in the race, many drivers were racing hard, not giving up track position after starting at the front of the field. The #21 Ford driven by Bill Elliot and the #84 driven by AJ Allmendinger were running side by side, battling for sixth position, holding up the field behind them. Their battle allowed the top five drivers to gain a significant lead in front of the rest of the pack.
The first incident of the race came on lap 28 when Jimmie Johnson had contact with Sterling Marlin and the wall, damaging his front fender and giving him a flat front right tire. The caution would not come out after the incident and Johnson would spend significant time on pit road trying to repair the damage. That incident would force Johnson to lose valuable time and relegated him a 33rd place finish, 18 laps down.
The first caution of the night came out on lap 97 when the #1 Chevy of Martin Truex Jr. blew a front right tire, sending him up the track and into AJ Allmendinger, significantly damaging both cars. Both drivers would be able to continue, however, the time behind the wall forced them to finish over one hundred laps down.
The season continued to go downhill for Jeff Burton. Burton registered his second DNF of the season after being caught up in a wreck on lap 196. Tony Stewart got into Sterling Marlin, which started a chain reaction. Burton slowed down to avoid the wreck, however Joe Nemecheck did not slow, and rammed Burton, sending the #31 spinning into the #09. That would not be the most significant wreck of the race, however.
On lap 216, a big wreck brought out the red flag, when an eight car wreck occurred mid pack. The #5 car driven by Casey Mears checked up into the #55 Toyota of Michael Waltrip, sending them spinning and collecting Robby Gordon, Clint Bowyer, Kasey Kahne, Reed Sorenson, David Reutimann, and Sam Hornish Jr. The incident occurred as a result of Mears’ spotter clearing Mears before he passed Waltrip. Mears was apologetic to all the drivers collected, saying the wreck should have never happened. The wreck would end the day for most, though Bowyer would be able to continue.
Bowyer’s ability to continue in the race provided some of the most action packed racing all night, as he and David Ragan battled for position on the track, but also for a spot in the Chase. Eventually, Bowyer would be able to get away and finish in seventh, while Ragan would finish in tenth place.
