Carl Edwards Wins at Bristol

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Carl Edwards isn't conceding anything to Kyle Busch. Edwards saw Busch lead 415 consecutive laps Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway, then used his bumper to nudge Busch in the first turn on lap 470. That move caused Busch's car to wiggle just enough so that Edwards could drive by for his second consecutive victory on the NASCAR Spring Cup Series.

"It's one of those deals where I couldn't get by him, I couldn't get by him, and I just had to ask myself, `Would he do that to me?' Edwards said after doing his trademark backflip off the car in Victory Lane. "And he has before, so that's the way it goes."

The triumph was also the sixth of the season for the Roush Fenway Racing driver, allowing him to close the gap of bonus points he's likely to face when the 12-race Chase for the championship begins. Busch has eight wins, and each is worth 10 Chase bonus points.

After taking the checkered flag, Edwards was making his cool-down lap around the track when Busch drove up and bumped his car. Edwards clearly wasn't amused, and when he responded by driving the nose of his car into the right side of Busch's, the fans cheered wildly.

"They keep talking about rivalries," Edwards said. "We might have one now."

Busch, who still leads Edwards by 212 points in the standings with just two races left in the regular season, said it's unlikely his relationship with Edwards will improve soon.

"He hit me getting into Turn 1," Busch said. "Whatever. Carl's going to say he's sorry, that he didn't want to race that way, but he always does. We'll take it, we'll go on and we'll race him that way in the Chase if that's the way he wants to race."

Busch finished second, followed by Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick and Jeff Gordon, three drivers needing good nights to bolster their playoff prospects.

Ryan Newman was sixth and was the only car not in Chase contention in the top 10. Clint Bowyer was seventh, followed by Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth and rookie David Ragan.

Bowyer went from tied for 13th to 12th in the points race, Ragan remained 13th and Kasey Kahne was the only driver to move out of the top 12. He crashed before the midpoint of the race and finished 40th, dropping from 11th to 14th in the points standings.