Take it to the limit

Running on fumes, Edwards wins Power Stroke 200

Results Pos.  Driver  Make  1.  Carl Edwards  Ford  2.  Travis Kvapil  Chevrolet  3.  Bobby Hamilton  Dodge  4.  Brendan Gaughan  Dodge  5.  Jon Wood  Ford  For complete results, click here.

CLERMONT, Ind. (AP) -- Rookie Carl Edwards' stretched his gas to the end Friday night to win the Craftsman Truck series Power Stroke Diesel 200 at Indianapolis Raceway Park.

Edwards, in his first complete season with Roush Racing, needed every drop of fuel in his tank to hold on for his second win in the past four races. His engine began to sputter on the final lap.

"I'm not used to winning, so it's a little hard for me to know when to back off," Edwards said.

As late challengers Jason Leffler and Rick Crawford fell to empty fuel tanks over the final 10 laps, Edwards conserved enough to get to the finish line just ahead of Travis Kvapil.

Edwards said he was at first concerned with conserving tires before he got the word to conserve fuel from his crew with three laps to go.

"I could see a little of what was happening in the rear-view mirror," Edwards said. "[Kvapil] had the faster truck, but I knew how far ahead we were and knew it would be tough for him to make up that distance, so that allowed me to backpedal a little bit."

Crawford ran out of fuel on lap 190 as he attempted to close the gap. With only three laps to go, Leffler, running second, coasted down pit road.

Edwards, who ran the final 140 laps on the .686-mile oval, took the lead away from polesitter and defending champion Terry Cook on lap 84 of the 200-lap event and held off Rick Crawford over 40 of the final 50 laps.

Kvapil, the series points leader, held on to finish in second place, just .617 seconds behind the winner. Kvapil leads fourth-place finisher Brendan Gaughan by 10 points.

"When we got in clear traffic, we were running him down four- and five-tenths of a second a lap," Kvapil said of Edwards. "You could feel it and I could see him getting closer ... We had good tires and were charging hard."

Bobby Hamilton finished third after starting 16th. Hamilton was followed by Gaughan and Ted Musgrave in fifth. Musgrave is third in the points standings.

Ken Schrader, Dennis Setzer, Terry Cook, Matt Crafton and David Starr rounded out the top 10.

The victory carried what had been a red-hot July into the month of August for Edwards, who has not finished outside the top five in his last five races.

After a 15th-place finish at Milwaukee, Edwards finished second at Kansas and recorded his first series victory at Kentucky Speedway.

Though a series rookie, Edwards is anything but a rookie at Indianapolis Raceway Park. He has raced in several series at the oval, including to a third-place finish in Thursday night's USAC Silver Crown race.

"Growing up, I watched Thursday Night Thunder every week," he said. "It's a dream to be here."

Power Stroke Diesel 200 Results
At Indianapolis Raceway Park
Pos.	Start	Driver	Make	Laps	Winnings
1.	5	Carl Edwards	Ford	200	$48,660
2.	9	Travis Kvapil	Chevrolet	200	$28,325
3.	16	Bobby Hamilton	Dodge	200	$21,890
4.	6	Brendan Gaughan	Dodge	200	$14,300
5.	11	Jon Wood	Ford	200	$13,575
6.	4	Ted Musgrave	Dodge	200	$11,500
7.	13	Ken Schrader	Chevrolet	200	$10,975
8.	18	Dennis Setzer	Chevrolet	200	$11,100
9.	1	Terry Cook	Ford	200	$12,475
10.	20	Matt Crafton	Chevrolet	200	$12,225
11.	12	David Starr	Chevrolet	200	$10,625
12.	3	Chad Chaffin	Dodge	199	$10,515
13.	32	Randy MacDonald	Chevrolet	199	$11,990
14.	8	Rick Crawford	Ford	199	$10,465
15.	2	Jason Leffler	Dodge	198	$10,865
16.	22	Shane Wallace	Ford	198	$7,865
17.	34	Randy Briggs	Ford	198	$10,065
18.	28	Robert Pressley	Dodge	198	$10,015
19.	24	Brian Sockwell	Chevrolet	198	$7,715
20.	19	Andy Petree	Chevrolet	197	$10,015
21.	33	Jody Lavender	Chevrolet	197	$8,365
22.	7	Mike Skinner	Dodge	196	$8,315
23.	29	Tim Sauter	Ford	196	$7,265
24.	15	Andy Ponstein	Ford	196	$7,215
25.	35	T.J. Bell	Chevrolet	195	$7,190
26.	31	Alex Mueller	Chevrolet	194	$7,140
27.	36	Jerry Hill	Dodge	193	$7,115
28.	23	Bill Lester	Dodge	191	$7,090
29.	17	Darrell Waltrip	Chevrolet	147	$7,065
30.	25	Stan Boyd	Chevrolet	143	$7,045
31.	10	Kenny Hendrick	Ford	135	$7,035
32.	30	Tracy Hines	Dodge	110	$7,025
33.	26	Charlie Bradberry	Chevrolet	57	$7,015
34.	14	Morgan Shepherd	Ford	35	$7,005
35.	27	David Stover	Ford	32	$6,720
36.	21	Johnny Chapman	Chevrolet	11	$6,685
Average Speed of Race Winner: 88.111 mph. Time of Race: 1 hour, 33 minutes, 26 seconds. Margin of Victory: 0.617. Caution Flags: 6 for 25 laps. Lead Changes: 3 among 3 drivers. Lap Leaders: T. Cook 1-20; J. Leffler 21-60; T. Cook 61-81; C. Edwards 82-200. Top 10 in Points: T. Kvapil - 2,170; B. Gaughan - 2,160; T. Musgrave - 2,119; D. Setzer - 2,063; B. Hamilton - 2,033; J. Wood - 2,031; R. Crawford - 2,011; J. Leffler - 1,975; T. Cook - 1,897; C. Edwards - 1,872.

 

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