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Busch first to clinch Chase berth with runner-up finish

BROOKLYN, MI -August 17, 2008- As usual, Sunday's Sprint Cup race came down to a shootout between Kyle Busch and somebody else.

This time, however, somebody else won.
Get Your Carl Edwards Gear!

The somebody else was Carl Edwards, who held off Busch on a restart with two laps remaining in the 3M Performance 400 at Michigan International Speedway to claim his fifth Cup victory of the season and the 12th of his career. Having won the Nationwide Series race on Saturday, Edwards completed the weekend sweep and added 10 bonus points to his total for the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

With his runner-up finish, Busch officially clinched what had become a foregone conclusion -- his place in the Chase. With eight wins, good for 80 bonus points, Busch is assured of top seeding when the field for the Chase is set after the Sept. 6 race at Richmond.

David Ragan came home third, a career-best finish set up by staying on the track when all the other contenders except for Dale Earnhardt Jr. pitted under caution on Lap 181 of the 200-lap race. Greg Biffle ran fourth, followed by Matt Kenseth, as Roush Fenway Racing put four drivers in the top five. Roush's fifth driver, Jamie McMurray, finished 10th. It was the fourth time owner Jack Roush has had five drivers finish in the top 10 of a Cup race.

Edwards had a 1.8-second lead when Denny Hamlin's engine blew on Lap 194 to bring out the seventh and final caution of the race. On the restart on Lap 199, Edwards pulled away from Busch through the first two corners and extended his lead to .947 seconds at the finish.

"On that restart -- Kyle's very good on restarts -- I knew he was going to hang back and get a run up on my bumper," Edwards said. "I wasn't going to let him do that."

The winning move for Edwards, however, came on Lap 181, when the No. 99 Ford was first off pit road after a two-tire stop.

"The key was my crew [Sunday]," Edwards said. "We're winning races, we're gearing up for the Chase, and we're feeling stronger than ever. We're here to win a championship. That's what we're here for. The key is keeping Kyle from getting those bonus points."

Busch agreed the final pit stop was decisive.

"It just came down to when he beat us off pit road," Busch said. "That was it for us. We just didn't have the car to beat him [Sunday]."

On a set of tires that suited his No. 18 Toyota perfectly, Busch passed Edwards for the lead on Lap 142, after a cycle of green-flag pit stops, and gradually opened an advantage that approached 7 seconds before a debris caution on Lap 165 bunched the field. After another round of pit stops under yellow, Busch's magic was gone.

"We had that one set of tires that was special," Busch said. "Then we put on another set, and it wasn't that good. We didn't have enough for that 99 there at the end. We weren't able to get through the center of the corner as fast as Carl could."

Notes: The race tightened the field at the bottom of the Chase standings. Ragan's third-place finish moved him to 26 points behind 12th-place Hamlin (39th on Sunday) and tied him with Clint Bowyer (20th), who is 13th in points. ... Jeff Gordon blew a tire after contact with teammate Jimmie Johnson and slammed into the wall on Lap 97 (watch video). Gordon finished 42nd and lost three positions to ninth in the standings. ... Scott Riggs' No. 66 Chevy replaced A.J. Allmendinger's No. 84 Toyota in 35th position in the owner standings. Riggs finished 15th on Sunday to Allmendinger's 28th.

FIN ST CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR PTS/BNS LAPS STATUS
1 27 99 Carl Edwards Ford Office Depot 195/10 200 Running
2 11 18 Kyle Busch Toyota Interstate Batteries 175/5 200 Running
3 16 6 David Ragan Ford AAA Insurance 170/5 200 Running
4 9 16 Greg Biffle Ford 3M 165/5 200 Running
5 14 17 Matt Kenseth Ford DEWALT 155/0 200 Running
6 15 8 Mark Martin Chevrolet U.S. Army 150/0 200 Running
7 1 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull 151/5 200 Running
8 38 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 142/0 200 Running
9 3 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge Stanley Tools 138/0 200 Running
10 18 26 Jamie McMurray Ford IRWIN Industrial Tools 134/0 200 Running
11 28 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet AT&T Mobility 135/5 200 Running
12 21 20 Tony Stewart Toyota The Home Depot 127/0 200 Running
13 26 28 Travis Kvapil Ford CARFAX 124/0 200 Running
14 7 44 David Reutimann Toyota UPS 121/0 200 Running
15 10 66 Scott Riggs Chevrolet Haas Automation 123/5 200 Running
16 25 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Cub Cadet 115/0 200 Running
17 2 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe's / Kobalt Tools 117/5 200 Running
18 29 5 Casey Mears Chevrolet Kellogg's / CARQUEST 109/0 199 Running
19 42 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota NAPA AUTO PARTS 106/0 199 Running
20 41 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Jack Daniel's 103/0 199 Running
21 20 12 Ryan Newman Dodge Alltel 100/0 199 Running
22 23 77 Sam Hornish Jr. * Dodge Mobil 1 97/0 199 Running
23 4 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet National Guard / AMP Energy 99/5 199 Running
24 36 15 Paul Menard Chevrolet Moen / Menards 91/0 199 Running
25 19 42 Juan Montoya Dodge Texaco / Havoline 88/0 199 Running
26 40 38 David Gilliland Ford CitiFinancial 85/0 199 Running
27 35 43 Bobby Labonte Dodge Cheerios / Betty Crocker 82/0 199 Running
28 33 84 A.J. Allmendinger Toyota Red Bull 79/0 199 Running
29 8 01 Regan Smith * Chevrolet DEI / Principal Financial Group 76/0 199 Running
30 6 10 Patrick Carpentier * Dodge Tow Truck in a Box 73/0 199 Running
31 30 70 Tony Raines Chevrolet Haas Automation 70/0 199 Running
32 17 45 Terry Labonte Dodge Marathon American Spirit Motor Oil 67/0 198 Running
33 31 41 Reed Sorenson Dodge Target 64/0 198 Running
34 34 78 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet Furniture Row Racing 61/0 198 Running
35 22 00 Mike Skinner Toyota Champion Mortgage 58/0 198 Running
36 13 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 55/0 197 Running
37 12 7 Robby Gordon Dodge Jim Beam 52/0 197 Running
38 43 96 Brad Coleman Toyota DLP HDTV 49/0 197 Running
39 37 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Office 46/0 194 Engine
40 32 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Budweiser 43/0 162 Engine
41 24 22 Dave Blaney Toyota Caterpillar 40/0 117 Accident
42 5 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont 37/0 111 Accident
43 39 21 Marcos Ambrose Ford Little Debbie 34/0 17 Engine
* Denotes Rookie

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