RICHMOND, Va. – Carl Edwards grabbed the lead from Kevin Harvick on pit road with 24 laps to go Saturday night and won the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Richmond.
The victory finished off a remarkable race for Edwards, who had to start at the back of the field after his team made adjustments to his Ford after the field was impounded.
The work and penalty were clearly worth it as Edwards steadily worked his way into contention, first challenging Denny Hamlin for the lead with 70 laps to go.
Edwards had faded afterward, but when a caution for debris on the track flew on the 226th lap, the leaders all headed for pit road, and Edwards beat Harvick back to the track.
Harvick finished second, followed by Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski and Davis Reutimann.
Hamlin had one of the dominant cars and ran up front all night despite several bad pit stops that cost him position. Once he went in as the leader and came out third, and another time he went in running second and emerged sixth, then quickly began making up ground.
Edwards qualified 39th and started at the back of the field after having to make adjustments to his car after the field had been impounded by NASCAR. It hardly showed as he quickly worked his way up through the field and was on Hamlin's bumper by lap No. 180.
Edwards pulled alongside Hamlin trying to make the pass, but Hamlin wouldn't let him, and several laps later, Edwards gradually began to fade and Harvick passed him for second.
By lap 201, Harvick was the one stalking Hamlin's bumper. He tried to pass him on the inside, but Hamlin wouldn't yield, and Harvick gained the lead in a side-by-side dual.
One lap later, Hamlin retook it and the cars continued to race side-by-side or nose-to-tail until Hamlin's Toyota wiggled in the fourth turn, causing him to nudge Harvick to keep from crashing. Harvick continued on unscathed, and Hamlin headed to pit road for tires.