Carl Edwards grabs lead with 9 laps to go, holds on to win Nationwide race at Road America

more images

more images

more images

Edwards wins Nationwide race at Road America

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. — For the third year in a row, Carl Edwards made the most of his cross-country commute to Wisconsin.

Edwards swooped past Jacques Villeneuve on a restart with nine laps to go, then ran away from the field to win the NASCAR Nationwide series race at Road America on Saturday. The celebration was brief, as Edwards was scheduled to catch a flight to California so he can run Sunday’s Sprint Cup race.

Edwards said bringing home a trophy makes pulling double duty worthwhile.

“For sure!,” he said. “What else was I going to be doing this afternoon, a vineyard or something? I’d much rather be here.”

It was Edwards’ third straight win in the Nationwide series’ annual trip to Wisconsin — but this one came at a new venue, as the scenic 4-mile road course replaced the financially troubled Milwaukee Mile on the schedule this season.

Veteran road racing ace Ron Fellows finished second in a Chevrolet, 4.302 seconds behind Edwards’ Ford. Brendan Gaughan finished third in a Toyota.

“To be racing against Jacques Villeneuve and Ron Fellows on a road course?,” Gaughan said. “I was having the time of my life.”

For a while, it looked like Villeneuve, the 1997 Formula One champion and 1995 Indianapolis 500 winner, might steal the show.

Villeneuve made a wild charge to the lead late in the race. But another caution bunched up the field, allowing Edwards to make his decisive move.

Villeneuve then had electrical problems in the closing laps, costing him a potential second-place finish.

“It was actually a lot more fun than expected,” Villeneuve said. “The cars drove really well around the course and it was a fun race. It was obviously a lot different than the last time I was here, but it was fun out there today.”

After taking a restart with 12 laps to go, Villeneuve charged from eighth to first in half a lap, with Edwards right behind him. Villeneuve’s tire was smoking significantly, as it appeared to be rubbing against damaged bodywork on the front end of his car.

Yet another crash brought out another caution, and Villeneuve took a restart with nine laps remaining not knowing if his tire would hold up for the remainder of the race. Edwards was worried Villeneuve was going to crash — and possibly take Edwards out with him.

“I was really concerned, but I knew he wasn’t going to listen to me,” Edwards said.

Edwards then roared past Villeneuve and into the lead in Turn 1.

Another wreck set up a restart with three to go, allowing Fellows to pass Gaughan for third. Villeneuve was in second with two laps to go, but began to slip back in the pack with mechanical issues and finished 25th.

Paul Menard and Brad Keselowski also will fly back to California to run the Sprint Cup race at Sonoma on Sunday. Edwards is riding on Menard’s plane.

“At one point, we were racing real hard,” Edwards said. “I thought, ‘Boy, if we wreck each other, I don’t know if I can find another ride.’”

Keselowski finished fourth and held onto his series points lead.

It was a rough race for Justin Allgaier, who remains third in the Nationwide series points standings.

Allgaier ran off the track on the second lap of the race, coming to a stop on the hill between Turns 5 and 6. After a trip to the garage, Allgaier eventually re-entered the race and finished 35th.

In all, it was a mixed debut for the Nationwide series at the picturesque, fast and technically challenging 14-turn road course that winds through the tree-lined hills of central Wisconsin.

As expected, the on-track action was entertaining. But on a four-mile track, any full-course caution period made for an extended break in the action.

That included a big wreck on lap 30, when a nine-car pileup in Turn 6 brought the race to a halt under a red flag — a Talladega-style “big one” on a road course. Racing resumed after a delay of 31 minutes, 31 seconds under the red flag.

The event seemed to resonate with fans. Track officials expected a crowd of 50,000 or better and a healthy crowd showed up, although no official attendance figure was available Saturday.

Given all the cautions, is this a viable place for NASCAR to race?

Fellows suggested it’s worthy of a Sprint Cup race, and Gaughan didn’t disagree.

“This is a man’s-man road course,” Gaughan said.