Edwards wins in shadow of wreck: The 5 Hour Energy 200 Review

Maybe it should rain before every Nationwide Race as it seemed to cause a bit more excitement. Between watching the young guns of Nationwide hanging with the Cup guys, to seeing a large number of wrecks, this turned out to be a pretty good race. We saw both MacDonald Motorsports Dodge’s crash together, we saw Brian Scott crash in the exact same manner as last week, and there was a bit of excitement at the end of the race.

Oh, and a special shout out has to go to Alex Kennedy, who after crashing into the wall, decided to drive back up on the track right in the path of Kevin Swindell. Swindell sheared off the front of Alex Kennedy’s #23 car. Nobody really understood what Kennedy was doing driving right up the track instead of just waiting til everyone was clear.

We were set up for another shootout finish. It had been raining left and right all day and finally after a rain delay, it was Joey Logano trying to hold off Carl Edwards.

Most of us can remember times when Edwards has wrecked someone or has done the bump and run for a win so when Logano went around it was easy to assume that his misfortune was the result of contact with the front bumper of Edwards’ car. But Edwards never touched him - the best drivers don’t need to lay metal to you.

Edwards seemed to take the air off the #20 Toyota and Logano got loose and slammed into the outside wall. The momentum sent him right back into the path of Clint Bowyer. Bowyer hit so violently that it sent him into the air and onto his side. Brad Keselowski then was collected as well as Mike Bliss, who had been running very well all day. Steven Wallace also got collected. The wreck was just what Edwards needed to take the checkered flag, and extend the Nationwide-only winless streak.

Results and Points after the JUMP!

After the big wreck that took out more Cup guys then Nationwide drivers, we got a top 5 like none other. And by none other, I mean pretty much the same thing you always see. It was yet another race with only 2 Nationwide guys in the top 5. Reed Sorenson and Ricky Stenhouse cracked the top 5, helping both of them move up in driver points. Elliott Sadler continued his string of great runs this week and took the top spot in the Driver’s Standings. Take a look at how things shake up after Dover:

Thanks to Kyle Busch’s run, Joe Gibbs again has the top two spots in the Owner’s Standings. It’s pretty much a lock that a Cup-driven team will take it. Turner Motorsports hasn’t been able to continue it’s strong run to start the season. Here’s how things are shaking up:

Putting Mike Bliss in the #14 Chevy will go down as a pretty smart move. Bliss put Eric McClure’s ride in the top 30 in Owner Points, Scott Wimmer’s #40 Team fell outside and will need to qualify on time at Iowa. Here’s who’s locked in and who’s outside looking in:

After a wreck filled Dover (a race I called boring earlier in the week) we head to Iowa for the John Deere Dealers 250. It’s Sunday Nationwide Racing. Join us later in the week for a preview of the event. Enjoy!