Carl Edwards win Zippo 200 Nationwide Race, sets sights on Sprint Cup breakthrough

It’s no secret that Carl Edwards is struggling right now, especially in comparison to his stellar 2011 season, where he came within one position of winning the Sprint Cup Series championship. In response, Edwards swore off the Nationwide Series, hoping the increased commitment to his Cup team would lend him his first championship.

Instead, 2012 has been a complete disaster, filled with both bad luck and underwhelming speed. Edwards returned to the Nationwide Series on Saturday afternoon, looking for some momentum, and found it, winning the Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen International.
Edwards proved that he can still get it done, qualifying on the outside pole and holding off Brad Keselowski on a restart with three laps to go, winning for the first time since a Nationwide Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in October.
Edwards opted to compete in Saturday’s race in preparation of Sunday’s Finger Lakes 335, a race that could make or break the rest of his Sprint Cup season. A win over the next five weeks would get him even with Jeff Gordon, Joey Logano and Kyle Busch - other drivers in wild card range with one win. He also has an outside shot at cracking the top-10 as well, but the consistency has to start on Sunday.

Watkins Glen is a track that rewards repetition and muscle memory, traits he believes he gained by competing on Saturday. Only time will tell if the extra laps make a difference in turning Edwards subpar 2012 around.

Six other Sprint Cup regulars were entered into Saturday’s race for similar reasons. That list included Chase hopefuls Joey Logano, Kasey Kahne, Paul Menard, Kyle Busch, and Brad Keselowski. But it was Keselowski who appeared to have maximized the value of Saturday’s track time, leading 42 of 84 laps, prompting many to vote Keselowski as the favorite entering the Finger Lakes 335. He finished second to Marcos Ambrose in last year’s event.
Sam Hornish Jr., Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Ron Fellows completed the top-5. Opinions on Saturday’s race, as well as a complete finishing order can be found after the jump.

So, I don’t particularly like team orders in Formula 1, but I don’t understand why Brad Keselowski fought Sam Hornish so hard for second place in the closing laps of Saturday’s race. Hornish is a championship contender, while his teammate is not even eligible for points in the Nationwide Series. A little teamwork would have went a long way towards getting Penske a second Series championship in three years, especially on a day where both Austin Dillon and Elliott Sadler both struggled.
Dillon received a pass-through penalty on lap 38 for taking the inner-loop shortcut, and then shredded a tire on lap 76 after making contact with Michael Annett. Meanwhile, Sadler never found the setup that complimented his Chevrolet and grinded-out a 12^th place finish.
As for Hornish, Saturday’s top-5 was his fourth in his last five races. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished fourth, making him the big winner in regards to the Series Championship. Sadler’s lead is down to 13 points over Stenhouse, with Hornish lurking just 24 points back. Dillon has fallen to 29 points out, heading into another road course race at Montreal next weekend.
#WeWantRightTurns #WeWantShortTracks
I’ve always enjoyed this part of the Nationwide Series schedule. Having Watkins Glen and Montreal in back-to-back weekends produces some of the most-compelling races of the season. Combine that with the now defunct races at Mexico City and Lucas Oil Raceway and the Nationwide Series gave distinctively different television from that of the Sprint Cup Series. Here’s hoping that more short track and tight road courses can be added to the schedule in the coming years.
Audiovisual

Third strike for Dillon (via TheOfficialNASCAR)

Final Laps: Carl goes flippin’ for a foot-long (via TheOfficialNASCAR)

Race Results