Carl Edwards wins the 2015 Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway

A car hard to control, an emphasis on the ability to manage tires, and, when the Southern 500 concluded, celebrating in victory lane was the driver who had been the strongest proponent for the rules package responsible for producing the entertaining race Sunday night at Darlington Raceway.

Edwards vaulted into the lead off pit road over Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin giving him the advantage he needed on an ensuing restart with eight laps remaining. The win was Edwards’ second of 2015 and the seventh for Joe Gibbs Racing in the past 10 races.

Keselowski, Hamlin, Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick completed the top five finishers.

Darlington was the second of two events where NASCAR used a low-downforce aerodynamic rules package intended to generate passing and additional side-by-side racing -- something Edwards has long championed.

“I loved it -- this is as good as it gets,” Edwards said. “This is what it’s about -- sliding cars, the tires are falling off.”

Sunday’s winner wasn’t alone in offering effusive praise for package that challenged drivers throughout the nearly five-hour race featuring a track-record 18 cautions. Both Keselowski, who started on the pole and led a race-high 196 laps, and Hamlin echoed Edwards’ remarks.

“It’s the package we need to run from now on,” Hamlin said. “It’s unbelievable how much tire fall off there is. You’re sliding around, there’s more wrecks, which is unusual but it’s a good thing because guys are messing up. That happens every now and then in racing. It’s a lot of fun from our perspective and it’s something that we can look forward to.”

Promoted as a “throwback race” with the majority of the field sporting classic paint schemes, the Southern 500 was being run on its traditional Labor Day weekend date for the first time since 2003. And the race very much had a retro feel, as there was with little separation and single-file racing for any pronounced time.

With the track chewing tires, tire management became critical as it often does at Darlington, NASCAR’s oldest speedway. Speeds decreased significantly just after a few laps and drivers who were able to preserve their tires best over long runs held an advantage -- once a staple in NASCAR before aerodynamics and track position became paramount.

The final 40 laps featured a close battle for the lead among Keselowski, Harvick and Edwards. Harvick and Edwards would challenge and pull around Keselowski, who then would quickly repass and retake the top position.

Edwards eventually captured the top position for good on the decisive round of pit stops. The win was his first at Darlington, regarded as one of NASCAR’s four biggest events.

“That was a lot of fun racing with Brad and Kevin,” Edwards said. I mean, that’s as good as it gets. We were pushing each other as hard as we could without bumping into each other, blocking each other just enough that the other guys would put up with it and that was really fun racing. “This is what NASCAR is about. We’ve got this lower downforce package, we can race close, the Goodyear tires fall off and it gets hard to drive. This is fun.”

Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Larson rounded out the top 10.

By way of finishing seventh Kyle Busch clinched a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup despite missing 11 races to start the season after suffering a broken right leg and broken left foot in a February crash at Daytona International Speedway.

“Making the Chase was something we weren’t all sure was possible after my injuries,” Busch said. “It’s a great opportunity.”

The Sprint Cup Series ends its regular season Saturday night Sept. 12 at Richmond International Raceway.