Tony Stewart won his first race of the year, edging out Columbia native Carl Edwards in Sunday night’s 500 mile race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Stewart, who has not won is 31 races, beat Edwards by 1.316 seconds.
Jimmie Johnson was third, Jeff Burton ran fourth, and Kyle Busch finished fifth. Kurt Busch, Clint Bowyer, Ryan Newman, Juan Montoya and Marcos Ambrose completed the top 10.
Stewart, Edwards, Burton, Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin and the Busch brothers already clinched spots in the 10-race playoff chase that begins after next Saturday’s race at Richmond.
Clint Bowyer finished the race in seventh and hold onto the 12th and final spot in the Chase. For Jamie McMurray to sneak into the playoff, the Joplin, MO native would need to win and pick up the 10 point bonus for most laps led and have Bowyer finish lower than 32.
