Columbia, MO. native Carl Edwards sped through the pits and was assessed a penalty and was thankful that a caution allowed him to move back up near the top. His third place finish was good enough to keep in a tie atop the Cup standings with seven races to go after a stop in Dover.
Kurt Busch benefitted from not only Edwards’ mistake but also Jimmie Johnson to win and move up five spots to fourth, just nine points behind Harvick and Edwards. Tony Stewart is also nine back. With two bad restarts, Johnson let Busch grab and then hold onto the lead for the final 42 laps.
Edwards was leading for 116 laps and he was issued a speeding penalty after a green-flag stop on Lap 245. Edwards spun his tires shifting from first to second gear and, sped up as he exited pit road, but NASCAR nailed him. It too 55 laps, when on 300, J.J. Yeley hit the wall bringing out a caution, allwoing Edwards to get a free pass back to the lead lap.