Columbia native Carl Edwards vowed he would dominate at Phoenix and he was right. Leading the final 78 laps, Edwards pulled away on a late restart and ended his 70-race winless streak on Sunday at Phoenix.
“This win feels as good or better as any win I’ve ever had,” Edwards said.
That’s understandable following a rough 2012 season where Edwards missed the Chase. He won for the first time since Las Vegas in 2011.
“Last year we didn’t even make the Chase,” Edwards said. “For me to sit home while everybody was at the Chase stuff and in Vegas, that was a little bit of a shock to me and I did not like that at all. To get a victory puts us in better position to be in the Chase, it just feels good to win and I’m just very glad to be here.”
Top 10 finishers:
1. Carl Edwards, Ford
2. Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet
3. Denny Hamlin, Toyota
4. Brad Keselowski, Ford
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet
6. Clint Bowyer, Toyota
7. Matt Kenseth, Toyota
8. Tony Stewart, Chevrolet
9. Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet
10. Jeff Burton, Chevrolet
Edwards got a nice push from his one-time bitter rival Brad Kesolowski. Edwards talks about how and why those two have pushed that bitterness to the side. Highlights of Edwards’ press conference from NASCAR.com