Carl Edwards Takes Winners Trophy at Gateway

Gateway International Raceway was abuzz with excitement this weekend as it hosted the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series on Saturday night. The contenders for the winner’s trophy were fierce, but in the end it was Carl Edwards who managed to cross the finish line first.

Carl Edwards arrived at the race-track by bicycle and no doubt the clean air and healthy exercise did him some good since there was no stopping him after he got behind the wheel of his No. 60 Ford on the day of the race. The competition was tough, but it seemed that Edwards was destined to claim his second home win at the Gateway International Raceway right from the start. The doors started to open for Edwards after a pileup on Lap 116 wiped out a bunch of really strong contenders. The mess stopped the race for almost 25 minutes and saw Scott Wimmer spin into the wall at Turn 2 after getting a tap from Cassill. The result was that Reed Sorenson, Mike Bliss and Steve Wallace were eliminated from the race. From there he managed to climb his way up until he was third in a restart on Lap 146 and that was where it really started to get exciting. He chased Leffler and James Buescher for a while until he made a quick stop for some new tires. After that he quickly managed to pass the two cars before coming up on the 18-year-old Joey Logano racing phenomenon. The Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota was tough competition but in the end Edwards managed to take the checkered flag just 6.877 seconds ahead of his young rival.

After the race Edwards commented that his win at the 200-lap event was “unbelievable”. This is the 15th win of his career and he has already gained a large group of supporters who were in the grandstands to cheer him on. He didn’t forget his fans, but instead thanked them with the words: “Thank you everybody up in the grandstands. Thanks a lot.” Edwards also commented that racing with the No. 20 Toyota Camry was “a challenge, but a fun one.” The No. 20 Camry has already claimed nine victories this season with four different drivers behind the wheel. Jason Keller managed to scoop up third place, followed by Jason Leffler, Brad Keselowski and Landon Cassil respectively.