Edwards wins at Sonoma

Carl Edwards was able to cast some sunlight over Roush-Fenway Racing this afternoon by winning his 2nd race of the season at Sonoma Raceway in the Toyota SaveMart 350. Over the last few weeks, the entire Roush-Fenway Racing has been under heavy scrutiny after some disastrous performances at the prestigious horsepower tracks like Pocono and Michigan. This week rumors sent more bad news in the direction Roush-Fenway Racing as reports surfaced that Edwards, the organization’s top driver, would be moving to Joe Gibbs Racing in 2015. However despite the black clouds over the future of RFR, Edwards delivered a much needed victory today in the Toyota SaveMart 350 at Sonoma. Edwards remained at the front of the pack throughout the most of the afternoon and took advantage of a few aggressive restarts at the end of the race to gain track position while managing to hold off Jeff Gordon in the final laps to score the 23rd win of his career.

The win, which was Edwards 2nd of the season, not only guaranteed the driver of the #99 a spot in the Chase but also put him in strong position at the start of the Chase when points are reset. The win also ended Hendrick Motorsports streak of 5 straight wins. However, Hendrick Motorsports drivers were still impressive this afternoon especially Dale Earnhardt Jr who is not known for being a great road racer. Junior finished 3rd and thanks to some fresh tires, had the fastest car on the track during the latter stages of the race. Five time Sonoma winner Jeff Gordon finished runner-up while both Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne both scored top 7 finishes. Next week when the expect Hendrick drivers to be contending to regain their top spot as all of their drivers have run very well in the past at Kentucky Speedway. Be sure to check back with us for our opening thoughts and consistent discussion for the Quaker State 400.