Long Pond, Pa. – Carl Edwards turned his first laps at Pocono Raceway playing a video game.
He paid attention, and when it came time for the real thing, nobody was better.
Edwards raced to his second Nextel Cup victory of the year Sunday, easily adjusting to a new gearing rule and avoiding the tire woes that plagued other drivers.
“It’s a NASCAR game that you can buy on the shelf,” he said. “I’ve got a steering wheel and a clutch.”
The Missouri driver, who celebrated his first NASCAR Nextel Cup victory three months ago in Atlanta with a backflip from the window of his car, did it again Sunday.
His Ford led 45 of 200 laps and beat the Chevrolet of Brian Vickers in a race that ended under caution on the 2.5-mile triangle. Edwards took the lead for the fourth and final time on lap 187. Vickers led six times for 121 laps, both race highs.
While he was winning, Edwards lost the points lead in the Busch Series because a rainout Saturday in Nashville, Tenn., prevented him from racing there Sunday. Reed Sorenson took the Busch lead and Edwards fell to fourth.
When he didn’t race in Nashville, Edwards jumped on a plane piloted by car owner Jack Roush, who nearly died a few years ago when he crashed into a lake in Alabama. The flight back proved adventurous because an airport near the track was fogged in.
“I stayed up until 4 in the morning practicing missed approaches with Jack Roush,” Edwards said. “My heart was pounding.”
Eventually, Roush diverted to Scranton-Wilkes-Barre International.
Edwards, who moved from ninth to fourth in the Nextel Cup standings, set a Pocono record for winning from the deepest in the field. He started 29th. Terry Labonte held the previous record by winning from the 27th position in 1995.
It was the seventh victory for Roush Racing in 14 races this season but its first at Pocono since the team entered the sport in 1988.
Roush’s cars had 11 previous second-place finishes at Pocono.
Roush Racing, led by Greg Biffle with four victories, and Hendrick Motorsports, have combined to win all but two of the races.
Jimmie Johnson, who swept the races at Pocono last year and was trying to become the third driver to win three in a row on the mountaintop, finished sixth and increased his points lead to 123 over Biffle. Biffle finished 30th.
The gearing rule being used at certain events was in force, making this the first Pocono race in many years without drivers downshifting to gain quick acceleration exiting the sharp turns. The rule is designed to cut rpms and reduce the number of engine failures. There was just one of them among the 43 cars in this race on a hot and humid day when cut tires were the main problem for the drivers.
Kasey Kahne and Dale Earnhardt Jr. came in many times. Most of the cut tires were on the left front wheels, perhaps because of setups used to counter the lack of shifting.
Nextel Cup / glance
Keys to victory: Using a NASCAR video game, Carl Edwards got his first exposure to Pocono Raceway. “Coming to a new track and spending time on one of those things really helps,” he said.
What you might have missed: The disastrous season of Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has led just 5 laps in 2005, got even worse when he finished 33rd to fall to 16th the point standings.
Back on track: Sunday, Batman Begins 400, Michigan International Speedway, Fox/11:30 a.m.
– Post wire services
