LONG POND, Pa. — Rain was falling. The cars were parked on pit road with Carl Edwards in 22nd place, and the driver and crew chief Bob Osborne were arguing heatedly on top of the team’s pit box.
Not the most likely formula for winning a race.
Edwards and several other race leaders had pitted minutes earlier after rain began falling on lap 127 of the 200-lap NASCAR Sprint Cup race Sunday at Pocono Raceway. Nineteen other drivers, taking a gamble on the possibility of a rain-shortened race, had stayed on the track.
“The argument came from when it started raining real hard, then we were trying to blame one another for the idea of coming (onto pit road),” Edward said. “Bob said it was my idea, and I really felt like it was his idea. I had to leave the pit box because I was worried Bob was going to, like, punch me in the neck or something.”
Osborne said it was just the way he and Edwards work things out.
“It’s not out of the ordinary for us to argue,” he said. “We get mad at each other. We walk away and then calmer heads prevail.”
It all worked out fine this time, with the race resuming after a 41-minute red flag and Edwards and Osborne winning the gamble — whoever’s idea it was.
Edwards stretched his last tank of fuel to earn his fourth victory of the season, second only to series points leader Kyle Busch’s seven wins.
“I was really nervous that we made the wrong call there,” Edwards said after doing his traditional victory backflip off his car. “Bob’s the smartest guy in the world. We made light of it, but we thought we made the wrong call.”
The victory vaulted Edwards from fifth to third in the season standings, trailing only Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch with five races remaining until the start of the Chase.
Busch, who finished 36th, still owns a 176-point lead over Earnhardt, who finished 12th.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Pennsylvania 500
At Pocono Raceway
Top 10 finishers:
1. Carl Edwards, $241,875.
2. Tony Stewart, $196,536.
3. Jimmie Johnson, $188,086.
4. Kevin Harvick, $153,936.
5. David Ragan, $111,725.
6. Clint Bowyer, $111,950.
7. Kasey Kahne, $122,316.
8. Mark Martin, $126,933.
9. Jamie McMurray, $93,675.
10. Jeff Gordon, $126,311.
Average speed of winner: 130.567 mph.
Time of race: 3 hours, 49 minutes, 46 seconds.
Margin of victory: 3.858 seconds.
Caution flags: Seven for 31 laps.
Lead changes: 25 among 13 drivers.
Top 12 in points: 1. Kyle Busch, 3,059. 2. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 2,883. 3. Carl Edwards, 2,874. 4. Jimmie Johnson, 2,859. 5. Jeff Burton, 2,833. 6. Jeff Gordon, 2,678. 7. Kasey Kahne, 2,592. 8. Greg Biffle, 2,589. 9. Tony Stewart, 2,569. 10. Denny Hamlin, 2,547. 11. Kevin Harvick, 2,520. 12. Clint Bowyer, 2,512.
