The Lugnut Report: Amid Controversy, Carl Edwards Finishes Top Ten at Bristol

What a week it has been for Carl Edwards.

Two weeks ago, Cousin Carl had the NASCAR world raging in debate after he intentionally spun Brad Keselowski, sending the No. 12 Penske Racing Dodge airborne. Edwards was subsequently put on probation for three races, and he and Keselowski seemed to put the controversy behind them.

However, with the ending of this rivalry came the ignition of one long left in the past. This past week Kevin Harvick told Bubba the Love Sponge on his radio program that he thought Edwards was "fake as hell". During his media center appearance on Friday, Harvick reiterated his feelings, saying of the Roush Fenway driver "you can't be the nice guy, you can't be the good guy, and you can't be the bully."

Edwards responded with a statement, saying he had "no respect" for Harvick and that "he's a bad person." The issues between the two began in 2008, after an incident in Talladega.

And all this before cars even hit the track on Friday.

On Saturday, after a more than forty minute meeting with NASCAR, Edwards qualified his Copart Ford fourth, and then put his Sprint Cup car 18th and ninth on the speed charts.

Edwards battled in the top five for the majority of the race, taking the lead from Kasey Kahne on lap 123, but lost the lead when he over shot his pit stop on lap 148. He would not lead again.

With the fourth place effort, Edwards remains 41 points ahead of Keselowski in Nationwide Series points standings.

Despite the noise he'd caused earlier in the week, Edwards had a fairly quiet Food City 500. Starting eight blah blah. He and Keselowski did, however, meet on lap 336 as they raced for 17th position, making sure to give each other enough room. Six laps later, Edwards received minor damage after Greg Biffle ran Mark Martin into the wall, causing the field to bottle neck.

In the end, Edwards finished sixth, and jumped seven spots to 13th in points.

Next week, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Martinsville Speedway for the Goody's Pain Relief 500. The race starts at one P.M. Eastern time live on FOX.

Thanks to NASCAR on FOX, SBNation, and the USA Today for the information and quotes used in this post.

For more information on Carl Edwards, click here for his official website and here for his Facebook page. For Patti Rodisch's Lugnut Report on Casey Mears, click here.