NNS Race Recap: O'Reilly Auto Parts 300

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Carl "Cousin" Edwards was a dominating force in the NASCAR Nationwide O'Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway. He led a total 169 laps of the 200-lap event and survived three cautions, one of which occurred near the left rear quarter panel of his race car. Unfortunately, this caution collected the No. 18 Toyota piloted by Kyle Busch and ended his charge to the front abruptly. 

“We started out a little bit tight, and the track was actually coming our way a little bit,” Busch said. “It started to free up a little bit that last run right before we wrecked. We felt pretty good about it. We were just biding our time. We were just running there - we were running hard, but we were just running. It felt like we were probably the only car that was going to give Carl a shot. It’s a shame that we didn’t have the chance to race it out the rest of the night.”

Although Busch was taken out the race early and proved to be the closet contender to beat Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski seemed to gain some momentum toward the final laps. However, the horsepower seemed to be with the No. 60 Ford Mustang.

“It’s good to be driving one of Jack [Roush’s] Fords right now. It’s fun,” a confident Edwards said, wearing a cowboy hat during the winner’s post race press conference. I was reminded where the track had grip and where it had some bumps, the character of the race track,” he said. “I think it will help me for Saturday night.”

The conclusion of this race had Edwards capturing the checkered flag, doing a back flip, celebrating in the stands with race fans and looking like a true cowboy in Victory Lane.  It will be interesting to see if this momentum carries over into the Sprint Cup race.

RACE HIGHLIGHTS:

• Carl Edwards started on the race event on the pole
• Ford Motor Company - 1st win with the Ford Mustang Nationwide car that is running full-time this season
• Kyle Busch/DNF - caught up in the 2nd caution brought out by Tim Schendel 
• 1st caution: Lap 69 - brought out by No. 23 Dodge piloted by Robert Richardson, Jr. (spun out)
• 2nd caution: Lap 88 - brought out by No. 52 Chevrolet piloted by Tim Schendel (right front tire blown out)
• 3rd caution: Lap 123 - brought out by No. 40 Chevrolet piloted by Scott Wimmer (smoke shooting out the car)

UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:

1. Carl Edwards
2. Brad Keselowski
3. Paul Menard
4. Joey Logano
5. Elliott Sadler
6. Justin Allgaier
7. Reed Sorenson
8. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.
9. David Reutimann
10. Brian Scott
11. Kasey Kahne
12. Aric Almirola
13. Trevor Bayne
14. Josh Wise
15. Jason Leffler
16. Sam Hornish, Jr.
17. Steve Wallace
18. Michael Annett
19. Mike Bliss
20. Kenny Wallace
21. Jeremy Clements
22. Mike Wallace
23. David Starr
24. Joe Nemechek
25. Blake Koch*
26. Robert Richardson, Jr.
27. Danny O'Quinn, Jr.
28. Timmy Hill*
29. Jennifer Jo Cobb*
30. Shelby Howard
31. Eric McClure
32. Derrick Cope
33. Scott Wimmer
34. Kyle Busch
35. Tim Schendel
36. Tim Andfrews
37. Morgan Shepherd
38. Dennis Setzer
39. Kevin Lepage
40. J. J. Yeley
41. Matthew Carter
42. Carl Long
43. Jeff Green

*annotates "Rookie"