Carl Edwards returns to Nationwide and wins at The Glen

Credit: Jared Wickerham, Getty Images

Carl Edwards returned to the Nationwide Series to make a statement and walking away with the checkered flag is what he intended.

In his first Nationwide start since 2011, Edwards was one of 10 Cup drivers pulling double duty on the twists and turns at Watkins Glen International. Edwards' victory, his 38th in the Nationwide Series, is now third on the list of all-time victories in the series, breaking a tie with Kevin Harvick.

Edwards faced a hard charge from Brad Keselowski on the final restart after caution for debris,  but Keselowski restrained his attempts to pass Edwards and settled for second. Explaining himself after the race, Keselowski said, "I didn't pull any aggressive moves out of the arsenal. That's intentional, obviously. I don't need to start any trouble over here in this series when I've got the Chase coming around." He continued, "Just banking up nice-guy points. So when the Chase comes, I can use them up. And I plan on doing that. Just banking 'em up."

Battling for the points, Sam Hornish Jr. had an outstanding day after running up front for the entire race. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. raced quietly in the top 10 with little mention on the television broadcast. Points leader Elliott Sadler finished in 12th, allowing the points gap to close slightly. Sadler leads Stenhouse by just 13 points.

Having a difficult day were Austin Dillon (third in points prior to the race) and Danica Patrick. Dillon's day was disastrous, plain and simple. From wrecking to incurring a penalty for missing the inner loop while avoiding a wreck, the No. 3 car blew a tire and fell apart in the closing laps after Dillon made contact with Michael Annett.

Patrick's day never had the chance to get started. She wrecked on Lap 1 and not of her own doing,  Ryan Truex Jr. went into Turn 1 and got loose, heading across the grass then spun onto the track. Patrick was right there. With severe damage and a crinkled hood, she pitted for repairs, tried to get back on the track, but had to go behind the wall. headed behind the wall for repairs. Unfortunately for her, the No. 7 GoDaddy car didn't make it back in the race and she finished 43rd.

The points shifted a bit as a result of the action today: (1) Sadler (2) Stenhouse Jr. -13 (3) Hornish Jr. -24 (4) Dillon -29 (5) Allgaier -74 (6) Annett -109 (7) Whitt -161 (8) Bliss -205 (9) Scott -263 (10) Nemechek -291.

Race results:

1. Carl Edwards
2. Brad Keselowski
3. Sam Hornish Jr.
4. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
5. Ron Fellows
6. Kyle Busch
7. Kasey Kahne
8. Paul Menard
9. Justin Allgaier
10. Brian Scott
11. Michael Annett
12. Elliott Sadler
13. Miguel Paludo
14. Mike Bliss
15. Ryan Truex
16. Victor Gonzelez Jr. 
17. Jason Bowles
18. Mike Wallace
19. Jeremy Clements
20. Kenny Habul
21. Kyle Kelley
22. Joey Logano
23. Austin Dillon
24. Cole Whitt
25. Tim Connolly
26. Eric McClure
27. Joe Nemechek
28. Tony Raines
29. Alex Kennedy
30. Daryl Harr
31. JJ Yeley
32. Dexter Stacey
33. Morgan Shepherd
34. Eric Curran
35. Timmy Hill
36. Matthew Bell
37. Chris Cook
38. Alex Popow
39. Josh Wise
40. Jeff Green
41. Matt DiBenedetto
42. Stephen Leicht
43. Danica Patrick