Carl Edwards Wins Rain-Shortened Texas Race To Advance To NASCAR Finale

Carl Edwards earned the victory he desperately need to earn a championship-contending spot in the NASCAR Sprint Cup finale, winning at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday night in a race shortened by 41 laps due to rain after the start was delayed nearly six hours.

Carl Edwards Wins Rain-Shortened Texas Race To Advance To NASCAR Finale

With his fourth career victory at Texas, Edwards joined Jimmie Johnson as drivers vied for championship-contending spots in Homestead.

That leaves two spots available next Sunday at Phoenix.

Edwards entered the penultimate race before the Nov. 22 season finale eighth in points among the drivers still available for the championship.

“This is huge. I don’t think it’s sunk in yet. That’s all we said was needed, just a shot,” Edwards said. “Now we’re going to go to Homestead, we’re going to do what we need to do. This was a great test. We came here and did what we needed to do, we performed, and I really believe we can do that at Homestead.”

Edwards’ three Joe Gibbs Racing teammates are among the six other drivers still in contention, and clearly not all of them can advance.

Edwards has been waiting for this victory for a long time: five years, to be exact.

In 2011, back when he drove for Jack Roush, Edwards and Tony Stewart put on an epic battle for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship that literally could not have been any closer.

After 10 races in the 2011 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Edwards and Stewart wound up tied with 2,403 points each. But because Stewart had won five races that season — all in the Chase — and Edwards only one, Stewart ended up being crowned the series champion on a tiebreaker.

Edwards took the lead on lap 258 late Sunday night after defeating Martin Truex Jr. off pit road.

Joey Logano, another Chase contender, finished second while leading a race-high 178 laps. Truex finished third and Chase Elliott fourth.

FORT WORTH, TX – NOVEMBER 06: Carl Edwards, driver of the #19 Sport Clips Toyota, races under caution during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on November 6, 2016 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images)