Edwards crashes at Bristol

Carl Edwards was the third Chase contender behind the wall on Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Edwards’ engine started to give way during the ninth caution on Lap 378 while running second. Initially, Edwards believed he had an electrical issue but later suspected it was a valve.

“Tell me when the oil starts pouring out of it so I can get off the track,” said Edwards as he fell back in the field.
Crew chief Jimmy Fennig told Edwards to come to the garage on Lap 387. He was 36th in the field at the time.

“It’s mechanically broke,” Edwards said. “Listen guys, that was a bad-ass race car. We’re going to kick their butts at Atlanta and Richmond, both. This is the way we need to run. You all did great. The engine did well, too, until it broke.”

Edwards started the race third. He led 119 laps prior to his engine failure. Edwards entered the weekend third in the points standings, 51 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson, who returned to the track on Lap 413 after he was collected in an accident with David Reutimann and Brian Vickers.