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Edwards Wins Wild Milwaukee Race

Carl Edwards won the Camping World RV Rental 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at the Milwaukee Mile on Saturday night. The victory ended a winless streak totaling thirty-six races in the series. Edwards drove the Sav-a-Lot Ford from the back of the field to take the lead with fourty laps remaining in the race. From there it was a battle with Clint Bowyer and Joey Logano to take home the trophy.

Brad Kesolowski had the car to beat from the drop of the green flag to start the Camping World RV Rental 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at the Milwaukee Mile on Saturday night. The problem for Kesolowski came when his car was beat on after dominating a good portion of the race. When Joey Logano’s Toyota got loose battling for the lead, it was Kesolowski’s car that saved him. Unfortunately for Kesolowski, the damage sustained in the incident dropped him back in the field and effectively out of contention for the win.

After qualifying for the pole position, Kesolowski led the first sixty-two laps of the race until Mike Bliss assumed the lead on the frontstraight. Kesolowski resumed the lead twenty laps later just before the third caution period of the race.

During the pitstop under caution, James Buescher grabbed the lead by taking only fuel and making a chassis adjustment. The strategy to ignore a tire change backfired as Buescher dropped back through the pack, falling out of the top ten within ten laps and giving the lead back to Kesolowski.

In the meantime, Bowyer, Edwards and David Ragan fought through the pack and up into the top ten. All three drivers, who are competing in the Sprint Cup Series race in Sonoma, California, had to start at the back of the field due to missing the qualifying session.

Following the sixth caution flag of the evening, Logano started to make his charge to the lead. After driving a lap side by side with Kesolowski, Logano lost the handle on his GameStop Toyota and slid into Kesolowski. As Logano took the lead, Edwards, Ragan and Bowyer followed. Kesolowski was able to repair the damage, pitting when the caution flag again flew thirty laps later. But, the Navy Chevrolet was never the same.

“I’d say it was my fault, for sure. Obviously,” Logano explained. “We were both driving it really hard. I just drove it into the corner, got loose, and had to chase it up the track.”

During the pitstop action under the caution, Logano and Bowyer made contact while Steve Wallace moved up twelve positions and took over the lead by taking two tires. Edward’s four tires would prove to be better as he charged to the lead with Bowyer on his tail. Two laps later would find Bowyer moving past Edwards and into the lead.

On the restart after the eighth caution period of the event, Edwards made the his final pass for the lead. Heading into turn one, Edwards got underneath Bowyer and made contact, sending Bowyer’s Chevrolet high in the turn and back to third.

“What happened with Clint, I’m not real proud of,” Edwards talked about the pass. “I like Clint a lot and I have a lot of respect for him and I just got into him. I dove for the bottom and there wasn’t enough room and I hit him. That’s what happened. When we restarted, he kind of left the bottom opened and I got in there a couple of times and I felt like my car was really good there. When he went into [turn] one, I thought he was going to leave it open and I stuffed a nose down there and hit him. I’m just glad he didn’t wreck.”

“We got the car where we needed it to be,” said an upset Bowyer. “Then it was taken from us.”

Edwards then survived one more caution period and pulled away from Logano to take the checkers.

Celebration was muted a bit after the unfortunate news of NHRA driver Scott Kalitta’s passing and Edwards not being happy with the way that he took the lead. While the crowd chanted for the famous backflip, Edwards simply drove into victory lane.

“The back flip is something that I do because I’m real excited to win and I feel like doing it when I win,” Edwards said. “Today, with what happened with Mr. Kalitta and the way I passed Clint, I just didn’t feel like doing a back flip. I felt bad for the fans, they were a little upset about it, but hopefully we’ll come back here next year and we’ll do it again and I’ll give them a really nice one.”

Tonight Edwards heads back to Sonoma with a Nationwide win and a chance to race Bowyer in the Sprint Cup Race tomorrow.

“Tomorrow’s going to be fun. It’s going to be really hot and pretty strenuous and that’s what I train for. I’m really looking forward to it. As long as Clint is not too mad and I don’t have to race around him, we’ll be all right,” concluded Edwards.

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