NASCAR: Edwards wins rain-shortened Texas race

Carl Edwards weathered a rain-delayed and shortened NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Texas to snatch the second spot in the Homestead championship Chase decider.

A downpour just minutes before engines were due to be fired meant the cars didn't take to the track until close to six hours later. That left cars set up for afternoon conditions having to adjust to a floodlit night race, which coupled with the green track and cooler temperatures made the race a voyage into the unknown.

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After a handful of laps, Penske's Joey Logano slipped his Ford past polesitter Austin Dillon and dominated out front – leading all but nine of the first 167 laps. But Logano was undone when Martin Truex Jr. and Edwards both undercut Logano during the green-flag pit stops.

That left Truex leading from Edwards, and a savvy display of teamwork by the Joe Gibbs Racing crew enabled the Chase contender to pass Truex for the lead during the caution triggered by a spin for Dillon.

Edwards held on after a caution for contact between Dillon and Kevin Harvick and then the rain returned with 45 of the scheduled 334 laps to go. After three more laps of caution, NASCAR called the race, some nine hours after its originally scheduled start.

The victory secured Edwards' place in the Homestead championship showdown alongside Jimmie Johnson, who won last time out at Martinsville. The final two places in the "Championship 4" will be settled next week at Phoenix.

"Dave (Rogers, crew chief) and the guys got me off pit road first. That's what won it for us," Edwards told NBCSN. "Our pit crew has worked really hard this year, so I can't thank them enough."

Logano finished second ahead of Truex, but it left him unsatisfied as he still needs to race his way into the Championship 4 next weekend.

"We just lost our track position on a green-flag cycle and got our balance off a little bit," Logano said. "We got it fixed and got it going and had a good restart at the end to get back to second but it seemed like we needed maybe five or 10 more laps to try to catch the 19 there.

"We were making up about three-tenths (of a second) a lap when the caution came out. It is what it is. We’re disappointed with second which is a good thing. I think we’re in (the top four in the Chase) right now, but it sure would have been nice to be locked in."

Meanwhile, a remarkable turnaround for Kyle Busch following a tough weekend of damage – which included a lengthy pit stop to repair front-end damage on the No. 18 JGR Toyota – allowed him to finish fifth ahead of fellow Chase contenders Harvick and Matt Kenseth. Harvick now trails Logano and Kyle Busch by 18 points going into Phoenix, but it's also a track where he's won five of the last six races.

Ninth was the best Denny Hamlin could manage. Kurt Busch is last among the Chase contenders after finishing in 20th, so only a win at Phoenix will likely salvage the 2004 champion's title chances.