A decision to take just two right-side tires on the final caution helped Carl Edwards race to the victory. Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images

Sunoco Pit Move: Texas

The final pit stop of the Dickies 500 looked like a game of cat and mouse, but it probably didn't matter whether Carl Edwards pitted or not.

Edwards' Ford was that good. But he was very lucky that more cars didn't elect to play the track position game.

Rusty Wallace's decision to stay out on the final caution backfired. Credit: Autostock

Dickies 500 Official Results Pos. Driver Start Led 1. C. Edwards 30 82 2. M. Martin 8 42 3. M. Kenseth 3 149 4. C. Mears 35 23 5. J. Johnson 11 2 6. T. Stewart 16 15 7. D. Hamlin 14 0 8. D. Earnhardt Jr. 10 0 9. E. Sadler 12 0 10. Ku. Busch 18 0 • Complete Results, click here • Official Standings, click here • Lap-by-Lap, click here Final lapsA pit decision by Edwards earns him a second consecutive win Finishing thirdMatt Kenseth talks about his performance at Texas Fourth placeCasey Mears talks about his top- five finish Texas showdownTony Stewart talks about battling Mark Martin late at Texas Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

Since the race restarted with 11 laps to go, Edwards had to deal with a double-file restart. It was exactly what he was looking to avoid. The fact that only five cars stayed out undoubtedly helped him catch Mark Martin and Matt Kenseth.

Even if Edwards hadn't pitted, it is likely he would have won anyway. Martin and Kenseth, who didn't pit, managed to finish second and third, respectively, on older tires. Casey Mears also managed to hold position after staying out.

The Roush camp didn't need tires, but at least Edwards made it interesting. On fresh right-side tires, he restarted sixth and spent just eight laps running down Martin for the win.

If Edwards had taken four, he would have lost

As Edwards rolled down pit road for his final stop, crew chief Bob Osborne decided at the last minute to take just two tires. That decision preserved the win for Edwards.

Since he only took two tires, Edwards was able to get off pit road ahead of Tony Stewart, and that was critical. Edwards could have passed Stewart, but by the time he would have cleared him, Martin would have been long gone.

Wallace regrets decision to stay out

Rusty Wallace didn't have a winning car at Texas, but he should have finished in the top 10 for the first time in a month.

But Wallace was one of the five cars that elected to stay on the track during the final caution on Lap 321. He restarted fourth and shortly began a free-fall to 22nd in just 11 laps.

Sterling Marlin, who restarted fifth, finished 23rd.

Mears: Pitting 'a bigger gamble'

There were very few cars capable of running with Roush Racing, and one of them was Mears, who stayed out on the final caution because he said his car was terrible on short runs.

"I was leaning toward staying out when Jimmy [crew chief Elledge) told me to stay out," said Mears, who finished fourth. "We could have come in and bumped up the pressures, and put on new tires, but we had been so bad on new tires that I think it would have been a bigger gamble to put on new tires."

Stewart's crew shines again

There were many notable performances on pit road Sunday, but it was very impressive that Stewart's crew gained him the lead in the pits during the Lap 290 caution.

Stewart's crew gave him the lead with a 13-second stop, and Stewart led until Lap 306.

Quotable

"We didn't make a pit stop there at the end. We just screwed up. We should have pitted."
-- Rusty Wallace, who went from fifth to 22nd in just 11 laps.

"I was told to pit or not to pit, kind of both, so just decided to stay out, and that was probably the best thing to do."
-- Matt Kenseth, who stayed out during the final caution. Kenseth remained in the top five for almost the entire event.