Carl Edwards led only one lap at RIR. Credit: Autostock

Edwards rallies, beats Sadler on final lap

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Carl Edwards passed Elliott Sadler with one lap to go after a green-white-checker restart in overtime Friday night, depriving the Virginia native of his first victory in his home state.

Sadler, who grabbed the lead from Johnny Sauter with seven laps to go in the Funai 250, appeared to have a left front tire that was losing air as he circled the track during the 13th and final caution, producing the extra laps.

Edwards (60) gets under Elliott Sadler (90) in Turn 2. Credit: Autostock

Once the race went back to green to allow one chance for the drivers to settle it on the track, Sadler held the lead for almost all of the first lap until Edwards passed him inside at the start-finish line.

The victory was the second for Edwards in just 14 career starts in the Busch Series, and deprived Sadler of what would have been a cherished win. Edwards is 180 points ahead of Clint Bowyer in the series standings.

Sadler thought he might finally get his first victory until the very end, when the deflating tire and a nudge from Edwards relegated him to second place.

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"I've never run this good in my life at Richmond," he said. "It was pretty cool to take the lead and lead some laps. It's a special place."

Sadler was also unhappy with what he perceived as dirty driving by Edwards, whose Ford made contact with Sadler's when he attempted to regain the lead on the final lap. That move sent Sadler's car into a near spin.

"I think he knew he was not as good as us and that was his only chance, to knock us up out of the way," Sadler said.

Sadler avoided crashing and held on for second, holding off challenges from Johnny Sauter and pole-sitter Kasey Kahne, both in Dodge Chargers.

Greg Biffle was fifth, followed by Jeff Green, Mark Martin and Matt Kenseth, giving Nextel Cup regulars seven of the top eight positions.

The race got off to a sloppy start with four cautions in the first 61 laps, the last also yielding a red flag after Dave Blaney drove his damaged Chevrolet down pit road dropping oil all over the surface.

The delay lasted 13 minutes, 45 seconds, and cautions remained a steady theme.

In all, yellow flags slowed the pace 13 times for 62 laps.

The race was a long one for defending series champion Martin Truex Jr., who had trouble getting started even before the green flag flew to start the race and spent much of the race in a pinball-like mode.

Truex, who started the evening both fourth on the grid and fourth in the points race, was involved in numerous cautions and finished 38th.