Edwards wins in Phoenix and closes on Bowyer

AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Carl Edwards got the win in Saturday's Hefty Odor Block 200 Nationwide Series race at Phoenix International Raceway -- and championship leader Clint Bowyer got the save (watch video).

Second in the standings, Edwards trimmed Bowyer's lead from 91 points to 56, on a day that could have been much worse for the driver of the No. 2 Chevrolet.

Hefty Odor Block 200

Official Results

Pos.	Driver	Make
1.	Carl Edwards	Ford
2.	Denny Hamlin	Toyota
3.	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet
4.	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet
5.	Kyle Busch	Toyota
6.	Landon Cassill	Chevrolet
7.	Jamie McMurray	Ford
8.	Mike Bliss	Chevrolet
9.	Mike Wallace	Toyota
10.	Joey Logano	Toyota

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Denny Hamlin, who came to the pits for new tires before a green-white-checkered-flag restart that took the event one lap past its scheduled distance of 200 laps, charged from fifth to second in the final two laps. Kevin Harvick finished third, followed by Bowyer, Kyle Busch and rookie Landon Cassill.

Quick work in the pits under caution got Edwards out ahead of Harvick for a restart on Lap 130, and the defending series champion held the top spot the rest of the way. Harvick surrendered the second position to Hamlin and his fresh tires in Turn 3 of the final lap.

The series moves to Homestead-Miami Speedway for the season finale next Saturday.

"We couldn't be going to a better racetrack," Edwards said. "I like the fact that you can run at the bottom or the top. I'm sure [crew chief] Drew [Blickensderfer] will bring the best car we have. I just hope it's fast enough."

Bowyer appeared headed for disaster on Lap 79, when the field was bunched coming to the line for a restart after the sixth caution of the race (watch video).

"I thought we were done," Bowyer said. "We got all bottled up there. The 88 [Brad Keselowski] ran into me, and I drove through the 6 [David Ragan]."

The impact damaged the nose of Bowyer's Chevy, and after a series of pit stops to tape the front end, Bowyer fell to the back of the pack. After another quick caution on Lap 85, Bowyer restarted 24th and spent the rest of the race working his way forward.

"It was a roller coaster, for sure," he said. "But I'm really proud of our guys. They didn't give up. I thought our championship run was done right there. The car was really tight after that, and we had to pull all the tape off. But it was a good run for us -- really proud."

Even though he knew Bowyer's car was damaged, Edwards wasn't about to relax. He had watched the Truck Series race on Friday night, in which title contenders Ron Hornaday and Johnny Benson both suffered a litany of problems.

"I thought, sure enough, as soon as I start relaxing and counting points, something would happen to us," he said. "They did a good job of recovering. Anytime you can have any damage and fight back and finish fourth, that's a good outcome."

News & Notes

• Joey Logano's No. 20 Toyota slammed the inside wall on the frontstretch coming to the white flag, but Logano salvaged a 10th-place finish to keep the Joe Gibbs car 28 points ahead of the No. 2 Chevy Bowyer drives for Richard Childress in the race for the owners' title
• Brian Ickler started 34th and finished 34th in his Nationwide Series debut.