By Joe Dunn joe@onpitroad.com
For the third time in the 2008 season Carl Edwards has put his Roush Fenway Racing Ford in victory lane Sunday for the Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Carl took the lead on lap 215 and stayed out front to the finish, that included a two lap shootout as he held off a charge by Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch to the finish.
Rounding out the top ten Sunday were Ryan Newman, Denny Hamlin, Jeff Burton, Tony Stewart, Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth and Clint Bowyer in tenth place. Starting on the pole, Dale Earnhardt Jr suffered handling problems but fought back to a 12th place finish. His teammate Jeff Gordon did not fair as well, suffering handling problems Gordon spun out on lap 109 which ended his day with a 43rd place finish.
After the Samsung 500, Jeff Burton remains the points leader with Kevin Harvick second. Kyle Busch jumped 2 spots to 3rd, with Dale Earnhardt Jr and Tony Stewart rounding out the top five.
In local racing several tracks, Wartburg, The Mountain, Tazwell, Volunteer, 411 and Spring City canceled due to the rain once again. Cleveland Speedway ran the only regular scheduled program on Saturday night, it was reported that they had 33 Limited Late Model (sportsman) cars and a full field in the other classes. Bristol Motor Speedway hosted a Frank Kimmel street stock race on Saturday. The crash filled event ended several laps short of the schedule due to rain.
Crossville Raceway finally got in the open practice on the third attempt on Sunday as track workers spent the morning working in the rain soaked track. With about 50 cars from various classes signing in, the racers were optimistic about the season at Crossville. Promoter William Scogin welcomed the racers and promised to work hard at bring this track back to it’s potential.
Racers and fans all showed enthusiasm for the 2008 season that is scheduled to kick off Friday April 11. The regular schedule for Fridays include gates opening at 5 PM with hot laps at 6:30 and Racing action starting at 7:30pm.
