Edwards pulls off Michigan double

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- As usual, Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race came down to a shootout between Kyle Busch and somebody else.

This time, however, somebody else won.

The somebody else was Carl Edwards, who held off Busch on a restart with two laps remaining in the 3M Performance 400 at Michigan International Speedway to claim his fifth Cup victory of the season and the 12th of his career. Having won the Nationwide Series race on Saturday, Edwards completed the weekend sweep and added 10 bonus points to his total for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

With his runner-up finish, Busch officially clinched what had become a foregone conclusion -- his place in the Chase. With eight wins, good for 80 bonus points, Busch is assured of top seeding when the field for the Chase is set after the Sept. 6 race at Richmond.

David Ragan came home third, a career-best finish set up by staying on the track when all the other contenders except for Dale Earnhardt Jr. pitted under caution on Lap 181 of the 200-lap race. Greg Biffle ran fourth, followed by Matt Kenseth, as Roush Fenway Racing put four drivers in the top five. Roush's fifth driver, Jamie McMurray, finished 10th. It was the fourth time owner Jack Roush has had five drivers finish in the top 10 of a Cup race.

Edwards had a 1.8-second lead when Denny Hamlin's engine blew on Lap 194 to bring out the seventh and final caution of the race. On the restart on Lap 199, Edwards pulled away from Busch through the first two corners and extended his lead to .947 seconds at the finish.

"On that restart -- Kyle's very good on restarts -- I knew he was going to hang back and get a run up on my bumper," Edwards said. "I wasn't going to let him do that."

The winning move for Edwards, however, came on Lap 181, when the No. 99 Ford was first off pit road after a two-tire stop.

"The key was my crew today," Edwards said. "We're winning races, we're gearing up for the Chase, and we're feeling stronger than ever. We're here to win a championship. That's what we're here for. The key is keeping Kyle from getting those bonus points."

Busch agreed the final pit stop was decisive.

"It just came down to when he beat us off pit road," Busch said. "That was it for us. We just didn't have the car to beat him today."

On a set of tires that suited his No. 18 Toyota perfectly, Busch passed Edwards for the lead on Lap 142, after a cycle of green-flag pit stops, and gradually opened an advantage that approached seven seconds before a debris caution on Lap 165 bunched the field. After another round of pit stops under yellow, Busch's magic was gone.

"We had that one set of tires that was special," Busch said. "Then we put on another set, and it wasn't that good. We didn't have enough for that 99 there at the end. We weren't able to get through the center of the corner as fast as Carl could."

NOTES: The race tightened the field at the bottom of the Chase standings. Ragan's third-place finish moved him to 26 points behind 12th-place Hamlin (39th Sunday) and tied him with Clint Bowyer (20th), who is 13th in points. ... Jeff Gordon blew a tire after contact with teammate Jimmie Johnson and slammed into the wall on Lap 97. Gordon finished 42nd and lost three positions to ninth in the standings. ... Scott Riggs' No. 66 Chevy replaced AJ Allmendinger's No. 84 Toyota in 35th position in the owners points standings. Riggs finished 15th Sunday to Allmendinger's 28th.

NASCAR Sprint Cup

3M Performance 400

At Brooklyn, Mich.

Sunday's Results

Lap length: 2.0 miles

(Start position in parentheses)

1. (27) Carl Edwards, Ford, 200 laps, 137.8 rating, 195 points, $226,075; 2. (11) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 200, 130.3, 175, $136,925; 3. (16) David Ragan, Ford, 200, 106.1, 170, $119,950; 4. (9) Greg Biffle, Ford, 200, 113, 165, $108,700; 5. (14) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 200, 100.6, 155, $134,516; 6. (15) Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 200, 92.7, 150, $123,908; 7. (1) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 200, 118.4, 151, $99,800; 8. (38) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 200, 86.1, 142, $134,186; 9. (3) Elliott Sadler, Dodge, 200, 98.2, 138, $117,620; 10. (18) Jamie McMurray, Ford, 200, 83.2, 134, $94,900.

11. (28) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 200, 91.3, 135, $123,858; 12. (21) Tony Stewart, Toyota, 200, 80.1, 127, $126,461; 13. (26) Travis Kvapil, Ford, 200, 72.5, 124, $109,489; 14. (7) David Reutimann, Toyota, 200, 85.6, 121, $85,725; 15. (10) Scott Riggs, Chevrolet, 200, 67.1, 123, $99,433; 16. (25) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 200, 73, 115, $110,533; 17. (2) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 200, 97.8, 117, $135,386; 18. (29) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 199, 69.7, 109, $93,150; 19. (42) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 199, 59.2, 106, $94,608; 20. (41) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 199, 55.8, 103, $94,875.

21. (20) Ryan Newman, Dodge, 199, 50.3, 100, $116,625; 22. (23) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 199, 51.9, 97, $121,125; 23. (4) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 199, 106.6, 99, $91,800; 24. (36) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 199, 43.2, 91, $85,025; 25. (19) Juan Pablo Montoya, Dodge, 199, 48.9, 88, $105,058; 26. (40) David Gilliland, Ford, 199, 55.8, 85, $90,408; 27. (35) Bobby Labonte, Dodge, 199, 44, 82, $112,861; 28. (33) AJ Allmendinger, Toyota, 199, 47.8, 79, $75,675; 29. (8) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 199, 56.6, 76, $83,500; 30. (6) Patrick Carpentier, Dodge, 199, 68.9, 73, $72,925.

31. (30) Tony Raines, Chevrolet, 199, 41.7, 70, $72,300; 32. (17) Terry Labonte, Dodge, 198, 37.4, 67, $86,358; 33. (31) Reed Sorenson, Dodge, 198, 32.9, 64, $100,289; 34. (34) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 198, 32, 61, $72,025; 35. (22) Mike Skinner, Toyota, 198, 41.7, 58, $81,422; 36. (13) Kurt Busch, Dodge, 197, 72.9, 55, $71,825; 37. (12) Robby Gordon, Dodge, 197, 47.7, 52, $79,775; 38. (43) Brad Coleman, Toyota, 197, 25.9, 49, $79,675; 39. (37) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, engine, 194, 66.5, 46, $106,616; 40. (32) Kasey Kahne, Dodge, engine, 162, 55.3, 43, $101,566.

41. (24) Dave Blaney, Toyota, accident, 117, 46.5, 40, $71,515; 42. (5) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, accident, 111, 82.8, 37, $120,376; 43. (39) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, engine, 17, 24.8, 34, $89,252.

Race Statistics

Average Speed of Race Winner: 140.351 mph.

Time of Race: 2 hours, 51 minutes, 0 seconds.

Margin of Victory: 0.947 seconds.

Caution Flags: Seven for 27 laps.

Lead Changes: 18 among nine drivers.

Lap Leaders: J.Johnson 1-7; D.Earnhardt Jr. 8-23; J.Johnson 24-28; D.Earnhardt Jr. 29-48; B.Vickers 49-66; D.Earnhardt Jr. 67-73; C.Edwards 74-86; S.Riggs 87; C.Edwards 88-90; G.Biffle 91; C.Edwards 92-140; J.Burton 141; Ky.Busch 142-165; C.Edwards 166; B.Vickers 167-169; Ky.Busch 170-179; D.Ragan 180-182; C.Edwards 183-200.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): C.Edwards, 5 times for 84 laps; D.Earnhardt Jr., 3 times for 43 laps; Ky.Busch, 2 times for 34 laps; B.Vickers, 2 times for 21 laps; J.Johnson, 2 times for 12 laps; D.Ragan, 1 time for 3 laps; G.Biffle, 1 time for 1 lap; J.Burton, 1 time for 1 lap; S.Riggs, 1 time for 1 lap.

Top 12 in Points: 1. Ky.Busch, 3,429. 2. C.Edwards, 3,207. 3. J.Johnson, 3,127. 4. D.Earnhardt Jr., 3,084. 5. J.Burton, 3,080. 6. T.Stewart, 2,871. 7. G.Biffle, 2,854. 8. K.Harvick, 2,812. 9. J.Gordon, 2,791. 10. M.Kenseth, 2,783. 11. K.Kahne, 2,756. 12. D.Hamlin, 2,735.