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Carl Edwards takes first NASCAR Sprint Cup win of 2016 at Bristol

Carl Edwards dominated an incident packed race to take his first NASCAR Sprint Cup win of 2016 at Bristol Motor Speedway

The polesitting Joe Gibbs Racing driver led 276 of the 500 laps and held off a brilliant recovery from Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Hendrick Motorsports man Earnhardt fought back from two laps down to finish second after a battery issue ruined his start.

His challenge for the lead at the final restart was disrupted by pressure from Stewart-Haas's Kurt Busch, and their squabble allowed Edwards to cruise to victory.

Busch also had to come from the back having been trapped behind Earnhardt as his car faltered at the start.

Their fightbacks were just two of many in the field.

Hendrick rookie Chase Elliott also came from two laps down to finish fourth, tyre vibrations having meant a precautionary stop under green.

Roush Fenway Racing's Trevor Bayne rounded out the top five.

There were 15 cautions through the afternoon and at one stage there were doubts over Edwards' Toyota as his JGR team-mates suffered identical race ruining incidents.

Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch both retired after they each suffered two tyre failures.

The pair had looked strong in the first half of the race and Kenseth led 142 laps, but after their second respective incidents the team decided to retire both cars.

Team-mate Denny Hamlin was slightly luckier to finish 20th after the same problem put him a lap down late on.

Penske's Joey Logano looked set for a top three finish despite earlier losing two laps with tyre vibrations, but his recovery drive was halted at the 13th restart when he suffered a similar battery issue to Earnhardt and he could only finish 10th.

Pitlane speeding penalties for Brad Keselowski and Jimmie Johnson early on put the pair a lap down and contact in the latter stages stifled their progress back through the field as they finished 18th and 23rd respectively.

RESULTS - 500 LAPS:

Pos Driver Team Car Gap
1 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 3h15m52.s
2 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 0.766s
3 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 0.880s
4 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1.137s
5 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 1.898s
6 Matt DiBenedetto BK Racing Toyota 2.071s
7 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 2.424s
8 Clint Bowyer HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 2.689s
9 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 2.815s
10 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 2.944s
11 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 2.976s
12 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 3.506s
13 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 3.810s
14 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 3.891s
15 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 3.957s
16 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 4.160s
17 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 4.387s
18 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 4.418s
19 A.J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 4.477s
20 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 4.589s
21 Chris Buescher Front Row Motorsports Ford 4.617s
22 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 4.709s
23 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1 Lap
24 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 1 Lap
25 Ty Dillon Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 1 Lap
26 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 2 Laps
27 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 2 Laps
28 Cole Whitt Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 4 Laps
29 Michael McDowell Circle Sport-Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 5 Laps
30 Brian Scott Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 7 Laps
31 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 8 Laps
32 Jeffrey Earnhardt Go FAS Racing Ford 12 Laps
33 Josh Wise The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 18 Laps
34 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 21 Laps
35 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 38 Laps
36 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 40 Laps
37 Regan Smith Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet Accident
38 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Accident
39 David Ragan BK Racing Toyota Engine
40 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet Suspension

LEADING CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Pos Driver Points
1 Kevin Harvick 287
2 Carl Edwards 286
3 Jimmie Johnson 271
4 Joey Logano 266
5 Kyle Busch 262
6 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 250
7 Kurt Busch 247
8 Brad Keselowski 224
9 Denny Hamlin 222
10 Martin Truex Jr. 214
11 Austin Dillon 213
12 Chase Elliott 205
13 Jamie McMurray 199
14 A.J. Allmendinger 188
15 Kasey Kahne 185
16 Ryan Newman 182
17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 178
18 Matt Kenseth 177
19 Ryan Blaney 174
20 Trevor Bayne 172
21 Paul Menard 167
22 Kyle Larson 158
23 Aric Almirola 145
24 Greg Biffle 140
25 Danica Patrick 131
26 Casey Mears 129
27 Landon Cassill 126
28 Brian Scott 125
29 Clint Bowyer 118
30 Matt DiBenedetto 112

PROVISIONALLY INTO CHASE SO FAR

Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson (2 wins), Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards (1 win)


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