Edwards wins at Pocono

The Roush Fenway driver believed his chances of winning the race had vanished completely when he pitted from the lead on lap 128 as the caution came out due to increasingly heavy rain.

For a moment it looked like the downpour would be hard enough to call the race as it arrived past half-distance and even if the race was restarted, Edwards would be down the order due to a group of drivers led by Kasey Kahne gambling on staying out in hope of a red flag.

Although the red flag indeed waved for 41 minutes, the race was eventually restarted and the choice of pitting at the caution which caused an argument over the radio and then in the pits between Edwards and his crew chief Bob Osborne, ended up putting them on the right strategy to win the race.

However, he had to make sure he had enough fuel to make it to the end as he last pitted 34 laps from the chequered flag and there was also the risk of a green-white-chequered finish where he could still run out of gas.

But Edwards' pace was superior enough to help him build a big enough lead in the last stint so that he could slow in the closing laps to save fuel and have all angles covered.

In the end he had probably more fuel than any of his pursuers who had chosen the same strategy, claiming his second win at Pocono and the tenth of his Cup career.

"We were pretty close (on fuel)," Edwards said. "Bob Osborne is real, real smart. He's got a lot of brains in his head and is really good. I'm just real proud of him for the strategy.

"We were actually full-on arguing about it when the rain came and it's just amazing that it worked out. It feels really good to be back in victory lane."

"Stay tuned fans. This is going to be a wild Chase."

Edwards' fourth victory of the year allows him to move up two spots in the championship to third place, although more importantly he scored an extra ten points towards his Chase seeding, which would currently place him second once the final playoff kicks off in six weeks.

Tony Stewart matched his best result of the season finishing in a solid second place running the same strategy as Edwards, although he ran out of fuel out of the last corner. He didn't lead a lap all afternoon but moved one position clear of the 'bubble' in the standing, as he is now up to ninth spot ahead of teammate Denny Hamlin.

"I'll take second any day," Stewart said. "We haven't had many days like these this year, so it's nice. I ran out of fuel before the last corner there. The hard part is just running hard enough to stay ahead of Jimmie (Johnson) and slow enough to save fuel. It was a challenge."

Polesitter Jimmie Johnson led the race for 34 laps but couldn't match the speed shown by Edwards in the second half of the race. The reigning champion also ran out of fuel on the last lap but had enough speed to safely cross the line in a good points-paying third place.

Kevin Harvick caused the first caution flag of the day when he got spun by Joe Nemechek on lap one but made an impressive comeback to finish fourth, picking up the position on the last lap as Dale Earnhardt Jr ran out of fuel while running behind Johnson. His result puts him back into the top twelve in the standing.

David Ragan rounded up the top five followed by Clint Bowyer and June Pocono race winner Kasey Kahne.

The Gillett-Evernham driver led 41 laps, but his strategy gamble when the rain arrived didn't pay off and put him on the back foot strategy-wise for the end of the race.

He had to pit from the lead with less than 20 laps to go for a final splash of gas and two new tyres, while Edwards and others on the same strategy had already pitted for the last time.

Mark Martin led the most laps in the afternoon in the No. 8 DEI Chevy but like Kahne, he also gambled on staying out when rain arrived on lap 127. The 49-year-old looked like ending a nearly three-year win drought when he led the race and pulled away early on but slow pitstops and ultimately the wrong strategy didn't allow him to manage better than eighth.

Jeff Gordon ran out of fuel on the last lap but still managed a top-ten finish, while Kyle Busch couldn't finish the race as he also ran out of gas two laps from the end. He managed to get to the pits but his engine stalled and it took a while for him to fire up again, meaning he finished down in 36th and a lap down.

Michael McDowell was the top finishing rookie in 24th, followed by fellow rookies Regan Smith and Sam Hornish Jr.

Pos  Driver                 Make       Laps
 1.  Carl Edwards           Ford        200
 2.  Tony Stewart           Toyota      200
 3.  Jimmie Johnson         Chevrolet   200
 4.  Kevin Harvick          Chevrolet   200
 5.  David Ragan            Ford        200
 6.  Clint Bowyer           Chevrolet   200
 7.  Kasey Kahne            Dodge       200
 8.  Mark Martin            Chevrolet   200
 9.  Jamie McMurray         Ford        200
10.  Jeff Gordon            Chevrolet   200
11.  Matt Kenseth           Ford        200
12.  Dale Earnhardt Jr      Chevrolet   200
13.  Greg Biffle            Ford        200
14.  Ryan Newman            Dodge       200
15.  Martin Truex Jr        Chevrolet   200
16.  Travis Kvapil          Ford        200
17.  Chad McCumbee          Dodge       200
18.  Tony Raines            Chevrolet   200
19.  A.J. Allmendinger      Toyota      200
20.  Bill Elliott           Ford        200
21.  Jeff Burton            Chevrolet   200
22.  Casey Mears            Chevrolet   200
23.  Denny Hamlin           Toyota      200
24.  Michael McDowell       Toyota      200
25.  Regan Smith            Chevrolet   200
26.  Sam Hornish Jr         Dodge       200
27.  Elliott Sadler         Dodge       200
28.  Brian Vickers          Toyota      200
29.  Scott Riggs            Chevrolet   200
30.  David Reutimann        Toyota      200
31.  Dave Blaney            Toyota      198
32.  Terry Labonte          Dodge       198
33.  Bobby Labonte          Dodge       198
34.  David Gilliland        Ford        198
35.  Reed Sorenson          Dodge       198
36.  Kyle Busch             Toyota      198
37.  Robby Gordon           Dodge       197
38.  Kurt Busch             Dodge       197
39.  J.J. Yeley             Toyota      196
40.  Juan Montoya           Dodge       146
41.  Joe Nemechek           Chevrolet   138
42.  Paul Menard            Chevrolet   137
43.  Michael Waltrip        Toyota       24