New England 200 - New Hampshire International Speedway

Edwards Wins New England 200 After Bowyer's Misfortune
Carl Edwards was the real 'lucky dog' on Saturday at New Hampshire International Speedway. After Clint Bowyer had led for 127 laps in the race’s dominant car, he pitted under green with just over 50 laps to go only to see the caution flag fly as he was leaving pit road. The yellow enabled Edwards to escape with his third win of the season in the NASCAR Busch Series New England 200. Although Bowyer was the beneficiary due to the caution caused due to a spin by Aaron Fike on Lap 143, by rule he was forced to restart at the tail end of the longest line, which meant in 16th position. Edwards was running second prior to Bowyer’s decision to pit just before the caution and after taking on four fresh tires and fuel, came off pit road in first place and did not relinquish his lead. Edwards was challenged by series points leader Kevin Harvick over the final laps of the event, but managed to pull away from the 2001 series champion after a classy move by Dave Blaney, who had fought hard to stay on the lead lap. Blaney pulled over in the waning laps allowing Edwards and Harvick through to battle for the win. Edwards outran Harvick by 0.604 seconds to become the 20th different winner in 20 series races at New Hampshire. Bowyer managed to charge through traffic to finish fifth, but was disheartened with what could have been. Denny Hamlin, who had spirited confrontations with Harvick throughout the race, finished third, while NASCAR Busch Series regular Paul Menard finished fourth after starting 25th. Fellow series regular Johnny Sauter was sixth, Scott Riggs was seventh, J.J. Yeley eighth, Scott Wimmer ninth and Greg Biffle 10th. Edwards was able to take a small slice out of Harvick’s points lead, unofficially trailing by 308. Bowyer is third in the standings, followed by Hamlin in fourth and Yeley in fifth. Biffle, Menard, Kyle Busch – who won the Busch Pole for the event – Sauter and Kenny Wallace stand in positions six through 10th respectively. The NASCAR Busch Series returns to a former favorite venue with a visit to Martinsville Speedway next Saturday. The series last raced at the shortest track on the circuit (.526-mile) in 1994.

New England 200 Notes
· Race Results · Rookie Post-Race Quotes · Point Standings · Owner Point Standings · Starting Lineup · Qualifying Results · Practice 2: Rookie Practice · Practice 1 · Qualifying Order · Entry List · Race Notes · Weekend Schedule · Raybestos Rookie Notes · Stanton Barrett Notes · Dave Blaney Notes	· Kevin Harvick Notes · Carl Edwards Notes · Clint Bowyer Notes · Denny Hamlin Notes · Greg Biffle Notes · Kyle Busch Notes · Kenny Wallace Notes · Jason Leffler Notes · John Andretti Notes · Todd Kluever Notes · Reed Sorenson Notes · David Green Notes · Danny O’Quinn, Jr. Notes · John Andretti Notes · Scott Wimmer Notes

Kyle Busch Speeds to Busch Pole at Loudon
Kyle Busch captured his second Busch pole of the 2006 season and eighth of his NASCAR Busch Series career, when he won the top starting spot for today’s New England 200 at New Hampshire International Speedway. “The gang did an awesome job today, this car was prepared as good or better than it was before,” said the younger of the Busch brothers. “The crash (yesterday) was devastating. I got off Turn 4 and got loose and put it in the fence. There was significant damage but the guys did good - these were our first laps back on the track.” When Busch leads the field to the green flag, it will mark his 75th career start in the Busch Series. Presently he has seven wins, 23 top fives and 35 top tens in 74 starts. Busch’s other 2006 pole came at the Atlanta Motor Speedway in March, where he finished 40th. In 19 races this season, he has one win, three top fives and seven top tens. Busch is starting his second NASCAR Busch Series race at New Hampshire International Speedway. He started 10th and finished 25th in his only other attempt here in 2004. He has competed in two NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races and one NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at the track. Clint Bowyer will start his Chevrolet from the outside pole, followed by Denny Hamlin in third. Points leader Kevin Harvick will start from the fourth position, while Jeff Burton rounds out the top five in Harvick’s No. 77 car this week.