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BROOKLYN, Mich. — The setting was Michigan International Speedway and the scene was the 3M Performance 400 Sprint Cup Series race contested here yesterday.

But the prevailing topic concerned something that will take place a month from now, way off in New Hampshire.

That’s when the lucrative Chase for the Sprint Cup commences, and that big money playoff is carried out over the final 10 races of the season. A lot of what occurred at MIS yesterday involved who will qualify for that playoff, which is limited to the top 12 drivers in the series based on points.

By dominating the final 150 laps and winning yesterday’s race, Carl Edwards secured second place in the standings. He also grabbed the 10 bonus points for winning, preventing series leader Kyle Busch, who finished second, from getting those bonus points, which are carried over as an advantage once the Chase begins.

“At this stage of the season, it is all about the points,” said the back-flipping Edwards, who won a Cup race for the fifth time this year and performed the flip from his car after each one. “It’s great to win, but the greatest part is that we didn’t give up more bonus points to Kyle. Every time I win and he finishes second, that’s a 20-point swing.”

Carl Edwards performs his signature backflip to celebrate his second win at MIS during the weekend.
( THE BLADE/LORI KING )

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Edwards’ teammate, David Ragan, finished third and edged into a tie for 13th in points, one position out of the elite field.

Another Roush Fenway Racing teammate, Greg Biffle, finished fourth and leaped from 10th to seventh in points, while huge troubles in the race dropped Jeff Gordon from sixth to ninth in points, and Denny Hamlin from ninth to 12th.

“The way people are jumping around and moving up and down in the points, you can see what’s shaping up,” Edwards said. “I have a feeling that this Chase is going to be incredibly competitive.”

Edwards’ crew chief Bob Osborne was very succinct about the strategy and approach at MIS, and for the next three races that precede the Chase. “These are practice sessions for the Chase,” Osborne said.

Gordon, a four-time champion in the Sprint Cup Series, spent a lot of the day with his car in the garage while battling a multitude of mechanical issues after slamming into the wall. He finished the race 42nd, 89 laps off the pace. Gordon, who has won at least one race every year over the last 14 Cup seasons but is winless this year, said his three-position tumble in the points won’t cause him to fret over his fate.

Edwards approaches the finish line at the 3M Performance 400.
( THE BLADE/LORI KING )

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“I’m relieved really, because we can just go out and race and not worry about anything,” Gordon said. “We can just go all-out and see where we end up.”

Hamlin, whose engine blew up in his Toyota with six laps to go after running in the top 10 for most of the final 80 laps, was disgusted over his plunge in points. He leads 13th place Ragan and Clint Bowyer by just 26 points.

“At this point, we don’t even deserve to be in the Chase,” Hamlin said.

Edwards started 27th in the race after qualifying poorly, but 30 laps into the event he was running sixth, and quickly moved up and stayed in the top four the rest of the way.

Jimmie Johnson took the lead from pole-sitter Brian Vickers on the opening lap, then surrendered it to Dale Earnhardt Jr., winner of the June Cup race at MIS, for two stretches in the first quarter of the race.

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After Vickers and Earnhardt took turns up front, Edwards had the lead for the first time on lap 74. Only Busch, who led twice over the final 60 laps for a total of 34 rotations, mounted a serious challenge to Edwards. Three cautions over the final 20 laps gave Busch multiple opportunities, but he could not get around the No. 99 Office Depot Ford of Edwards.

“It just came down to when he beat us off pit road, that was it. We just didn’t have the car capable of beating them today,” Busch said.

Although he maintains a 222-point lead over Edwards with just three races left before the Chase, Busch did not sound too secure in his position.

“Carl is right there, and he has been all year,” Busch said. “He’s the guy we have to race at these mile-and-a-half, and two-mile tracks. It’s a 20-point swing here today, so we’ve got to live with it, and we’ve got to make it up somewhere. We’ve still got some work cut out for us.”

Vickers finished seventh, leading 21 laps. Johnson, the two-time defending champion in the series, led 12 laps and limped in 17th. After leading for 43 laps, and running in the top five late in the race, Earnhardt stumbled and ended up 23rd, a lap down.

Contact Matt Markey at: mmarkey@theblade.com or 419-724-6510.

RESULTS

AUTO RACING
3M Performance 400
NASCAR-Sprint Cup
Brooklyn, Mich.
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.

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