As it turned out after the race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, two critical problems -- one a driving mistake at Talladega and the other an electrical problem at Lowe's -- kept a momentum-filled Carl Edwards and his No. 99 from stealing the championship from Jimmie Johnson.But that didn't mean the driver from Columbia, Mo., didn't put up an incredible fight to secure his first title.
Sure, there were two late-season wins at Texas Motor Speedway and Homestead that took an incredible strategy of stretching fuel mileage to find victory lane, but one his near-wins made what was one of the NASCAR season's best moments.
Edwards was trailing that pesky Jimmie Johnson in the final laps of the Chase for the Sprint Cup's third race at Kansas Speedway in what looked like it was going to be another easy win for the No. 48. Edwards would close marginally for some laps, but the distance he trailed appeared to be too large for an upset victory.
That assumption, though, was thrown out the window in the final turn of the final lap.
Edwards, some three car lengths back, had made a run at Johnson the lap before in the same corner to close heavily on the No. 48. On that move coming to the white flag, he just barely scraped the wall, but kept closing.
Carl took the high line through turns one and two to narrow the gap to the three lengths and as Johnson entered turn 3 for the final time, Edwards shot by on the inside in a move he would later describe as one has "worked on a video game."
Edwards briefly took the lead but his momentum was too great for the corner and the No. 99 slid into the outside wall just in front of Johnson, who re-took the lead. Ultimately, Johnson won by a few car lengths, but the tone for the Chase was set:
Carl Edwards was not just going to ride this one out.
We pick up the action below with one and a half laps to go:
