Carl Edwards wins Coca-Cola 600: 5 things learned at Charlotte

Carl Edwards won the Coca-Cola 600 after surviving 600 miles. Here are five things learned at Charlotte.

The Coca-Cola 600 proved to live up to its billing as one of the most difficult races of the season.

For 600 miles, Charlotte Motor Speedway had its way with the drivers causing blown engines and wrecks. To finish the race was an accomplishment for all those that completed the race.

At the end, one was left as the winner of the marathon race.

Carl Edwards.

The back flip is back as Carl Edwards won the Coca-Cola 600, by using strategy in his pit stops to take the lead and spot in the chase.

He started the race having issues with his feet being sticky and sticking to the pedals. For most of the race Edwards laid low, but at the end he took over as race favorites Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick went for a pit stop.

He now moves onto the chase for the Sprint Cup Championship.

1. Carl Edwards is a man of the people

After winning his first race of the season, Edwards followed it up by doing his patented back flip for the fans enjoyment. He didn’t stop there either. After grabbing the checkered flag, Edwards climbed into the stands and celebrated with the fans.

After a slow start to the season, it is now new beginnings for Edwards who will have a shot at the Sprint Cup Championship. He’s driving like a new man, and suddenly he has momentum heading into the rest of the 2015 season.

2. Joe Gibbs Racing lived up to the hype

All week long Joe Gibbs Racing dominated practice and qualifying. They had three drivers start in the top-5 and at the start of the race, it looked like they were going to have a good day. As the race wore on, frustration set in as the Denny Hamlin’s Toyota, along with the ones of Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards did not have the boost that under the hood that they needed.

However, that didn’t stop them, and along with the returning Kyle Busch all four drivers worked their way into the top-10 at one point. After missing the entire season up until now, Kyle Busch hung around the top and put on a fantastic performance along with Carl Edwards winning.

3. A simple error was costly for Brad Keselowski

Brad Keselowski entered the pits in fourth place toward the beginning of the race. As he sped off out of the pits, the car whipped the ethanol container right into another team’s pits. As a result, Keselowski had to go from 4th all the way to the back of the pack.

It was a case of bad luck for the driver of the No. 2. It’s all about efficiency and getting out of the pits quick, but dragging equipment into another team’s stall is a penalty, and the Miller Lite team paid the price for it.

Luckily, with the race being 600 laps, Keselowski was able to work his way back near the front and finished strong.

4. Jimmie Johnson kept spinning out

No, Jimmie Johnson isn’t a goaltender, but if the last couple of races has taught us anything, it’s that he has an impeccable ability to recover from bad situations on the track.

During lap 90, Johnson spun out and was sitting sideways on the track. With the caution flag coming out, Johnson was able to recover and get his car turned around. He would be able to return to the lead lap after the close call.

It’s not hockey or soccer, but that’s about as beautiful of a save that can be made.

Then bad luck struck Johnson a second time as he spun out again.

Unfortunately for Johnson, this time he wasn’t able to make the save and he slammed into the interior wall. He was able to get back on the track, but was already several laps down by that point.

5. Clint Bowyer does not like dicey situations in the pits

With multiple cars exiting their pit stalls, a few of them came together and bumped each other. As Clint Bowyer was exiting his, Chase Elliot cut him off up high, while Danica Patrick came in tight on his side.

Well Bowyer wasn’t too happy with Patrick and didn’t seem to notice Elliot.

He bumped Patrick from behind on the way out to show how upset he really was about the situation. He then got on the mic with his crew chief and asked why Patrick ran so tight on him. His crew chief followed by pointing out that it started with Elliot cutting him off up high.

Don’t get to close to Bowyer in the pits or tensions will rise.

It was a wild week of racing in Charlotte, where only the strongest survived. At the end, it was Carl Edwards picking up his first victory of the season.

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