Edwards finishes first during a second try

LOUDON, N.H. -- After coming up short on the first leg of his triple crown run at New Hampshire International Speedway, Carl Edwards came up a winner in his second race of the day in yesterday's New England 200 NASCAR Busch Series race.

After winning his third Busch Series race of the season, as has been his custom Edwards stopped at the finish line, climbed out of his car, and did a backflip. He stuck the landing, too.

Edwards, who crashed and finished 39th in the New England 100 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event earlier in the day, led the last 58 laps of the Busch Series race. He inherited the lead on Lap 143 when Clint Bowyer, who led the most laps with 127, pitted and was caught during the race's seventh caution flag.

Edwards passed the lapped car of Dave Blaney and held off a late charge by runner-up Kevin Harvick, who retained a commanding 308-point lead over Edwards (3,092-2,784) in the standings.

``I saw Kevin was coming and it was exciting for me," said Edwards, who presented his trophy in Victory Lane to a wheelchair-bound fan, Jessica Chouinard of Manchester, N.H.

``I gotta say that I feel bad for Clint Bowyer. As good as his car was earlier, to lose the lead like that is frustrating, but I'm just glad I happened to be the guy who got here."

In the Modified race, Edwards crashed with 57 laps to go when he got antsy and tried to move up quickly, only to clip the left rear tire of another driver, causing heavy damage to his right front tire and suspension.

``It definitely humbled me a little bit," Edwards said.

Like Edwards, Nextel Cup champion Tony Stewart enjoyed mixing it up with the wild bunch from the Whelen Modified Tour. Stewart finished ninth after going on a wild ride on the backstretch when he touched wheels with Jerry Marquis on a restart with fewer than 10 laps to go. ``It was a lot of fun, but it's like any other series, you go down and run at their level," Stewart said. ``If you beat 'em, they get really upset about it and other drivers don't like it. You had a guy who I used to have a lot of respect for [Marquis] who just drove us into the infield on the last lap. To finish in the top 10 is pretty cool considering the ride we took down the backstretch." . . . John Blewett III of Howell, N.J., wound up winning the Modified race, an event rookie James Civali of Meriden, Conn., mistakenly thought he had won; Civali was passed just before the yellow flag fell. While Civali was being congratulated as the winner, Blewett quickly departed NHIS, unaware he had actually triumphed. According to Jim Hunter, NASCAR's vice president of corporate communications, Blewett, who was en route to a race in Wall, N.J., was informed of the mixup by one of his crew after he had left the track.

Bob Bahre, the 79-year-old chairman of NHIS, said his 1.058-mile oval is not up for sale, despite speculation to the contrary. ``Now my son [Gary, 43, NHIS's president], since he's been sick a few years back, he'd never want to run it alone, I'll tell you that now," said Bahre, who remains one of NASCAR's independent owners, along with Dr. Joseph Mattioli, chairman and CEO of Pocono Raceway. ``I'm going to be 80 next year, but if I were to die tomorrow, he'd probably sell it before the funeral." Asked if Gary didn't like racing, the elder Bahre said, ``No, no, he likes it. He loves it. He loves this track. We've been at it together forever, since he was a little kid of 7 years old. He loves racing, it's not a question of that. It would just bother him to be alone doing it." . . . Osram Sylvania extended its title sponsorship agreement of the Sylvania 300, NHIS's September Nextel Cup race, for five years, through 2012. According to Bahre, about 1,700-1,800 tickets remain available for the Sept. 17 race . . . Patriots offensive lineman Logan Mankins made his first visit to NHIS, with his fiancee, Kara Brindley, and toured the pits and garage. ``It's a lot bigger than I thought it was," Mankins said. ``It's nice to be able to be in the pits and the garage and see all the neat stuff that goes on there."

During the closing laps of the New England 125 Friday afternoon, Mike Olsen stalked leader Sean Caisse, trying to claim the outside groove. Nothing doing. So, on the final lap of the Busch East event, Olsen darted to the inside, banging doors with Caisse's No. 44 machine. Caisse tried to keep the lead but Olsen had too much power, sprinting to the line and swiping the checkered flag by 0.242 seconds. ``Running the high side, he pinched me," Olsen said. ``But he left a hole on the bottom and I filled it." The race was red-flagged after Peyton Sellers slammed into the wall. Sellers was treated and released from the infield care center . . . In last September's Sylvania 300, Kasey Kahne was one of several hotheaded drivers, nearly wrecking Kyle Busch during a caution period for retribution for an earlier tangle. ``I got crashed here last year by Kyle Busch," Kahne said. ``I haven't paid him back. It's just part of racing. Things happen. Sometimes you mean it and sometimes you don't."

Fluto Shinzawa of the Globe staff contributed to this report.