Carl Edwards hoists his third trophy at Gateway International Raceway after winning the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250.

Jason Smith/Getty Images

The feud between Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski—dormant since Atlanta in March—erupted like an angry volcano at Gateway International Raceway.

In a drag race to the finish line, Edwards sent Keselowski hard into the outside wall on the way to winning Saturday night's Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 Nationwide Series race at the 1.25-mile track. As Edwards took the checkered flag two car lengths ahead of runner-up Reed Sorenson, Keselowski careened into the inside retaining wall and took a vicious shot from Shelby Howard's Chevrolet just short of the finish line.

Less than a lap earlier, Keselowski had bumped Edwards in Turn 1 in an attempt to take the lead after a restart on Lap 199 of 200. Edwards' Ford and Keselowski's Dodge raced side-by-side for most of the final lap. With Keselowski edging ahead as the cars approached the stripe, Edwards turned Keselowski's Dodge, igniting a multicar pileup on the frontstretch.



"I just couldn't let him take the win from me," said Edwards, who drew a three-race probation in March for unabashedly turning Keselowski in a Sprint Cup race at Atlanta, with the unintended consequence of sending the No. 12 Dodge upside-down into the frontstretch wall. "My guys work way too hard for that.

"We had a great restart. My guys built me a great car. We came to the checkered flag, and I hate to see stuff tore up, but we came here to win and he took it from us there in Turn 1. Just an awesome race. ... I'm sure some of them don't like that win—Brad Keselowski fans and stuff—but, man, I just couldn't let him take it from me. I had to do what I had to do."

In Keselowski's view, Edwards action at Gateway was intentional.

"He turned left into me and wrecked me on purpose," Keselowski said. "I gave him the lane, and he still wrecked me. … I figured out a way to beat him. He wasn't happy with me, so he wrecked me. Wrecking down the straightaway is never cool, whether it's at 200 mph or 120. I'm sorry that's the way it had to end."

Keselowski's father, old-school racer Bob Keselowski, had an even stronger take on the finish.

"Brad got into Carl getting out of Turn 1—racing—they bumped, they rubbed, typical rubbing-racing deal," Bob Keselowski said. "Carl flipped out like he did at Atlanta and tried to kill the kid. I'm sick and tired of this. I'll get my own damn uniform back on and take care of this. He ain't going to kill my boy."

"He just overreacted so bad. If he wanted to bump Brad, it's one thing. But don't drive him through the inside guardrail. Don't put him in the grandstands at Atlanta. That's asinine."

After meeting with Edwards in the NASCAR hauler, Nationwide Series director Joe Balash attributed the final-lap crash to hard racing.

"I think at the last lap there was a lot of hard racing going on," Balash said. "There was some movement on the racetrack. It was a tough finish for a really great race.

"We've chatted about this evening, yes. We don't talk about any of those conversations (that we have) in the hauler."

The last-lap crash marred what should have been a triumphant finish at the venue Columbia, Mo., native Edwards considers his home track. Edwards is the first three-time winner at Gateway, and with his second victory of the year and the 27th of his career, he trimmed Keselowski's lead in the series standings from 227 to 168 points in what has become, for practical purposes, a two-man race.

Polesitter Trevor Bayne ran third, his best finish to date. Paul Menard came home fourth, followed by Steve Wallace. Brian Scott, Colin Braun, Josh Wise, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Tony Raines completed the top 10.

Results

FIN	ST	CAR	DRIVER	MAKE	SPONSOR	PTS/BNS	LAPS	STATUS
1	8	60	Carl Edwards	Ford	Aflac	190/5	200	Running
2	13	32	Reed Sorenson	Toyota	Dollar General	170/0	200	Running
3	1	99	Trevor Bayne	Toyota	Out! Pet Care	170/5	200	Running
4	5	98	Paul Menard	Ford	Richmond Water Heaters / Menards	160/0	200	Running
5	9	66	Steve Wallace	Toyota	5-Hour Energy	155/0	200	Running
6	6	11	Brian Scott *	Toyota	AccuDoc Solutions	150/0	200	Running
7	2	16	Colin Braun *	Ford	Con-way Freight	146/0	200	Running
8	34	7	Josh Wise	Chevrolet	GoDaddy.com	142/0	200	Running
9	15	6	Ricky Stenhouse Jr. *	Ford	CitiFinancial	138/0	200	Running
10	22	34	Tony Raines	Chevrolet	Long John Silver's	134/0	200	Running
11	33	15	Michael Annett	Toyota	Pilot Travel Centers	130/0	200	Running
12	12	70	Shelby Howard	Chevrolet	Foretravel Motorcoach	127/0	200	Running
13	26	88	Steve Arpin	Chevrolet	Blue Harbor Bank	124/0	200	Running
14	3	22	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	Discount Tire	131/10	200	Running
15	21	05	Willie Allen	Chevrolet	31-W Insulation	118/0	200	Running
16	10	33	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches	120/5	200	Running
17	4	62	Brendan Gaughan	Toyota	South Point Hotel & Casino	112/5	198	Running
18	20	10	Tayler Malsam	Toyota	Iron Horse Jeans	109/0	198	Running
19	39	40	Mike Bliss	Chevrolet	Jansen Chevrolet	106/0	198	Running
20	32	28	Kenny Wallace	Chevrolet	Juggle.com	103/0	198	Running
21	41	21	Morgan Shepherd	Chevrolet	Victory In Jesus	100/0	197	Running
22	37	01	Mike Wallace	Chevrolet	Bandana's Bar-B-Q	97/0	197	Running
23	24	38	Jason Leffler	Toyota	Great Clips	94/0	196	Running
24	42	23	Alex Kennedy	Chevrolet	Media Master	91/0	196	Running
25	16	12	Justin Allgaier	Dodge	Verizon Wireless	88/0	194	Accident
26	43	24	Eric McClure	Ford	Hefty Odorblock	85/0	193	Running
27	17	87	Joe Nemechek	Chevrolet	HostGator.com	82/0	189	Accident
28	19	100	Ryan Truex	Toyota	NAPA	79/0	178	Accident
29	18	20	Matt DiBenedetto	Toyota	Pizza Ranch	76/0	163	Running
30	7	18	Brad Coleman	Toyota	SafeWay Driving Centers	73/0	150	Accident
31	38	09	Landon Cassill	Ford	RAB Racing	70/0	102	Vibration
32	29	27	Kelly Bires	Toyota	Baker Curb Racing	67/0	62	Engine
33	40	43	Brad Baker	Ford	Baker Curb Racing	64/0	61	Brakes
34	23	35	Jason Keller	Chevrolet	TriStar Motorsports	61/0	44	Accident
35	31	156	Kevin Lepage	Chevrolet	RaceDaySponsor.com	58/0	26	Ignition
36	11	91	Chase Miller	Chevrolet	D'Hondt Humphrey Motorsports	55/0	24	Electrical
37	28	90	Danny O'Quinn Jr.	Chevrolet	D'Hondt Humphrey Motorsports	52/0	20	Vibration
38	27	26	Brian Keselowski	Dodge	K-Automotive Motorsports	49/0	13	Brakes
39	14	37	Kevin Swindell	Ford	Curb Records	46/0	8	Brakes
40	35	89	Johnny Chapman	Chevrolet	Victory In Jesus	43/0	6	Oil Pressure
41	25	136	Johnny Sauter	Chevrolet	Long John Silver's	40/0	4	Electrical
42	36	92	Dennis Setzer	Dodge	K-Automotive Motorsports	37/0	3	Vibration
43	30	49	Mark Green	Chevrolet	Jay Robinson Inc.	34/0	2	Electrical

* Denotes Rookie

Harvick wins truck race

On a blistering hot day that left fourth-place finisher Todd Bodine lying on the tile floor of the media center with ice packs on his chest, Kevin Harvick beat the heat and trounced the rest of the field to win Saturday afternoon's blackout-delayed CampingWorld.com 200.

Despite a stiff neck that kept him out of Nationwide Series practice earlier in the day, Harvick, who won the pole on Friday before a power failure forced postponement of the race itself, cruised to his third victory in four NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts this season.

Harvick crossed the finish line at 1.25-mile Gateway International Raceway 5.241 seconds ahead of runner-up Brad Keselowski, who was making his third start of the season in his own truck. Johnny Sauter ran third, followed by Bodine, who extended his series lead to 101 points over eighth-place finisher Aric Almirola.

Matt Crafton came home fifth to claim his second straight top five and his third of the season. Timothy Peters, rookie Austin Dillon, Almirola, Brian Ickler and Mike Skinner completed the top 10.

"I was wiping my hair off in the shower this morning, and that's how I hurt it," Harvick said of the neck problem. "I just got a kink in my neck, and it's gone all the way down to my shoulder, but the longer I ran today, it actually got better. I feel better than I did this morning.

"I've just got to relax in the car. If you get tense, it becomes more of an issue, but as the race went on, I got more and more relaxed and was able to tolerate it."

Harvick, who led 143 of 160 laps, got help from a physical therapist before the race. He said the heat that toasted other drivers didn't bother him until he got out of the truck in victory lane.

Keselowski acknowledged that Harvick had the field covered, but he questioned whether Harvick had violated NASCAR's rule against pulling up to pit on the final stop under caution on Lap 126.

"The only way we were going to win the race is if he made a mistake," Keselowski said. "I felt like he did. He passed the pace car pitting. You're not supposed to do that. He got away with that one. We didn't catch that break, but we did all we could to put ourselves in the best position possible. We just needed a little bit more."

Harvick viewed Keselowski's complaint about passing the pace car as a case of sour grapes.

"I'd complain if I got beat that bad, too," Harvick said.

For Bodine, the heat inside his truck was so intense it burned him, despite adjustments to his seat after a similar experience at Texas.

"Man, I burned my butt bad today, and my back even got burnt," said Bodine, who declined a trip in an ambulance after the race. "That's why I lay down in here (the media center) on the cold floor."

Notes: Harvick earned a perfect 150.00 driver rating for his performance in the truck race. He and Keselowski, among others, were scheduled to compete later Saturday in the Nationwide race at Gateway. … Ricky Carmichael crashed hard into the Turn 4 wall after contact with Skinner's Toyota on Lap 80. As Carmichael slid toward the infield grass, Jeffrey Earnhardt's Chevrolet plowed into Carmichael's truck. Both drivers were released forthwith from the infield care center, but Earnhardt's truck series debut ended with a 30th-place finish.

Results

FIN	ST	CAR	DRIVER	MAKE	SPONSOR	PTS/BNS	LAPS	STATUS
1	1	2	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	Stubb's Legendary Bar-B-Q / Kroger	195/10	160	Running
2	3	129	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	Miller Lite	170/0	160	Running
3	5	13	Johnny Sauter	Chevrolet	In Country Television / Curb Records	165/0	160	Running
4	14	30	Todd Bodine	Toyota	Germain.com	160/0	160	Running
5	9	88	Matt Crafton	Chevrolet	Ideal Door / Menards	155/0	160	Running
6	7	17	Timothy Peters	Toyota	Red Horse Racing	150/0	160	Running
7	6	3	Austin Dillon *	Chevrolet	Bass Pro Shops / Remington Arms / Tracker	146/0	160	Running
8	16	51	Aric Almirola	Toyota	Zyclara by Graceway Pharmaceutica-ls	147/5	160	Running
9	10	18	Brian Ickler	Toyota	Toyota Tundra / Viasystems	138/0	160	Running
10	13	5	Mike Skinner	Toyota	Exide Batteries	134/0	160	Running
11	23	23	Jason White	Dodge	GunBroker.com	130/0	160	Running
12	2	31	James Buescher	Chevrolet	Wolfpack Rentals	127/0	160	Running
13	25	81	David Starr	Toyota	Zachry	124/0	160	Running
14	19	12	Mario Gosselin	Chevrolet	TireMonkey.com / James Carter Attorney	121/0	160	Running
15	21	9	Max Papis	Toyota	GEICO	118/0	160	Running
16	20	90	Brad Sweet	Toyota	Great Clips	115/0	160	Running
17	22	15	Steve Wallace	Toyota	Merit Pro	112/0	160	Running
18	17	07	Tony Jackson Jr.	Chevrolet	SS Green Light Racing	109/0	159	Running
19	12	60	Stacy Compton	Chevrolet	SafeAuto Insurance Company	106/0	159	Running
20	33	10	Jennifer Jo Cobb *	Ford	drivenmale.com / DriverBoutique.com	103/0	158	Running
21	31	47	Brett Butler *	Chevrolet	Fuel Doctor	100/0	158	Running
22	29	186	Jamie Dick	Chevrolet	Viva Auto Group	97/0	158	Running
23	24	63	Jack Smith	Ford	Mittler Bros. Machine & Tool	94/0	158	Running
24	34	01	Carl Long	Chevrolet	Koma Unwind Chillaxation Drink	91/0	157	Running
25	35	57	Norm Benning	Chevrolet	Pella Motors	88/0	153	Running
26	8	33	Ron Hornaday	Chevrolet	Charter	90/5	150	Running
27	4	7	Justin Lofton *	Toyota	VisitPIT.com	82/0	127	Power Steering
28	30	46	Clay Greenfield	Dodge	Team Gill Racing	79/0	105	Steering
29	18	4	Ricky Carmichael	Chevrolet	Monster Energy	76/0	79	Accident
30	32	6	Jeffrey Earnhardt	Chevrolet	Fuel Doctor	73/0	79	Accident
31	11	39	Ryan Sieg	Chevrolet	S&W Towing	70/0	49	Accident
32	36	187	Chris Jones	Chevrolet	Copy Wizard	67/0	25	Electrical
33	27	89	Mike Harmon	Chevrolet	Lafferty Motorsports	64/0	21	Brakes
34	15	93	Mike Garvey	Chevrolet	S&W Towing	61/0	19	Brakes
35	26	95	Dennis Setzer	Dodge	Team Gill Racing	58/0	3	Overheating
36	28	172	Johnny Chapman	Chevrolet	MyTireMonkey.com / James Carter Attorney	PE	1	Engine

* Denotes Rookie