NASCAR: Carl Edwards Victory in Las Vegas Will Stand

Edwards has won the past two Sprint Cup races, and with his victory Sunday, vaulted him and the No. 99 car to the top of the driver and owner point standings.

Carl Edwards won for the second time in six days on Sunday — he also won the rain-postponed event at California on Monday — and moved to the top of the points standings for the first time in his career. Photo courtesy: LVMS.com

LAS VEGAS - Carl Edwards' Sprint Cup victory in the UAW-Dodge 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will stand, but he's likely to lose some of the driver and owner points he earned after NASCAR officials found "an issue" with his No. 99 Ford in post-race inspection late Sunday.

NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said Edwards' car did not fail post-race inspection. But inspectors did find something amiss.

"We had an issue in post-race inspection with the 99. The lid on the oil reservoir encasement, or the oil tank box, was off," Poston said. "So we're going to take the 99 back to the [NASCAR] Research and Development Center in Concord, N.C., and if there are any actions that need to be taken, those will be taken and announced next week."

Earlier this season at Daytona International Speedway, NASCAR officials discovered five Nationwide Series cars to have a similar problem during post-race inspection following their season-opening race. Each of the teams eventually were docked 25 driver and 25 owner points.

Poston said the situation with Edwards' car was not quite the same.

"It was similar. In those cases, the lids were loose," Poston said. "The lid on the 99 was off."

Edwards has won the past two Sprint Cup races. His victory Sunday vaulted him and the No. 99 car to the top of the driver and owner point standings. He currently has 491 driver points and is 21 ahead of Kyle Busch, who is in second with 470.

Bob Osborne, Edwards' crew chief, said Sunday night that he would wait until after NASCAR is able to take a closer look at the car at the R&D Center before making any comments.

Edwards won for the second time in six days — he also won the rain-postponed event at California on Monday — and moved to the top of the points standings for the first time in his career. He has a 21-point lead over Kyle Busch.

"We do this to win. Winning these races is the greatest," Edwards said. "Winning a championship would be the ultimate. What we're trying to do is win the championship this year. That's our No. 1 goal."

To win in Vegas, Edwards had to overcome an early pit road penalty, escape NASCAR punishment on a second pit road mishap, then hold off a rusty Dale Earnhardt Jr. on a pair of late restarts Sunday.

For Edwards, it seemed like a return to his 2005 form, when he finished third in the series standings.

"I think we are close to the form we were in 2005 when it seemed like a Roush Fenway car would win every week," Edwards said.

It was the sixth victory for team owner Jack Roush in 11 races at Las Vegas, and it ended Jimmie Johnson's string of three straight wins in the desert.

The last time Dale Earnhardt Jr. was in the top 12 was back in July of last season. But after his second-place finish in Las Vegas on Sunday, Junior finds himself 10th in points and leading the way for all the Hendrick drivers.

The Associated Press and NASCAR.com contributed to this report.

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