Edwards flips the script to end 52-race drought

Carl Edwards won four races in his first full season, finishing an impressive third in the Nextel Cup standings.

That made Edwards believe wins would come easily. He finally did it again after 19 months Sunday at the Citizens Bank 400 in Brooklyn, Mich., overcoming an early speeding penalty and holding off Martin Truex Jr. to win at Michigan International Speedway and end his 52-race Nextel Cup winless streak.

“It was very difficult to stay composed, especially when Martin was closing in,” Edwards said. “To me, second place would have felt the same as chopping off my arm.

“I wanted to win. That’s it.”

But Truex, who has not finished lower than third the last three races, brushed the wall in the closing laps and lost his momentum. It cost him a chance to run down Edwards, who handily beat Truex to the line to grab his first win since Nov. 6, 2005, at Texas.

“Is it really over?” Edwards excitedly asked his crew as he closed in on the finish line.

Edwards celebrated his fifth career Nextel Cup win with his trademark backflip off the window ledge of his car. He then shared an emotional hug with crew chief Bob Osborne, who was with him in 2005 but was moved off the crew for most of 2006. The two were reunited at the end of last season.

The victory gave owner Jack Roush his second win of the season -- first since Matt Kenseth won Feb. 25 at Fontana -- and temporarily sidetracked Hendrick Motorsports’ season-long domination. Hendrick cars have won 10 of the 15 races this season.

Edwards’ victory was only the second of the year for Ford, and it ended a 13-race winning streak for Chevrolet. No other manufacturer has won a race this season.

Truex, who had his first victory two weeks ago at Dover, finished second after overcoming a spin on the backstretch 100 laps into the race.

Two-time series champion Tony Stewart, winless this season, was third.

Casey Mears, on a roll since his first career win on May 27, was fourth and the highest finishing Hendrick driver.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was fifth to give DEI two cars in the top five, and the showing moved him into contention in Chase for the Nextel Cup. . He’s 12th in the standings -- where he was before a 100-point penalty last month knocked him down to 14th -- and is trying to end his time at DEI on top.

Kyle Busch, losing his ride at Hendrick to make room for Earnhardt, was sixth and was followed by Kevin Harvick, Jamie McMurray and series points leader Jeff Gordon, who was ninth and the last driver on the lead lap.

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Suzuki’s Ricky Carmichael raced to his record 100th AMA Motocross victory, holding off Kawasaki’s James Stewart in the Monster Energy Budds Creek National in Maryland.

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NASCAR filed a $100 million counter claim against AT&T; Inc. in Atlanta, accusing the wireless provider of interfering with its exclusive sponsorship agreement with rival wireless company Nextel.

The suit also asks that NASCAR be granted the right to kick AT&T; -- and all telecommunications companies other than Nextel -- out of its top series in 2008.