Samsung 500 Race Review

Carl Edwards exerted himself Sunday as the driver to beat in the young Sprint Cup season, posting his third win in seven races and doing so in relatively dominating fashion.

Edwards started on the outside pole for Texas Motor Speedway's Samsung 500 and led 123 of 339 laps for the victory.

The 99 car seemed to be dialed in from the moment it unloaded in Texas. Edwards ran second in practice Friday morning and led both the Friday afternoon and Happy Hour practices, along with qualifying second.

The Roush-Fenway driver is currently 10th in the point standings, but would be 4th if not for the 100-point penalty assessed for a loose oil tank lid after his Las Vegas win last month. Still, three wins in seven races is impressive, though Edwards didn't think his car was as dominant as it looked. "Our car - I didn't feel like at any point in the race it was spectacular. I had to fight with it all day. It was really difficult and it was just kind of a lesser of evils, or however you put that, and we kind of found something that worked and that's what we stuck with."

Edwards was one of five drivers who led laps during the race, not counting the two led by Martin Truex as a result of pit cycles. Dale Earnhardt Jr., who brought the field to green and paced the early going, led 31 laps before the car's handling slipped away. Other laps leaders included Matt Kenseth (68), Jimmie Johnson (65), and Kyle Busch (50).

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