Carl Edwards had to duel hard with Jacques Villeneuve in order to secure his first 2010 victory at the Road America circuit in Elkhart Lake during Bucyrus 200 presented by the Menards. He finally scored Ford's first NASCAR victory for 2010 after overtaking the Canadian ace on a restart with 9 laps to go, in a race where Villeneuve was threatening Edwards dominance for the most part of the race.
The former world driving champion in CART and F1 made some eye-popping moves during the race proving that his racing skills are still hot despite his age and with a wild 3-tier charge to the lead with 12 laps to go, he appeared to secure a runner-up finish for Braun Racing. Unfortunately, with less than two laps to go, he Toyota Camry No32 car lost his momentum after engine problems and finished back to 25th. Nevertheless, Villeneuve could well have been the winner of the race in the circuit where he scored his first professional racing victory at 1994 CART championship.
Ron Fellows finished finally 2nd in a Chevrolet, 4.302 seconds behind Edwards’ Ford. Brendan Gaughan finished 3rd in a Toyota.
With his course victory, Edwards showed he could hold his own against some top-notch road course racers and he commented in the victory lane:
"It feels good. To race with Jacques Villeneuve all day, to hold off Ron Fellows at the end, it’s just cool."
A 10-car crash in the 14-turn track’s sixth turn produced the red flag. Shortly after a green-flag restart with the field bunched, contact in the sharp left turn prompted mayhem. In the center of the pile, Robb Brent slammed into the back of Tony Raines’ car, shooting the rear of the car into the air.
Traffic scrambled to avoid the incident, but 10 cars were left with a variety of damages.
There was so much wreckage in the turn area that NASCAR put the field under a red flag and needed 30 minutes to work the cleanup.
When the yellow flag appeared, some leaders pitted for tires and/or fuel, while others stayed on the track and gambled that their fuel would last to the end of the race.
Strategies went out the window, however, as a gaggle of cautions pockmarked the second half of the race. Ragged racing sent cars spinning and off the track on numerous occasions as the race has gone wild with duels and contacts between the cars. Even the backmarkers, were racing just like it they have been in the front of the field racing for a better finish position.
For a while, it looked like Jacques Villeneuve, the 1997 Formula One champion and 1995 Indianapolis 500 winner, might steal the show. After taking a restart with 12 laps to go, Villeneuve charged from eighth to first in half a lap, with Edwards right behind him. Villeneuve’s tire was smoking significantly, as it appeared to be rubbing against damaged bodywork on the front end of his car.
Yet another crash brought out another caution, and Villeneuve took a restart with nine laps remaining not knowing if his tire would hold up for the remainder of the race. Edwards then roared past Villeneuve and into the lead in Turn 1, and Villeneuve -- his tire still smoking -- tried to chase him down.
Another wreck set up a restart with three to go, allowing Fellows, a veteran road-racing ace, to pass Gaughan for third. Villeneuve was in second with two laps to go, but began to slip back losing the one place after the other until he finished 25th. The reason for that lost of momentum so badly? A broken altenator wire!!!
After the race, Villeneuve commented:
"It was actually a lot more fun than I expected. The cars drove really well around the course and it was a fun race. It was obviously a lot different than the last time I was here, but it was fun out there today.
The car felt really good here. It's too bad. It's really annoying to work so hard all weekend and not have the result. The crew worked hard and my car was amazing all weekend. It's just tough when you do two races a year. You have to make the most of them."
In conclusion, it was a mixed debut for the Nationwide series at the picturesque, fast and technically challenging 14-turn road course that winds through the tree-lined hills of central Wisconsin.
As expected, the on-track action was entertaining. But on a four-mile track, any full-course caution period made for an extended break in the action. If it wasn't Villeneuve present on the track, it might had been a really dull road-course race!
