Stenhouse pushed to victory by Edwards in U.S. Cellular 250

NEWTON - It was a memorable end to an exciting race, and one many fans at Iowa Speedway won't forget.

As the race came to a close, leader Ricky Stenhouse's car began to smoke from mechanical trouble as he came out of the final turn, but instead of surrendering the lead he was pushed across the finish line by a hard-charging Carl Edwards as the checkered flag dropped.

The final crash capped a heated battle between the Roush Fenway Racing teammates and Stenhoue's sweep of two NASCAR Nationwide Series events at Iowa Speedway with the victory Saturday night in the U.S. Cellular 250 in front of 48,271 fans.

Stenhouse was nervous when problems arose on the final lap, but he was able to maintain for his second career Nationwide win. He said he definitely felt the collision, and if it weren't for the crash he wouldn't have won. The manner of victory wasn't ideal, according to Stenhouse.

"I was just praying that we got to the checkered flag and it was a close one but we made it," Stenhouse said. "I didn't really want to wreck two race cars of (Owner) Jack (Roush)'s but I wanted to win, so i was doing all I could to block him and it paid off.

"It was a good one for the fans that's for sure."

Watch the final couple laps here

Edwards said it was the most amazing finish he has been a part of in a long time and uttered "Wow" when he arrived for his post-race press conference.

"That was amazing," Edwards said. "This goes to show you it's never over until it's over. If things would have gone just a little different I think I would have got him."

Edwards tried to maneuver around Stenhouse for the win, but couldn't clear him. Instead of edging his teammate, Edwards had to settle for another runner-up finish to Stenhouse at Iowa.

"He started to come down I thought about going high and he came up a bit," Edwards said. "As soon as I tried to turn back down, the track was covered with oil and I wasn't going to make it so I just saved my throttle and hoped he'd be out of the way or somehow it would work out and it didn't work out."

 The two had a contentious exchanged earlier in the race. A little more than 80 laps left they fought for the lead, similar to the final stretch in May. Stenhouse passed briefly, but became loose and Edwards made contact with Stenhouse. Reportedly, Roush had to get on the radio to cool both drivers. He said the relationship between the two are fine, and Edwards said any issues would be resolved in the shop.

"Tempers didn't rise above boiling points and everything is OK," Roush said. "Carl is exactly where he should be as an elderly statesman in this business, and Ricky is where he should be as a young guy with a lot of enthusiasm and motivation and anxious to make a name for himself."

Edwards confirmed that Roush intervened on the radio and asked if everything was OK. He called it a wild night and that the two weren't giving in to one another on the race track. Edwards admitted Stenhouse is a great driver, whose aggressive style certainly works in his favor.

"This is a business where you race people the way they race you and you have to stand your ground," said Edwards, who is competing in Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Pocono (Pa.). "Whether it's your teammate or not, sometimes its not all roses."

Stenhouse said both race really hard and it doesn't matter where the challenge comes from. He wasn't about to cut his teammate any slack late after the earlier incident.

"We both want to win," Stenhouse said. "He's won a lot more than I have so I think I want to win a little more than he does right now. At the same token, we probably race a little too hard."

Stenhouse grabbed the lead with 22 laps remaining with an aggressive move after a restart that shot him from fourth to first. He controlled the race until coming out of the final turn. He led just three times for 25 laps, but most of them came when it mattered most and that was at the end. Stenhouse was able to increase his lead in the season points standings to 12 over Reed Sorenson, who was sixth.

"I knew we had to make something happen," Stenhouse said about taking the lead late. "It was a wild battle for the lead there for a minute and I'm just glad we were able to be that first one to finally get out there and get some clear traffic. That's what we needed."

It was a change where he led 189 of 204 laps but finished third.

"That last restart that's what I was thinking about," Stenhouse said. "We let a race go last week. We definitely had the dominant car. Tonight, I don't know if we had a dominant car. We had a fast race car."

Edwards dominated the first half of the race, leading 109 laps until only 65 remained. A pit stop halted his exit from pit road and his chances for a victory. As Edwards led his third stretch - all 31 laps or more - his stop during the fifth caution included pulling away while a wrench was stuck in his left rear tire. He stopped and had to back into his spot for things to be fixed and ended up in 16th place.

He made a charge to the front of the field, sitting in fourth with 35 laps to go.

Sadler, the pole sitter, had led for 38 laps when shortly after the restart he got hung up in the battle between Edwards and Stenhouse. He gave way to them and notched a third-place finish, giving him his 10th top-five and improving his fifth-place finish at his first appearance at Iowa Speedway in May. he entered the race third in the points standings and hopes to build some momentum.

"We're strong," Sadler said of his team. "We feel like we have some good tracks copming up for us we can take advantage of."

Cedar Rapids 18-year-old Joey Gase was hoping for a top 20 to 25 finish and he succeeded. Gase, who started 34th in the 43-car field, battled his way for a 20th-place showing.

"It does a lot to know I can actually run with these guys," said Gase, who finished ahead of Sam Hornish Jr. and Trevor Bayne, who both started in the first two rows and series Rookie of the year contenders Timmy Hill and Blake Koch.

He said he hoped to stay out of the way of the top drivers when he first found out of his opportunity to make his Nationwide debut with Go Green Racing. It led to his most memorable moment on the track, moving out of the way for Edwards to pass him.

"It was pretty crazy," Gase said, "when you get a wave from Carl Edwards for being nice top him that's pretty cool."

Des Moines native Michael Annett placed 12th but led once for four laps.