FORT WORTH, Texas — Carl Edwards gambled on a late pit stop for tires, charged from sixth to first in 11 laps and won for the second straight week.
The 26-year-old Roush Racing wunderkind is accomplishing things a driver with his limited experience isn't supposed to — like thrusting himself into the midst of NASCAR's Chase for the championship with two races left.
Brimming with confidence, Edwards told his team during the stop that if they could get him back out on the track in the top six, he could win it.
"All night the car had been awesome on the restarts," Edward said. "The last restart it was really good and I just felt like as long as they could get us out in sixth or better, no matter what happened, I just felt really comfortable for some reason.
"That's how I saw my chances, so that's what I told them and they did the job."
And so did he.
Edwards, who was racing in the Craftsman Truck Series before being promoted to Cup midway through 2004 by team owner Jack Roush, would not be denied Sunday, passing teammate Mark Martin for the lead two laps from the end of the Dickies 500.
Meanwhile, Tony Stewart had a solid if unspectacular day. The 2002 champion finished sixth and saw his lead in the Chase for the championship drop from 43 points to just 38 over Jimmie Johnson, who managed to pass Stewart two laps from the end and finish fifth.
Edwards, who now has four victories in his first full season in Cup racing and in just 47 races in NASCAR's top series, jumped from a tie for fourth in the Chase, 107 points behind, to sole possession of third, 77 behind Stewart.
"Four wins, man, I can't believe it," said Edwards, who stuck a perfect landing on his now-traditional backflip from the window of his No. 99 Ford in Victory Circle.
"We're not going to change a thing," the winner added. "We're out to win this championship and we'll do it by having fun. That's way, if we lose it, we're still going to have fun."
Debris brought out the sixth and final caution flag of the 334-lap race on lap 319 and both Edwards, who was leading, and fifth-place Stewart pitted for right-side tires, while Martin and several other leaders stayed on track.
Edwards was sixth when the green flag came back out on lap 323.