NEWTON, Iowa (AP) - Blinded by smoke billowing from Ricky Stenhouse Jr.'s car on the final lap, Carl Edwards slammed into his Roush Fenway Racing teammate and inadvertently pushed him to victory in a wild finish to the NASCAR Nationwide race Saturday night.
Stenhouse appeared set to cruise to his second win at Iowa this year, but the No. 6 car blew an engine with the checkered flag in sight. With the smoke obscuring Edwards' view and oil on the track, he slammed into Stenhouse and shoved him across the finish line.
Stenhouse crossed the line sideways, becoming the first Nationwide series regular to win two races this year.
"It was a close one, but we made it," Stenhouse said. "He hit us pretty square and shot us across the line."
Edwards wound up second, his No. 60 car torn up in the grass.
"I still haven't seen the replay with the audio, but that's the most amazing finish I've been involved with in a long time. That was spectacular," Edwards said.
Pole sitter Elliott Sadler was third, followed by Josh Wise and Aric Amirola.
For once, luck was on Stenhouse's side.
Stenhouse led all but 15 laps last week in Indianapolis before losing to Brad Keselowski. He led just 25 laps in Iowa, but those were the only ones that mattered.
Stenhouse captured the lead from Edwards and Sadler with a bold move to the inside. He held it until the end, though he got some unexpected help from his teammate to do it.
Edwards, who announced earlier this week that he had signed a multi-year extension with Roush Fenway earlier this week, led for 109 laps after starting 17th. But he started to leave the pits with a loose lug nut and had to be dragged back in, dropping all the way to 16th.
Edwards quickly moved back into the front of the pack to set up the memorable finish.
Sadler took his third pole of the season earlier Saturday and started on the front row with Trevor Bayne - who won the pole in Iowa in 2010 and finished fourth.
Sadler quickly fell back and didn't appear to be a factor until coming out of seemingly nowhere to grab the lead with 60 laps left.
Bayne spent 12 laps in front before a tire issue midway through the race sent him two laps down. He finished 25th.
Sam Hornish Jr., running in the No. 22 car for the injured Brad Keselowski, led for 39 laps, 26 more than he had in 27 series races coming in. But Hornish shredded his right front tire with about 100 laps left, ruining what had been a promising run for the former two-time IndyCar champion.
Saturday night's Nationwide race was the second of the year at Iowa Speedway. It was the first time the series ran twice in the same year in Iowa, but attendance was as strong as ever.
Officials needed temporary seats to accommodate a standing-room only crowd of just over 48,000. The packed house was a nice sight for the series, which saw Nashville announce this week that it was pulling out in 2012.
They got to see a finish they won't soon forget.
"Ricky is a great driver. He does a really good job. Man, that was an amazing race," Edwards said. "We'll work out any issues we have back at the shop. But man, he was fast."
