Edwards wins NEXTEL Prelude to the Dream at Eldora Speedway

ROSSBURG, Ohio – Carl Edwards won the NEXTEL Prelude to the Dream presented by Old Spice dirt late model race June 6 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.

Edwards won the 30-lap race on the half-mile oval by .305 of a second over Kyle Busch. Jeff Gordon finished third.

“That’s just unreal,” Edwards said. “To win this race in front of so many folks is unreal. Everyone I know is watching it at home on HBO Pay-Per-View. They have people who bought it and they are all going over to their house. I’m sure everyone enjoyed it. I can’t tell you how much it means to me to be able to support the Victory Junction Gang Camp and doing something this fun. It’s awesome.”

Edwards led all but two laps en route to victory, but had to contend with Gordon and Busch throughout much of the event. Gordon, who made his first appearance at Eldora since 1991, led lap 11 and challenged Edwards throughout most of the event.

“I’ve sweated out a lot of finishes in a dirt car when you can’t see behind you,” Edwards said. “The guy from Barry Wright race cars was giving me hand signals down there and he finally quit giving me signals. I knew they were right there on my tail.”

There were three cautions during the event, although the laps conducted under caution did not count. The only major accident occurred on lap 17 when Tony Stewart, Bobby Labonte and Kasey Kahne crashed in turn two. Labonte and Stewart, who finished 21st and 22nd, respectively, were done for the night. Kahne was able to continue and finished sixth.

The race was broadcast live on HBO Pay-Per-View with the proceeds from the groundbreaking telecast going to support the Victory Junction Gang Camp and the Tony Stewart Foundation.