Carl Edwards got to do back-to-back back flips on Sunday after winning his second NASCAR race in a row in the Sprint Cup series race at Richmond in the Toyota Owners 400.

The 400 lap race at Richmond International Raceway had lots of side-by-side racing and passing from start to finish even though it went caution free through the first 157 laps. There would be another three caution periods over the next 111 laps bringing the yellow flag count to just four in the first three-fourths of the race. However, the caution period count would double in the final 100 laps bringing the total to eight yellow flags for the race.

Through the race the track would change due to rubber being laid down on the track, resulting in some cars being better early and some cars being better late. The one car that appeared to be good all race long was the #19 Toyota being driven by Carl Edwards. Carl took the lead of the race seven different times for a race-high 151 laps of the race.

It was Carl’s Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) teammate Kyle Busch that raced to the lead on the final restart of the race with just 36 laps left to go. Kyle shot out to a healthy lead with Carl chasing him and slowly closing the gap between the cars as the laps wound down.

Kyle took the white flag knowing he had to hold the lead for one more lap around the 0.75-mile track to claim the win. Carl had different plans. Carl drove his JGR Toyota deep into turn one and got his fender to the inside of Kyle’s JGR Toyota. Kyle was able to maintain the lead coming out the turn and down the backstretch with Carl on his back bumper.

The two cars went into turn three nose-to-tail with Kyle leading the way. The #18 Toyota appeared to slow quite a bit in the middle of the turn and Carl took the opportunity to give it a little nudge from behind moving Kyle up the track and racing by in his #19 Toyota to claim the win. That pass for the win was the first time in the history of Richmond International Raceway that a last lap pass for the win has happened.

Kyle Busch finished in second place followed by Jimmie Johnson in third. Kasey Kahne claimed a fourth place finish with Kevin Harvick rounding out the top five. See the complete race results for the Toyota Owners 400 here.

In case you were wondering, Tony Stewart made his return to driver’s seat of the #14 Chevrolet at Richmond and took home a 19th place finish.

The back-to-back wins moves Carl up a spot in the point standings to become the leader pushing Kevin Harvick back to second. Jimmie Johnson holds steady in third place while Kyle Busch moves up a spot to fourth forcing Joey Logano back a spot to fifth. See the complete NASCAR Sprint Cup point standings as they stand following the race at Richmond here.

That second win allows Carl to join Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch as the only drivers with two wins in the 2016 Sprint Cup season. It also keeps the total of drivers with at least one win this at six total who are all but guaranteed a spot on the Chase Grid. To see how the Chase Grid looks currently click here.

After spending two consecutive weeks short track racing, the NASCAR Sprint Cup series will head to the high-speed racing of Talladega Superspeedway and try to avoid being caught in the “big one” during the Geico 500 Sunday afternoon, May 1st.

By: Buck Stevens