out again. we tie the record. >> we'll get four tires on you here. >> rick: so kurt busch will get four tires. would it be an advantage for anyone else to come to pit road now? they were only on pit road four laps ago and only two laps under green. >> steve: i think at this point you're going to stay out. anybody in the top 25, you've worked hard for the track position. inside the fuel window. tires are important but they're not important enough to come this soon. >> rick: running third. and the 78 got in the back of him. >> steve: got in there too deep. 41 lifted too early. you see the brake rotors going on the 78. he misjudged how the 41 was going to slow down.

>> rick: kyle larson's vantage point. he had to also check up hard on the brakes to avoid running into the back of martin truex jr. carl edwards in the yaris 19 taking the low line to try to clear everyone. a smoke screen put out by the 41 of kurt busch. dave. >> martin truex talking to his crusade i had no idea he was going to slow down that fast. i just ran him over. >> steve: you described that like you've done it. mr. burton. >> rick: difficult racetrack. we talk about the surface being very abrasive. as you mentioned before, you have to brake. you have to work the brakes hard here. >> jeff: the thing that makes

darlington different is as the run goes, i know he didn't run many laps, the drivers change the entry. they change the speed of where they enter the corner depending on where they want to run. sometimes the guy behind you misjudges. >> rick: back after the break for the restart. keselowski and harvick on the front row. where now you can search with the power of carfax®. just say, "show me cars with no accidents reported." boom! or how about, "show me cars with only one owner." pretty cool! plus, we're the only site where you get a free carfax® report with every car listed. so find the cars you want. avoid the ones you don't start your used car search at carfax.com howdy, folks, it's me,(laughter)anders. hey! that's not the real colonel sanders! i'm the real colonel sanders! and this is how you sell chicken. howdy, folks! it's me, the real colonel sanders.

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>> rick: welcome back to the bojangles' southern 500, darlington raceway, nascar sprint cup series, just two races remaining before the playoffs. take a look at what just happened. and jeff, you referenced the rotors. we're going to nbc it. close in on the front left tire of martin truex jr. >> jeff: you don't see the brake rotor blowing yet. as he gets closer, you'll start to see it glow. that's the amount of brake pressure he's putting on it

trying to avoid kurt busch. you don't like to get run over from behind. you know when it wasn't on purpose it matters. it will make him feel better about it. >> rick: dave. >> rodney childers, appears to be going to plan. what is kevin telling you about the car. >> car has been pretty good. we tightened it up too much to start the race. we've had to free it up as the race went on. pretty close right now. he's done a good job all night. hopefully we can see what happens at the end with these cautions. hopefully we have enough tires. >> marty. >> paul wolfe. how has it been for brad? >> lost some position a few runs back. trying to keep up with the track and manage tires. it's been a battle tonight with the cautions. pretty happy with the miller high life ford.

>> tire management has been mentioned many times. >> rick: our crew chief managed it at the top of the show. important to manage the limited number of tires you have. brad keselowski choosing the inside line for the restart. kevin harvick will start on his outside. carl edwards, great rebound after being two laps down earlier in this race, up to third. martin truex jr. fourth on that high line. fans back on their feet. as we get ready for the restart. green flag back in the air. >> steve: a lot of trouble with the restart. spin of the rear tires. car moving back and forth on the straight away. it gets harder when you don't have stickers. with scuffs it's harder to get the rear tires to make traction. >> rick: martin truex jr. taking third away from carl edwards.

edwards crossing back over, trying to get the position back. won't be able to do it. keselowski, harvick. truex jr., edwards and logano. here comes the 19 of carl edwards again. trying to take that spot back away from martin truex jr. as far as fuel goes, everyone should be able to make it all the way to the checkered flag. tires, that's another question. the fall-off. we've seen dramatic fall-off after 20 laps, ten miles an hour difference between drivers with fresh tires and those with 20-lap-old tires.

kevin harvick, right in the tire tracks of brad keselowski for the lead. and now to the inside, trying to take the top spot away. >> steve: hard place to make a pass off turn two. the bottom seems better at this end of the racetrack than three and four the exit is difficult to be on the flatter, lower line. >> rick: how hard does the second driver push the first to try to wear the tires out? >> steve: you push as hard as you can. you try to make the pass like you see harvick doing here, you try to do it. >> rick: got to the inside once again. let keselowski know i'm here. >> steve: we've talked about this all weekend, jeff. three both feel three and four is the harder end of the racetrack to get hold of. it's the most important place to try to win. brad keselowski does a great job

of at least keeping up with the 4 through that end of the track. kevin harvick seems better at this end. he gains on brad keselowski, especially right through the middle of the corner. where does he go with the run? there is no place for him to pass the 2. >> rick: with the momentum going down the back stretch. the gap between the top two, two car-lengths. >> steve: i can't remember a race, jeff, when no one in the front was in the top at three and four. they're running the middle and bottom of the track. that's not the preferred line. >> rick: kevin harvick tired of being the brides maid. eighth runner up finishes since his last win. ten total this season. with only two wins. he's locked into the chase, but he definitely has been impressive in virtually every race he has run. >> steve: not only does a win punch your ticket to the chase. it also gives you bonus points.

a couple extra bonus points makes the first three races of the playoffs much easier. it gives you maybe a little bit more room when you show up in chicago, new hampshire, dover, the early races in the playoffs. >> jeff: these drivers have been in these cars for about four hours now. it's been a long race. who can maintain focus, on this tough racetrack, who is the one that physically is ready, mentally is ready? four hours is a long time to be in a race car, especially on this type of racetrack where it's very demanding. >> rick: kevin harvick trying to defend his win from a year ago. brad keselowski trying to grab his first darlington win. brad has won some very iconic races in nascar but has never won at darlington or the southern 500. >> steve: harvick rolls up on keselowski to the middle of the corner but is not able to

maintain speed the on the exit. harvick is using the corner to gain ground. eventually he'll get door-to-door with keselowski and be able to use speed leaving the corner. >> steve: the longest green flag run we've had tonight is the 44 laps. if this goes green to the finish the final run will be 56 laps. >> jeff: keselowski tried to leave the corner low. is that going to work? harvick got a run. >> good run there. run your race. >> jeff: that's joey meyer, the spotter for brad keselowski. >> rick: kevin harvick. a bobble going through one and two. not able to make the pass! >> jeff: carl gaining ground. here comes carl edwards. >> rick: trying to take second' way from harvick. harvick had the momentum.

door-to-door with keselowski and couldn't make the pass. he's now able to hang on to second. he will try it again. reel him back in. like trying to land a giant fish. he let him back out. now he's going to bring him back in. >> jeff: brad got away with one. he made a move. it ended up not being good. the 4 of harvick was not able to clear him. brad is again running the bottom. >> rick: way down on the track goes brad keselowski through three and four, giving the momentum back to the 4 of kevin harvick. he has been able to get back to the back bumper. now is there going to be patience played out with 43 laps to go. patience, darlington. go together. >> steve: we haven't seen much patience through the whole night. in the final run to the finish. any opportunity the 4 has he's going to try to take it.

>> jeff: i believe brad decided to try to take away the line of harvick. he feels if he can run the line it's going to harm harvick more than help brad. i believe that's the strategy. >> rick: the 98 of tj bell. the flagman with the blue, yellow stripe down the middle. that's the move over stripe. letting him know the lap traffic needs to move out of the way of the leaders. kevin harvick continuing to reel in keselowski. we continue nascar non-stop. we spend a lot of time online around here.

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>> rick: gap about the same between brad keselowski and kevin harvick. the bojangles' southern 500 from darlington raceway. the big slide there by brad keselowski. he came out of turn two. kevin harvick still right in his tire tracks. big momentum now coming through three and four. trying to take advantage of it. >> steve: harvick is in the middle better than brad. brad gets into the corner well. been beating harvick off the corner. the last few laps we've seen the two cars starting to get loose. the 19 is making a run. >> rick: here comes carl edwards getting into the mix. >> steve: hard to carry momentum off the bottom of turn two. he timed it where he had a little bit of track to work with. now kevin harvick will make him

fight for it off turn four. >> rick: carl edwards trying to make a pass. he does coming out of turn four. edwards up to second. now he'll try to reel in the 2 of keselowski. >> go get him. >> jeff: i want old tires, slick. drivers have to be on top of the game. >> steve: all weekend long we've heard, how is your car turned into him telling you how much he loved the package, how hard it was to drive. he is in great physical condition. now it's up to him and kevin harvick to keep the pressure on brad keselowski. we talked about how easy it is to make a mistake. it's much easier to make a mistake when there is pressure out you. >> rick: brad keselowski, carl edwards. edwards won at charlotte. the 600-mile race, which you

would consider to be the longest in nascar. it is as far as distance. but time-wise this one has become longer. the 600 in may was 4 hours 3 minutes long. we're well over that now. >> jeff: keselowski stretch it out on carl. now carl is starting to run it back one. he's quicker. we have lap traffic coming up. the timing of when you pass somebody, especially in lapped traffic is important. a lapped car can hold you up. >> rick: 31 laps to go. brad keselowski out in front. he was last on pit road on lap 302 for tires. that means there are 34 laps on these tires. they are wearing out. halfway through fuel run. >> steve: carl edwards caught the lapped car at exactly the wrong place. the exit of the corners is not where you want to catch them.

you have to slow down. see how big of a penalty that costs carl. >> rick: with that little bit of momentum lost by the 19 of carl edwards, that allowed the 4 to close the gap. we go nascar non-stop. ng. it's amazing. this is amazing. that's amazing! real people are discovering surprising things at chevy. we're sold. it's so pretty. they're good-looking cars. it feels great. perfect. this is not what i would expect from a chevy at all. get more than you expect, for less than you imagined at the chevy 72 hour sale. now, get zero percent financing for seventy-two months on most 2015 chevy vehicles. hurry, the clock is ticking. get yours now. the seventy-two hour sale ends september 10th. find new roads at your local chevy dealer.

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>> rick: the good green flag run here for brad keselowski. is that going to pay off for him? marty. >> before the race started brad

keselowski told me he desperately wants to win one of nascar's crowned jewel races. he can change that tonight and take bobby allison's colors to victory lane. speaking of bobby allison, the last time roger penske won at darlington, 1975, bobby allison was in a matador that day. kelli. >> one of the biggest proponents of the aero packages. he loves the way the cars slide around. that with the return of the southern 500 on labor day weekend is like christmas in september. you can bet he smells blood. >> kevin harvick's crew chief said i always watch the southern 500 because it was so cool to see the drivers work so hard to win that race. right now his driver is working very hard. he would love to have a caution. the car is not quite right for harvick. he has sets of tires to use.

rick. >> rick: here comes the 19 of carl edwards. the gap, we went away, 8/10. the gap now less than 2/10. >> steve: made the two car loose. slowed his momentum down. >> rick: here comes carl edwards. trying to take the lead of the southern 500. he was the leader at the start/finish line. can he hang on to it through one and two. >> jeff: if they come off the corner side by side he might be able to make a run and make it three wide. >> rick: they were side by side. keselowski takes the top spot back. now they're trying to get below the 33 of bliss. keselowski back out front. carl edwards. kevin harvick. hc harvick caught up to the back bumper. can he make the pass for second?

here comes harvick. down to the bottom of the turn of. >> steve: did the same thing to the 19 that the 19 did to the 2. front bumper to the rear. made him loose. he's going to clear him. >> rick: kevin harvick back to second now. >> jeff: the car from behind could not make the car that's leading -- could not make him loose. this is an advantage to the car in the back in some ways. >> rick: brad keselowski coming up on the slower traffic, will that help out the 4 of harvick as he tries to close the gap up again. 7/10 seconds the difference between the two. joey logano coming into the picture now. he is fighting for the third spot. >> steve: the other big difference.

the top four and five are not spreading out. they're in the same straightaway. one hard battle for the top two and three and now you have new players involved. >> rick: see sawing back and forth at over 170 miles an hour. >> steve: we're getting ready to get to uncharted territory. nobody knows whose car is the best on this long run because we haven't had one today. >> rick: brad keselowski went by the 48. jimmie johnson putting a lap down. 25 cars on the lead lap. way different than when ned jarrett won the race in '65 and had 14 laps that he was in front of the field when he won the race. >> steve: harvick. when they get to keselowski they haven't been able to clear him. and they lose momentum.

let's see if harvick can run keselowski down. keselowski has found a little bit of speed here and harvick is not being able to match it. >> rick: a little bit more of a clear track in front of harvick, at least the gap between he and brad keselowski. carl edwards, joey logano, those two tied for the third spot. there is the difference between one and two. >> steve: so much fun to watch. for years the cars look like they've been stuck, not moving around. off both corners, the 2, 4, 19 sideways. you see the drivers working the wheel. nothing comfortable about the top three. they're the race leaders and the cars are this hard to drive. >> jeff: harvick is 1.8 seconds behind keselowski. you see the number getting smaller and smaller. >> rick: that gap, can he close it? in the closing laps. 15 laps to go. for the southern 500.

brad keselowski has never won this race. kevin harvick won it a year ago. carl edwards also hasn't been to victory lane at darlington. he has finished second here at darlington twice. marty. >> rick, earlier this week brad keselowski told me that, in this rules package, i want to be able to look a fan in the eye and tell them that when i've earned a win or run up front or i've been successful, that i earned it. i worked inside that race car. jeff, this rules pack age has made the drivers work extremely hard. the track is tough and you the package makes the drivers work hard. do you agree? >> jeff: no question. the situation these guys are in, they have to be giving 100%. with this rules package it's easy to overdrive the car. right now is about momentum and pace and rhythm. if you try too hard you're going to hurt yourself and make yourself go slower.

this is about finesse. that sounds crazy. we have a good old-fashioned saturday and sunday night short-track race. it's about finesse. you cannot overdrive the race cars. >> rick: it's a barn burner. under 13 laps to go. we've got a spin in turn one and two. oh, my goodness. jeff burton in the 23 brings the caution out for a new record. 18th caution. >> steve: the crew chiefs are instantly making adjustments. hopefully they were ahead of the game. put more air in the tires. you know you're running less than ten laps. put a balanced setup in the car for ten laps. you're not worried about a 50-lap run. >> jeff: pressure is on the pit crews. you have to come out in the first two rows. >> rick: 25 cars on the lead lap. all the lead lap cars have their

first opportunity on pit road. let's look at what happened to jeff burton to bri out the caution. this is the most cautions ever in the southern 500. >> steve: underneath the 48 in the middle of the track. gets loose. we've seen that a bunch today. >> jeff: we talked about the drivers being in the race cars for over four hours. the pit crews have been standing there all day long. they've got to be tired. it's late in the night. a lot of pit stops. who is going to step up? >> rick: we're about to find out who wins the race off of pit road. lead lap cars making their way. single-file onto pit road for the final stop. kelli. >> the first long run of the night carl edwards saying, i am real loose on the long run. can't even remember what to tell you about the short run. he said fun racing off there. they called off the adjustments. they're going with four tires and fuel for the 19. dave. >> kevin harvick needs a little adjustment for a little more

turn. he said more tires for kevin harvick. marty. >> the pit stop that could decide the southern 500. joey logano said he was loose off the end of the run. an air pressure adjustment. brad keselowski came to pit road with the lead. pulling a little bit of right rear damage off. they put more tape on the grill for the 2 car. >> rick: and what a pit stop for the 19 team. great job by carl edwards. wins the race off of pit road. we'll see how the restart goes. mister greene. mister greene! yeah. you need any help? nnnn nnnn i just want you to know, i think... i think... you're the best ever! yeah. sure. want my coke? it's ok, you can have it.

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to share for only $100/mo. and now get your new phone delivered and set up for free with sprint direct 2 you. trouble hearing on the phone, visit sprintrelay.com howdy, folks, it's me,(laughter)anders. hey! that's not the real colonel sanders! i'm the real colonel sanders! and this is how you sell chicken. howdy, folks! it's me, the real colonel sanders. i'm back to tell you about my new $20 family fill up meal. it's a treasure chest of delicious home style cookin' but served in containers, not treasure chests. (laughter) (door squeaking) it's finger lickin' good. >> rick: welcome back. the southern 500 from darlington raceway. less than ten laps to go to find out who will etch their name on the trophy for the southern 500. and we mentioned when they came to pit road who will step up and

have a great stop. well, the 19 team did exactly that. they watch as their team and driver gets off of pit road first and the celebration begins. kelli. >> certainly cause for celebration here. what do you think carl has here for what could be the last restart? >> i don't know. the yaris toyota, guys knocked it out of the park. joe gibbs racing has been doing a great job. in the right spot. >> two laps down. how could you pull things back together to get back in the fight. >> i can't hear what you're saying. we're going to go fight for a win. >> rick: it gets a little bit loud. i'm sure derek grubs thinking to himself we have a southern 500 to win. >> steve: the 19 has got to launch well. as soon as he accelerates he has to find a way to get the rear tires to grip and not let keselowski and the 2 car enter side by side with him.

>> rick: eight laps to determine who will win the southern 500. carl edwards on the inside. brad keselowski on the outside. fans will be on their feet for the final eight. green flag back in the air! they fan out three wide. trying to make a pass on the inside. denny hamlin makes a move. hamlin aggressive on the restart. he'll take second away from keselowski. throw wide behind them. keselowski back to third. side by side for fourth. carl edwards has to hit every mark, get into a rhythm, seven laps to go. joey logano trying to stay in front of kevin harvick. harvick, was so close to front. now he's got to find his way

back. >> six to go. >> rick: carl edwards, six laps away from the southern 500 win. denny hamlin, .4 seconds behind him. >> steve: talked about managing tires, managing the race. here we are coming with five laps to go. short run on the tires. it's all about who has the fastest car and does the best job of limiting mistakes. denny hamlin is trying to push carl edwards, force him into a mistake. >> rick: carl edwards continuing to run his line. no traffic in front of him. no one to disturb him up front.