CONCORD, N.C. - Dennis Setzer took the lead when Carl Edwards inexplicably slowed for what he thought was a caution with four laps left, and Setzer held on Friday night to win the Infineon 200 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
It was the 11th career victory for Setzer, who has won at least one race for a record seven straight seasons. His Chevrolet beat Edwards' Ford by 0.869 seconds - about 10 truck lengths.
David Starr was third, followed by Nextel Cup stars Kevin Harvick and Michael Waltrip.
Edwards appeared headed for an easy win when he passedSetzer for the top spot with six laps remaining and began pulling away. On Lap 130, as he headed down the backstretch, Edwards pulled toward the inside and slowed enough for Setzer to power by on the outside.
The damaged truck of Chad Chaffin was moving slowly back to the pits on the bottom of the track, and several drivers reported seeing a caution light flash momentarily. Series director Wayne Auton said it never happened.
"That's about the dumbest thing I've ever done," Edwards said. "I'm so upset with myself I can't stand it. I can't describe how bad I feel right now."
He had one last chance, moving to the back bumper of Setzer on the final lap. But Edwards swung wide in Turn 1 and barely beat Starr for second.
FORMULA ONE: Sebastien Bourdais captured the provisional pole for the Monterrey Grand Prix, turning a fast lap of 1 minute, 15.978 seconds.
Bourdais reached a speed of 99.692 mph on the tight, winding, 2.1-mile road course at Fundidora Park in Mexico.
Bourdais won the Monterrey pole last year as a rookie, setting a track record for qualifying (101.076 mph). He led the first 16 laps of the race, but a radio malfunction caused him to miss a chance to pit and allowed eventual winner Paul Tracy to overtake him on the 17th lap.
"This track owes us a win," Bourdais said. "If you really are aggressive but stay between the white lines, you really can do something great."
Tracy, who won the season opener last month, made contact with Patrick Carpentier, and the small crash sent Tracy's Ford-powered Lola into the grass and red-flagged qualifying. He did not return to the track.
Two other red flags slowed the action. Roberto Lavin spun into the grass infield, and Mario Haberfield collided with a wall of tires ringing the track.
Bruno Junqueira finished second in provisional qualifying, posting a time of 1:16.881 and a speed of 98.521 mph. He finished just off the lead despite spinning off the track on a curve and steering through the grass.
NHRA: Defending champion Tony Pedregon made the fastest pass in Funny Car history, seconds after Gary Scelzi became the first to run over 330 mph at qualifying for the Route 66 Nationals in Joliet, Ill. Pedregon earned the provisional top spot with his record-setting pass, covering a quarter-mile in 4.716 seconds at 331.28 mph. Scelzi had a pass of 330.15 mph. Other leaders were Dave Grubnic (Top Fuel), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and GT Tonglet (Pro Stock Bike).
NO BILL: The Nextel All-Star Challenge won't have Bill Elliott in the field for the second time.
Elliott, who won the event formerly known as the Winston in 1986, the only year it wasn't held at Lowe's Motor Speedway, is running a partial schedule for Evernham Motorsports. He has made two official starts - he ran the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona - with a best finish of 20th at Las Vegas.
The other time Elliott missed the race was 1996, when he was injured. He's eligible this season because he won at Rockingham last fall.
"I don't think this is one of the races Bill wanted to run, but to be honest, we're having trouble putting funding together," said car owner Ray Evernham, who has rookie Kasey Kahne in Elliott's spot in the race.
