Edited: Sunday, September 23, 2007 - 4:59 p.m. MST

So this is the close, fiery competiton for which the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup was designed.

Carl Edwards endured 13 cautions in a race of attrition at Dover to win for the third time in 2007, helping him jump five spots to third in the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup standings. Jeff Gordon leads with 5340 points, and Tony Stewart, Edwards, and Jimmie Johnson are all within four points with eight races remaining in the season.

"We've got to keep running like we've been running," the race winner said from Gatorade Victory Lane. "It's a big win. A lot of guys had bad luck today."

Greg Biffle finished second and came just short of winning for the first time since the 2006 season finale at Homestead. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was third, followed by Dale Earnhardt, Inc. teammate Mark Martin, and Kyle Busch was fifth. Casey Mears, Jeff Burton, Jamie McMurray, Tony Stewart, and Juan Montoya rounded out the top 10.

Other Chase competitors finished in the following positions: Gordon, 11th; Clint Bowyer, 12th; Martin Truex Jr., 13th; Johnson, 14th; Kevin Harvick, 20th; Kurt Busch, 28th; Matt Kenseth, 35th; Denny Hamlin, 38th.

9 drivers in all led at least one lap, and there were 14 lead changes. The 13 cautions slowed the race for 66 laps.

Here are the standings of the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup with eight races remaining in the 2007 season, one of which will be the November 11 Checker Auto Parts 500 Presented by Pennzoil at Phoenix International Raceway:

Point Standings (through 28 of 36 races)

Note: The No. 99 Ford of Carl Edwards failed NASCAR's post-race inspection, leaving the results of the Dodge Dealers 400 and the current Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup standings in limbo until NASCAR has a chance to inspect the car this week.

NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said after the race that the car failed the post-race height inspection.

"The car was found to be too low in the right rear," Poston said. "The heights exceeded NASCAR's tolerances, which are a half-inch. This is not a COT-type penalty, in that there's no evidence of manipulation of the structure of the car."

Poston said NASCAR would take the car back to their Research & Development center in Concord, N.C. and inspect it further this week. Officials will then decide on what penalties, if any, to issue. He would not say if the race win was in jeopardy.

"We always like to go back to Daytona and have a couple days separation," Poston said. "The results are still unofficial as of right now. We'll go back to Daytona and then on to Concord and then announce a penalty early next week."

News update courtesy of Dover International Speedway

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