Carl Edwards, while not technically a rookie, came to the Pocono Raceway for the first time this week and captured Sunday's Pocono 500. To be eligible for rookie-of-the-year, a driver must have started less than seven events. But owner Jack Roush and Edwards felt it would be more beneficial in the long run if he got a lot of experience in 2004 and put him behind the wheel 13 times. The results have been evident. The victory was Edwards' second of the season and second of his Cup career. His other victory was at the Atlanta Motor Speedway in March. Edwards didn't start the race near the top, so he had to work his way through the field. Pole winner Michael Waltrip led the first 29 laps before yielding the top spot. Then Vickers took over. The No.25 Hendrick Motorsports driver dominated early on, leading a race-high 121 laps. But when Edwards finally made it to the top, the two held the lead for most of the remainder of the race. Edwards would take the lead on the track, but Vickers' pit crew would get him off pit lane first every time. Lap 139 saw an important moment in the championship when Greg Biffle's brakes failed. He managed to finish the race, but the No.2 man in the title chase was three laps down to the leaders and finished 30th. Other big names finishing two laps or more behind Edwards were; Dale Earnhardt Jr. Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart Matt Kenseth and Ryan Newman. Meanwhile, Edwards and Vickers continued their battle at the front of the race. With 40 laps to go, their lead over third place Mark Martin was more than four seconds. As the laps dwindled down to just a few, Edwards had managed to pull away from Vickers. He didn't know it, but Vickers had a right-front tire going down. The lead was up to 4.950 second with five laps to go when Newman pounded the outside wall. He had suffered a left-front tire failure. That made the race a two-lap shootout. "I was really, really, nervous," said Edwards about the final restart. It didn't show. On the restart, Edwards got a great jump on Vickers. Martin, who began in third place, fell back quickly with another tire problem. As Edwards saw the white flag, Bobby Labonte hit the outside wall and the race finished under caution. Edwards crossed the finish line and gave the fans what they wanted - his now traditional "Victory Backflip." Joe Nemechek, Kyle Busch and Waltrip and completed the top-five. Points leader Jimmie Johnson finished a solid seventh and expanded his lead to 123 markers over Biffle (2,062-1,939). Elliott Sadler (1,781) and Edwards (1,759) are the only other drivers within 310 points of the leader. Edwards jumped a whopping five positions with the victory. The next race is the series is scheduled for Sunday, June 19th at the Michigan International Speedway.