Edwards flips over first victory

He made a daring move on Jimmy Johnson off the final turn to win.
HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) -- Carl Edwards climbed out of his car, balanced himself on the window ledge, gave a quick glance over his shoulder to make sure all was clear, then launched into the air backward.
Get used to the acrobatics.
NASCAR has a new star.
Edwards pulled off a daring move on Jimmie Johnson coming off the final turn, narrowly won a side-by-side sprint to the finish line Sunday, then celebrated his first Nextel Cup victory with a backflip in front of the main grandstand at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
"I almost didn't make it," said Edwards, who had to put down his hands to brace his landing. "I was a little tired from all the excitement."
Out-duels one of best
While he may have cost himself some style points, Edwards earned the respect of car owner Jack Roush by out-dueling one of NASCAR's top drivers on a back tire that was nearly shredded.
"He's got 2 inches of rubber missing," Roush said. "He's got no tire left at all. He did it strictly on guts and determination. I couldn't be more proud of Carl."
Johnson, trying to win for the second week in a row, grabbed the lead from Edwards with 25 laps to go and appeared to be strong enough to take it all the way to the finish of the Golden Corral 500.
But, on the final lap, Edwards got a great run coming out of turn two and pulled up on Johnson's back bumper. Johnson went high coming through turns three and four, trying to block his challenger, but Edwards went even higher.
The 25-year-old driver hardly resembled someone in his first full year on the circuit, hugging the wall and actually tapping Johnson's car as they roared through the trioval.
Narrow victory
Johnson's car bobbled slightly just a few feet from the finish, and Edwards slipped by on the outside to win by a minuscule 0.028 seconds -- about half a car length.
"Let me tell you, Jimmie Johnson is an amazing competitor," Edwards said. "That's the hardest I've ever driven in my life. I'm pretty proud of that."
Edwards completed a weekend sweep in Atlanta. On Saturday, he held off Johnson and Tony Stewart to win the Busch race -- his first victory in that series, as well.
Edwards, who moved from trucks to Nextel Cup for the final 13 races last season, is running a full schedule in both series, trying to gain as much experience as possible.
Clearly, he's a quick learner.
"You can see his intensity, his car control," Johnson said. "This guy is our next superstar."
Greg Biffle held on for third, followed by Mark Martin and Kasey Kahne.
Near front all day
Johnson led a race-high 156 laps, followed by Biffle with 151. Edwards led only nine laps, but he was near the front all day.
While disappointed with the finish, Johnson shook off the embarrassment of being docked 25 points and losing his series lead because his Chevrolet failed inspection after winning last week's race at Las Vegas.
"We were thinking about Victory Lane and being able to smile over our critics and everyone who thought we were doing something goofy last weekend," Johnson said. "We're going to prove what this team is capable of and change the impression some people may have of the team."
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