Blown tire costs Edwards

If Gordon has been beset with rotten luck, so has Carl Edwards, who hasn’t won a race since March 2011, at Las Vegas.

Edwards was running fifth on Lap 164, when his right-front tire exploded, sending his No. 99 Roush Fenway Racing Ford hard into the Turn 2 wall. Edwards finished 26th and dropped from 10th to 12th in the Cup standings.

“Our front right tire went flat — I don’t know exactly why,” Edwards said ruefully as his team repaired the car. “This is such a fun racetrack, and the car was so good. Our whole team had done a really good job so far. . . .

“It’s so frustrating to have that good of a car. I love racing here. We will come back and get them in the fall. It’s so much fun. It’s such a blast. I’m really frustrated our day got cut short.”