Angels and Demons Abound In NASCAR Nationwide Race

As Carl Edwards climbed from his No. 60 Scotts Ford after the Nationwide race at Daytona International Speedway, he was thrilled to have come across the finish line in second place, right behind Tony Stewart.

"This car was not that good at the beginning of the race", said Edwards.  "There at the end, man, it was so cool.  Clint was pushing me and I thought about really ramming it in there on the outside of Tony".

"But I thought, I know I'm going to hit the wall and I'm going to tear this thing up and I still didn't think I was going to be able to beat him", Edwards continued.  "So, I kind of gave him a little room and it ended up working out OK".

Having said all that, however, Carl did admit that he had a pretty big battle of conscience towards the end of the race. 

In fact, he revealed that he felt like he had an angel on one shoulder, urging him not to wreck Stewart, and a devil on the other shoulder, goading him into going for the win at all costs.

Fortunately for Stewart, Edwards' angel won out.

In spite of it all, Carl summed it all up, "It was still such a fun race and a heck of a way to start the year.  It's a good point’s day".

There seemed to be plenty of other angels and demons to go around on the track for the Nationwide race.

Midway through the race, the demons must surely have possessed Jason Leffler, who got into Steve Wallace, setting off a wild wreck.

Three young drivers, including Wallace, Scott Lagasse, Jr. and ARCA reigning champ Justin Allgaier, were all taken out of contention.

Leffler was parked by NASCAR for five laps for his devilish behavior against Wallace.

Brad Keselowski seemed to have some devils on his dashboard as well.  He almost took out his boss and most popular driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr. as Brad pulled out wildly onto pit road, forcing Junior onto the grass.

Keselowski had a few more close calls on the race track before brushing the wall and cutting a tire.

He, unfortunately, finished well back in the pack in the 23^rd position.

Kyle Busch also must have had a demon on his shoulder as well.

On the last few laps, he was driving like a man possessed, roughly bumping Stewart through the corner on the last leg of the race.

Busch's devilish moves cost him the race win and he ultimately came in fourth.

He was so angry at the end of the race that he stalked out of his car, refusing to talk to any media doing the post race interviews.

There were, however, just a few angels in this first race of the Nationwide season.  Brian Vickers had a great clean race, even leading a few laps.

Unfortunately, while he may have been an angel in the draft, Vickers had a devilish timing problem.

He pulled out of line just a little too early, instead getting shuffled back in the field to finish in the sixth position.

Jason Keller, a wily veteran, appeared to have angels on his wings for the race.  He had a top ten finish, bringing his number 27 Kroger Ford to the checkered flag in the ninth position.

In this first running of the Nationwide season, it seems indeed that angels, as well as demons, abounded … yet, in this ultimate battle of good and evil, there was simply Smoke instead of fire.

So, was there an angel or a demon in Victory Lane?

You be the judge.