Edwards holds off Johnson to win Texas NASCAR race

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Carl Edwards picked up his third win of the NASCAR season by edging out Jimmie Johnson at the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth on Sunday.

Edwards led the field for most of the race but two late cautions, with 39 laps to go and another with five laps remaining, allowed Johnson chances to challenge him for the lead.

Johnson, however, could not make up any ground on either of the restarts and Edwards earned his second career win at the Texas track.

It was the first victory for Edwards since his team was penalized for breaching equipment rules after winning last month in Las Vegas.

Edwards was docked 100 points in the standings, along with the 10 bonus points he would have earned from the Las Vegas victory. His team's crew chief, Bob Osborne, was suspended for six races and fined $100,000.

"I appreciate the fans standings behind me, this is great," Edwards said in a televised interview. "The reason we won at Vegas is because of all the hard work of the guys at the shop and the engine department."

Kyle Busch finished third, while Ryan Newman was fourth and Denny Hamlin fifth. Overall points leader Jeff Burton retained his lead with a sixth place finish.

(Writing by Roger Lajoie in San Antonio; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)