Following his signature flip out of his car, the first words that came out of Carl Edwards summed it up best.

"Man, this is the biggest win of my career," he said.

Edwards won the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Saturday night under the lights. It was his sixth NASCAR NEXTEL Cup victory, and his first at Bristol.

Edwards was emotional after the race after locking in a spot in the Chase for the Cup.

"Unbelievable," Edwards said. "I am living the dream thanks to Jack Roush, Roush Fenway [and] Office Depot. Anybody out there who has a dream, just follow it."

The pole-winner Kasey Kahne finished second after leading a race-high 305 laps.

"We dominated the first half," Kahne said. "[Edwards] was cutting through the center a touch better than me, and we ran second. It was good."

Clint Bowyer finished third, after starting the race 15^th.

"Wasn't quite what I expected ... about halfway through the race everybody got down on the bottom [of the track]," Bowyer said. "Came up a little bit short on the end, but that's what we needed."

Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounded out the top five.

There were eight leaders and nine cautions, including four in the last 100 laps.

"Those restarts were just wearing out my nerves there," Edwards said. "That took about three or four years off my life, I think."

Finishing out the top ten were Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman, Bobby Labonte, Kyle Busch and Greg Biffle.

Kurt Busch kept his lead for the 12^th and final spot in the Chase, now leading Earnhardt Jr. by 158 points, with Newman 18 points behind Earnhardt.  Jeff Gordon, who finished 19^th, kept his large lead atop the point standings.

Now the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup moves on to California, but the win Saturday will stay with Edwards.

"I'm glad that no matter what happens this year, we won the night race at Bristol."