BRISTOL, Tenn. - If two rain delays totalling more than five hours werent enough, the water-logged race at Bristol Motor Speedway had a battery fly out of a car and spread a toilet paper-looking substance all over the track. And that wasnt even the strangest occurrence Sunday. Moments before Carl Edwards closed in on what should have been the white flag lap, the caution lights were accidentally turned on from the flag stand. As NASCAR tried to figure out what was going on, the sky opened up and prevented the race from resuming. Edwards was awarded the win under caution — a victory he was headed to before the mishap — and celebrated his third career win at Bristol with his trademark backflip on the slick concrete. "Oh, man, I thought, This is stupid. I shouldnt do this ... Its awfully glossy. It might be slick," he said. "I didnt want to stick it perfectly and have my feet go that way and break my arm on the concrete. That would have been terrible. I was actually really nervous about that." NASCAR vice-president of competition Robin Pemberton said a person in the flag stand leaned on the manual override switch and that turned on the caution lights. Six seconds after the lights were turned on, the flag man waved the yellow flag. Pemberton said that the flag man can wave the caution flag without a call from series officials in the tower if they see a proper reason. "We were scanning cars and spotters, and theres some of us in the tower that only heard it after the teams were talking about it because we were looking at other things around the racetrack," Pemberton said. Said Edwards: "No harm, no foul, lets act like it just didnt happen." The victory makes Edwards the fourth winner in four races this season and, under NASCARs new rules, is supposed to get him into the 16-driver Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. "Just to have a win this early, man, it is a huge relief," he said. Five other things from water-logged Bristol: BUMP-AND-RUN: With Chase berths conceivably on the line with a win, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was salivating at a shot at teammate Edwards when the final caution came out at Bristol. But he knew if the race went green again, his only chance would be the old Bristol bump-and-run, which hasnt been used in years. Its a risky move to do to a teammate, but owner Jack Roush said he expected nothing less from Stenhouse. "When it comes time to really charge for the checkered flag, there are no team orders, there are no rules," Roush said. "I expect them to race one another as they expect to be raced, not only with one another, but with everybody in the garage. I expect Ricky is as fierce a competitor as there is out there, and if his car has the speed in it and he can get to the car in front of him, particularly the short track, youd bump-and-run and take the prize if you could. Id be disappointed if he didnt have that in his mind." AWESOME ARIC: Aric Almirola finished a career-best third — and Richard Petty Motorsports teammate Marcos Ambrose was fifth as four Ford drivers placed in the top-five — but Ambrose felt he could have gotten more. He restarted second behind Carl Edwards with 70 laps to go and had one solid chance to take the lead. If hed gotten past Edwards, he just might have grabbed his first career victory. "These races are so hard to win, and it was a great day for us," he said. "Im not disappointed at all with third, but when you see it and you can taste it and its that close, you wonder what could have went different." SMOKE RISES: Tony Stewart salvaged what looked like it was going to be an awful weekend with a season-best fourth-place finish. It came after he qualified 37th, needed two Saturday practice sessions with crew chief Chad Johnston to make significant improvements to the car and needed the entire race to work his way into the top-10. "Its a step in the right direction for sure. This is a big one. If you come out of this place with a top-five youve had a good day," he said. DISSAPOINTED WITH THE FINISH: Kyle Larson flirted with the lead and was in position to race for the win until the race-changing caution with 77 laps remaining. He went to pit road third, took four tires and restarted ninth. So even though he finished a career-best 10th, the rookie wasnt thrilled. "Its crazy to think its kind of a disappointing finish for the way we ran for most of the race, but all in all it was a good race," Larson said. DALES BAD DAY: Dale Earnhardt Jr.s strong start to the season finally came to an end at Bristol, where he finished 24th after opening with a win and two second-places. Although his Chevrolet wasnt great all weekend, his trouble Sunday was compounded by two left-front tire issues. Once he was out of contention, he was basically just making laps for the bulk of the race. It cost Earnhardt the points lead, which went to Brad Keselowski. Earnhardt now trails Keselowski by 10 points. Aaron Rodgers Jersey . Trailing 2-1 from the first leg, Fiorentina levelled on aggregate in the 14th minute when Joaquin Sanchez Rodriguez headed back a long ball from David Pizarro and Pasqual smashed home an angled volley. B.J. Goodson Jersey . -- The Oakland Athletics and free agent right-hander Bartolo Colon have agreed to terms on a US$2 million, one-year contract, bolstering their depleted starting rotation. http://www.custompackersjersey.com/custom-jace-sternberger-jersey-large-4-1622r.html .40 metres at the Drake Relays. Drouin, from Corunna, Ont., bested his own record of 2.38 metres set in Aug. Jimmy Graham Jersey . - After three days of light, make that very light, workouts, Team Irvin and Team Carter are ready for tonights Pro Bowl. J. K. Scott Jersey .C. - The housecleaning continues for the B.ATLANTA -- Gerrit Cole was so focused on recording 17 consecutive outs, he didnt glance at the out-of-town scoreboard. Cole insisted he didnt know his win over the Braves had clinched a playoff spot for Pittsburgh until he walked into the clubhouse and saw the lockers covered in plastic. The surging Pirates earned their second-straight trip to the playoffs with a 3-2 win over the free-falling Atlanta Braves on Tuesday night. Cole gave up two runs in the first two innings and then didnt allow another baserunner. The Pirates win combined with Milwaukees loss to Cincinnati assured Pittsburgh of no worse than an NL wild card. "I didnt have any idea until I came in here," Cole said. The Pirates wrapped up their berth exactly one year after clinching a place in the 2013 playoffs. "I think it establishes our presence in this league that were not going to go away," Cole said. The Pirates reacted to the final out on Tuesday with little emotion. Players exchanged high-fives in a line on the field before sharing hugs in front of their dugout. The emotions flowed with champagne and beer in the clubhouse. Andrew McCutchen, the Pirates MVP contender, wore big ski goggles as he held a bottle of champagne in one hand and lit a big victory cigar. McCutchen, who had two hits and scored the go-ahead run in the sixth, already had his focus on bigger goals. "To celebrate is fun, but weve still got to take care of business," he said. Starling Marte gave Pittsburgh the lead with a sixth-inning double that drove in McCutchen. The Pirates, who are still chasing St. Louis for the NL Central title, have won 11 of 13. "We didnt panic," McCutchen said. "Thats whats good about this team." Cole (11-5) trailed 2-0 after two innings but didnt allow another runner through seven innings. That allowed the Pirates to rally against Alex Wood (11-11). Travis Sniders 12th homer tied the game in the fifth. Cole allowed two runs and four hits with eight strikeouts. Jared Hughes pitched a scoreless eighth. Left-hander Tony Watson gave up a one-out single to Phil Gosselin in the ninth, but he got Freddie Freeman to hit into a game-ending double play to earn his second save. The Braves, who fired general manager Frank Wren on Monday, are 4-16 in September.dddddddddddd Atlanta (76-81) has lost five straight to fall five games under .500 for the first time since May 9, 2010. Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said he admired the Pirates determined approach at the plate. "These guys, they stick their nose in there offensively and they dont give at-bats away. They put the ball in play and they get some results," Gonzalez said. Atlanta loaded the bases with no outs in the second but managed only one run when Andrelton Simmons grounded into a double play. Jason Heyward, who led off the inning with a walk, scored from third. The double play was the key to Coles turnaround. "There was something missing in the first couple of innings," Cole said. "Luckily, they made some good plays behind me. The double play was huge. We knew we were going to come back and score a few. "It was about outs, and we turned a great double play. Then we just got in a rhythm and just kept going." DROUGHT-BREAKER: The Braves scored a first-inning run for the first time since Aug. 27. Freemans double to the right-field wall drove in Gosselin. Freeman was thrown out trying to advance to third base. The run ended a streak of 23 scoreless innings by Pirates starting pitchers. THE CATCH: Simmons added to his already lengthy list of defensive highlights at shortstop in the third inning. He made a leaping grab of Josh Harrisons line drive before landing hard on his chest. He also banged his nose and face to the ground, but held onto the ball as Wood expressed astonishment on the mound. TRAINERS ROOM: Pirates: RHP Charlie Morton has been shut down. He hasnt pitched since he felt discomfort in his groin and midsection late in his five innings of work in a victory over Boston on Sept. 16. Braves: LHP Mike Minor has left shoulder inflammation and has been shut down for the remainder of the season. RHP David Hale will take Minors spot in the rotation on Thursday against the Pirates. UP NEXT: Pirates: LHP Jeff Locke (7-5) is scheduled to face the Braves for the first time this season on Wednesday night. Locke received two no-decisions against Atlanta last season. Braves: RHP Julio Teheran (13-13) will try to match his career high with his 14th win. Teheran was 14-8 for Atlanta in 2013. ' ' '