BRISTOL, Tenn. Sean Johnson USA Jersey . - 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. Tyler Boyd USA Jersey . The same cant be said of last Saturdays 2-2 draw at Olympic Stadium against a very weakened New York Red Bulls side and one which had three stalwarts in Henry, Cahill and Olave back home in Harrison, NJ. John Brooks USA Jersey .C. -- Eric Staal kept his focus after his apparent breakaway goal was waived off early in the third period. http://www.soccerusateamonline.com/Deandre-Yedlin-Copa-America-Jersey/ . Plata blasted a rising shot to the upper left corner for his team-leading seventh goal of the season. He got the kick after referee Allen Chapman ruled Chris Tierney fouled John Stertzer in the penalty area.VANCOUVER -- Roberto Luongo made 19 saves for his third shutout of the season and the 65th of his career Friday as the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Edmonton Oilers 4-0 for their sixth straight victory. After losing a shutout bid in the dying seconds of Sundays win over the Colorado Avalanche, Luongo would not be denied against the punchless Oilers and is now just one back of Patrick Roy for 14th on the all-time list. Daniel Sedin, Zack Kassian, Chris Higgins and Dale Weise scored for Vancouver (19-10-5), which improved to 4-0-0 on its current five-game homestand. Jason Garrison added three assists, while Ryan Kesler chipped in with two of his own. Devan Dubnyk made 36 saves for Edmonton (11-20-3), which has lost two straight. The Canucks dont have long to celebrate with the Boston Bruins set to play at Rogers Arena on Saturday night for the first time since their victory in Game 7 of the 2011 Stanley Cup final. Leading 1-0 after the second period, Vancouver doubled its lead at 2:26 of the third when Kassian deflected a shot from David Booth past Dubnyk for his sixth goal of the season and first point in nine games. Higgins then stretched the lead to three at 6:07 when he took a feed from Ryan Kesler and beat Dubnyk with a lightning-quick release for his ninth of the campaign. Higgins now has two goals and five assists during his four-game point streak. Luongo made a big glove stop on Oilers defenceman Justin Schultz midway through the period before Weise had a chance to make it 4-0, only to see his shot hit the post. Luongo then shot out his left pad on Edmonton forward Ryan Jones to preserve the shutout with under six minutes remaining. Weise finally found the mark on the power play with 34.8 seconds left on the clock for his third of the season. After a scoreless first that saw the Canucks carry the play, Vancouver came out strong again in the second and took the lead on a 4-on-3 power play midway through the period. Implored by Canucks head coach John Tortorella this week to shoot more, Sedin snapped a five-game goaalless drought with his 11th of the season when his shot from the point went in off Oilers defenceman Nick Schultz at 8:41. Erik Palmer-Brown USA Jersey. Higgins had just hit the post behind Dubnyk moments earlier, with Edmontons Mark Arcobello going off for slashing to give Vancouver the man advantage. The goal energized the Oilers, who were playing their second game in as many nights, with Luongo robbing David Perron with his glove a few minutes later. Weise and Kesler then found themselves in alone on Dubnyk on a 2-on-0, but the Oilers goalie stopped Kesler. Vancouver beat Edmonton 6-2 at Rogers Arena on Oct. 5 and came out firing in the first period on Friday. The Canucks hemmed the Oilers in their own zone off the opening faceoff and led 6-0 on the shot clock when Edmontons Ryan Nugent-Hopkins finally directed his teams first effort at Luongo with just under seven minutes gone. Dubnyk, who was pulled after giving up three goals in Thursdays 4-2 home loss to Boston, had to be sharp a few moments later with big stops on Kassian and Jannik Hansen. Not to be outdone, Luongo kept out Edmontons best chance of the period with a sprawling stick save off Ales Hemsky on a 2-on-1. The Oilers had the only power play of the period when Canucks captain Henrik Sedin was whistled for goaltender interference with under four minutes to go, but Vancouvers No. 1-ranked penalty killing unit had the best chance when Dubnyk just got a piece of Keslers effort. Notes: Fridays matchup was Kassians first against the Oilers since his eight-game suspension for hitting Sam Gagner in the head with his stick during the pre-season. The Edmonton forward missed 13 games with a broken jaw. ... Oilers forward Boyd Gordon returned to the lineup after missing six games with a shoulder injury. ... Edmontons four-game road trip continues Sunday against the Anaheim Ducks. ... After Saturdays meeting with the Bruins, the Canucks open a three-game road trip against the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday. ... The third of five meetings between the Oilers and Canucks goes Jan. 21 in Edmonton. ' ' '