<p>Carl Edwards had quite a weekend.</p><p>Two races. Two victories. Two backflips.</p><p>NASCAR's newest star pulled off an unprecedented sweep at Atlanta Motor Speedway, racing to his first Nextel Cup victory Sunday _ a day after he won his first Busch Series race.</p><p>Edwards pulled off a daring move on Jimmie Johnson coming off the final turn and beat him to the line by about half a car length to win the Golden Corral 500.</p><p>"We're on a mission," the 25-year-old Missouri driver said. "We're here to win races."</p><p>Edwards became the first driver to capture his first victory in NASCAR's top two series on the same weekend.</p><p>Get used to it. He's an immensely talented driver who honed his skills on the dirt tracks of the Midwest. Johnson noticed the potential when Edwards moved up to the Cup series for the final 13 races last season.</p><p>"You can see his intensity, his car control," Johnson said. "This guy is our next superstar."</p><p>He's also quite a showman. After both victories, Edwards climbed out of his car in front of the main grandstand, balanced himself on the window ledge and did a backflip onto the asphalt.</p><p>"It would be a shame not to enjoy it a little bit," he said. "I'm just trying to have a good time."</p><p>Johnson, going for his second win in a row, grabbed the lead from Edwards with 25 laps left and appeared to be strong enough to hold it all the way to the finish.</p><p>But, on the final lap, Edwards got a great run coming out of turn two and pulled up on Johnson's back bumper. Johnson went high coming through turns three and four, trying to block his challenger, but Edwards went even higher.</p><p>Edwards hugged the wall and traded paint with Johnson's car as they roared through the trioval. Johnson bobbled slightly just a few feet from the finish, and Edwards slipped by on the outside to win by a minuscule 0.028 seconds.</p><p>"That's the hardest I've ever driven in my life," Edwards said. "I'm pretty proud of that."</p><p>It was another head-to-head duel between Roush Racing (Edwards) and Hendrick Motorsports (Johnson). The two powerful teams have split the first four races this season, and their drivers occupy the top five spots in the point standings.</p><p>After racing trucks most of last year, Edwards is running a full schedule in both the Cup and Busch series, trying to gain as much experience as possible. Clearly, he's a quick learner.</p><p>"He did it strictly on guts and determination," car owner Jack Roush said.</p><p>Greg Biffle held on for third, followed by Mark Martin and Kasey Kahne.</p><p>Johnson led a race-high 156 laps, followed by Biffle with 151. Edwards was out front for only nine laps, but ran strong all day.</p><p>At least Johnson shook off the embarrassment of being docked 25 points and losing his series lead because his Chevrolet failed inspection after winning last week's race at Las Vegas.</p><p>"We were thinking about Victory Lane and being able to smile over our critics and everyone who thought we were doing something goofy last weekend," Johnson said. "We're going to prove what this team is capable of and change the impression some people may have of the team."</p><p>Johnson second-guessed himself for drifting high on the track at the end of the race, rather than maintaining the low line that had been working.</p><p>"I made one small mistake," he said. "It cost me the win."</p><p>Johnson's team wasn't the only one to face NASCAR's wrath after Las Vegas. In all, three crew chiefs were suspended for rules violations _ though two were in Atlanta pending appeals _ and Johnson was docked 25 points.</p><p>At the driver's meeting before the race, NASCAR president Mike Helton issued a stern warning to the drivers and crew chiefs. He raised the possibility of stiffer penalties if teams continued to flout the rulebook.</p><p>Apparently, the message got through. Everyone passed inspections this time.</p><p>The race wasn't even a lap old when 10 cars got caught up in a huge wreck coming down the backstretch.</p><p>Casey Mears spun off turn two, sparking a wild melee that took out four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon and six-time Atlanta winner Bobby Labonte. The race was halted for nearly 10 minutes while workers cleaned up the mess.</p><p>"I thought I was going to get through there," said Gordon, who rammed the inside wall. "But they all turned down in front of me."</p><p>Gordon and Labonte eventually got back in the race with rebuilt cars, but it was merely to earn as many points as possible on the high-banked oval. Labonte finished 37th, Gordon 39th.</p><p>Defending Nextel Cup champion Kurt Busch also was involved in the big wreck, but he had only minor damage. He climbed back into contention, getting as high as second before a shredded tire ruined his day.</p><p>Busch wound up 32nd and surrendered the top spot in the standings back to Johnson, who has an 82-point lead on Biffle and an 87-point advantage on Edwards. Busch slipped all the way to fourth, 103 points behind.</p><p>Dale Earnhardt Jr. showed no signs of breaking out of his slump. The race's defending champion was slow all weekend, starting 35th and finishing 24th.</p>
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