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. Pascal Siakam Raptors Jersey . -- Jose Bautista never worries about hitting homers during the regular season. Patrick McCaw Raptors Jersey . On the day after Billy Horschel posted his 12th straight round in the 60s, won his second straight tournament against a world-class field and picked up an additional $10 million bonus as the FedEx Cup champion, Watson was kicking back in his seat at a Kansas City Royals game. http://www.nbaraptorsonline.com/Authenti...e-Meeks-Jersey/. - The infectious smile was missing from Nam Nguyen last week. Custom Toronto Raptors Jerseys .J. Fair didnt have many chances to be the main option for Syracuse last season. Fred VanVleet Jersey .com) - The Carolina Hurricanes placed defenseman John-Michael Liles on injured reserve Tuesday.NEW YORK, N.Y. - All the accolades and platitudes the New York Rangers received during their recent three-game California sweep were quickly transferred to the rival New York Islanders, who dismantled the Broadway Blueshirts upon their return to Madison Square Garden.Undaunted and unfazed by the positive press heaped onto the Rangers, the Islanders made yet another statement in their surprisingly successful season. They vaulted to the top of the Eastern Conference on Tuesday night with a 3-0 win over the previously surging Rangers.Frans Nielsens short-handed tally capped the Islanders three-goal second period, Jaroslav Halak made 27 saves in his fourth shutout of the season, and the Islanders stretched their winning streak to three.We have a lot of hockey left, Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. This was a big game with a lot of media attention, and I thought we played well.For us, its about getting the two points. To play a team that is playing so well, and for them to come off the trip they came off, it gives the guys confidence that they can play against good hockey teams.The Islanders jumped over Tampa Bay for the top spot in the East, and maintained a one point lead in the Metropolitan Division over the Pittsburgh Penguins, whom they will host Friday.We recognize were battling for the top of the division and the conference, Islanders captain John Tavares said.The Rangers had won five straight and 13 of 14 — a run punctuated by their trek through California last week — but the Islanders finished a seven-game road trip with a flourish.They are 2-0 this season against the Rangers with three meetings remaining, and heard chants of Lets Go Islanders in the last minute of this one.Shortly after the Islanders had a goal waved off because of goalie interference, Anders Lee broke the deadlock at 8:49 of the second. Nikolay Kulemin made it 2-0 with 3:39 left, and Nielsen pushed the lead to three with the Islanders NHL-leading seventh short-handed goal of the season — but first on the road. That came with 40.9 seconds remaining to put an exclamation point on the dominant frame in which the Islanders had a 19-12 shots advantage.We kept our heads on our shoulders and played our game, Lee said. On the road you want to play a simple game and really wear them down.ddddddddddddHalak improved to 23-8 this season as he posted his 34th NHL shutout.Henrik Lundqvist and the Rangers found themselves in a most unfamiliar position, trailing at all and being behind by multiple goals. They fell behind 2-0 at Los Angeles last Thursday before rallying to win. Their previous three-goal deficit was in a 6-3 home loss to Tampa Bay on Dec. 1.In the second period, there is no doubt we were a step behind in our execution, a step behind in our decision-making, and they took over, Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said.The short-handed goal that squeezed under Lundqvists arm was the back-breaker.I made a lot of good saves and I felt like I was playing the way I should, but that was a big goal, Lundqvist said. Weve been good lately minimizing periods like that and playing hard, but that was a tough outing.Cam Talbot took over in the third for Lundqvist, who stopped 29 of 32 shots. Talbot made 12 saves. Only four times in the previous 15 games had the Rangers allowed as many as three goals.The Islanders (29-13-1) hold a seven-point lead over the fourth-place Rangers (24-12-4), who have three games in hand.The Islanders held a 13-9 shots edge in the first period.Lundqvist squared up to most of the Islanders chances, and Halak had his moments of pressure. He denied Mats Zuccarello in tight with 8:58 left and then got bailed out by the posts in a Rangers flurry with 3:30 remaining.Rangers All-Star Rick Nash got between defenders in the slot and sent a drive off the right post. The carom came to Derick Brassard, who fired the puck so hard off the right post that it came across and struck the left post, as well.NOTES: Rangers C Derek Stepan sustained an upper-body injury and didnt play in the third period. The extent of the injury wasnt immediately known. ... Lee and Kulemin both scored for the second straight game. ... It was the third time since yielding five goals to Tampa Bay that Lundqvist allowed three goals in a game. He was 11-1 in his previous 12 appearances. ... The Islanders, who beat the Rangers 6-3 at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 14, went 5-2 on their road trip. ... The Rangers will begin a three-game trip Thursday at Boston. ' ' '