FORT WORTH, Texas — Don't tell Carl Edwards that NASCAR's new car is boring, not after he drove it to his series-best third win of the season.

Edwards dominated Sunday's race at Texas Motor Speedway, then rebuked claims made by second- and third-place finishers Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch that the Car of Tomorrow erased the excitement from the event.

"Let me state my position very clearly: I've heard people say that the races are boring, and people always want something to complain about if it's too hard to drive, you don't get enough side-by-side racing," he said. "It's not supposed to be easy, everyone. It's not supposed to be driving down the interstate.

"There are going to be people that are faster. We're going to have days when we can't keep up because the car is too hard to drive. Somebody's going to win. That's racing."

Of course, Edwards might be biased.

He's proven to be unbeatable on intermediate tracks this season, winning at California, Las Vegas and now Texas. And he could have won at Atlanta had his motor not failed while leading.

His dominance has proven that the severe penalties his team drew after a failed inspection in Vegas won't derail his Roush Fenway Racing team. Edwards was docked 100 points and crew chief Bob Osborne was suspended six races because the lid was missing on the oil tank after the Vegas victory.

"It doesn't matter if we get penalized. We might get a 100-point penalty for something today," Edwards said. "It's not going to change what I do. I'm just going to do the best I can and our cars are really good. It does feel good to look in there and see the oil tank cover on the car, that's good.

"But this is what we do. We got out and try to win. The other stuff doesn't matter."

That was evident as Edwards dominated Sunday, leading a race-high 123 laps. He built a lead of more than 7 seconds at one point, and it only evaporated with two late cautions that allowed Johnson and Busch a pair of chances to catch him.

Neither came close.

"He probably could have led however many laps there were today," said Busch, the third-place finisher. "He just didn't show his full hand. We knew he was pretty good."

Edwards didn't dispute it, either. He nearly won the pole, settling for second when Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s late attempt nudged him to the second starting position, then paced both of Saturday's final practice sessions to cement himself as the driver to beat.

"That's the truth," he said of Busch's assertion. "I could go a lot faster today if I wanted to."

It wasn't necessary as the No. 99 team won for the first time since the Las Vegas scandal that stripped Edwards of valuable points — the 100-point deduction knocked him out of the points lead, and NASCAR also seized the 10 bonus points he earned for the victory. In addition to his suspension, Osborne was fined $100,000.

As Edwards crossed the finish line Sunday, he dedicated the victory to Osborne.