Monthly Archives: June 2011
There is “shopping” and then there is “buying”
I have gotten several emails about what I think Carl Edwards will be doing next year. Well I discussed this with a good friend of mine and she came up with the best definition of what is going on right now with Carl.
Carl Edwards, Mike Beam and Jack Roush talk at Michigan International Speedway - Stacey Massel
Right now I think what is going on is Carl is shopping around to find out what kind of deal he can get from someone else and take it over to Roush and get a better deal than already has. I read a comment from Edwards on Sunday that told me he was looking to stay put at Roush and work on a new contract there.
The grass always seems greener. That’s how human beings are,” Edwards said Sunday morning prior to the race at Michigan where he finished 5th and padded his points lead. “But what I’m doing is working really hard (With) Steve Newmark and Jack Roush and Evan Lyle (president of Roush Industries) and all the guys, we’re working really hard to get all our contract stuff done behind the scenes. We really didn’t plan on talking about that here today, but we’re working really hard on it and hopefully we’ll get something done soon.”
I think Bob Dilner had the best explanation that as long as Carl isn’t signed the rumors are going to be flying and you will see the domino’s fall when he is signed this year. I just do not see him leaving Roush for Gibbs. And all you Gibbs fans that like to read my blog, I am going to be the first to say Gibbs isn’t no where near Roush when it comes to the success level. I would be much more worried if this was Hendrick Motorsports he was talking to and not Gibbs, because Hendrick in my book is the only team that has the same “caliber” operation Roush does. Yes, Gibbs is Toyota’s top organization, but with the relationship that Carl Edwards has had with Ford and Roush; I just do not see it happening.
I’ve been told by numerous “inside” sources that Carl wants to re-sign with Roush. Let us put this up, if you were the face of an organization and its manufacturer would you want out of it? If you were sitting on top of the points standings for more than half of the season so far and been in place to win several races; would you leave? I don’t think I would and I will say this, Carl is a student of the sport and he knows what he is doing, so I do not doubt one bit Carl is going to stay put at RFR.
So back to the subject just because your shopping for it, doesn’t mean you are going to buy it!
Edwards takes home top-five in Michigan
It looked good with 11 to go, Carl Edwards had his eyes on the prize and no one in his mirrors. That was until Dale Earnhardt Jr., crashed and brought out the caution flag and when the pit stops cycled through Edwards left in third and dropped back two positions after teammate Matt Kenseth slid the tires on the restart.
Edwards started the race n the 23rd position but was within the top-10 by lap 23. He reported to crew chief Bob Osborne that the No. 99 Aflac’s Now Hiring Ford Fusion was handling loose throughout much of the race. The team made constant changes on the car to get the handling right for Edwards. He was running inside the top-five by lap 43 and took the lead for the first time during a cycle of green flag stops.
At the halfway point, Edwards was running in seventh place. He reported to the crew that the car started out loose on each run, but would get better the long he ran. On lap 160, a caution flag fell during a cycle of green flag pit stops and Edwards was one of the few cars that had not made a pit stop. It worked to Edwards advantage as many drivers who pitted were already one lap down. Edwards was running third when the restart came on lap 164, but quickly charged around the top-two cars. He had steadily ran faster times than Denny Hamlin and teammate Matt Kenseth and was holding a 1.3 second lead over Hamlin going into the final ten laps.
With nine laps to go, Dale Earnhardt Jr., hit the wall and it brought out the caution flag. The team brought Edwards down pit road and took two tires and a small splash of fuel. The team left the pits in 3rd place. Racing resumed with just five laps to go on the track and when teammate Matt Kenseth spun his tires, it slowed Edwards’ momentum and cost him two positions on the track and ended up in fifth place.
Edwards’ points lead was extended to 20, after entering the weekend with a 6 point
Edwards Wins Again In Michigan
Carl Edwards may not be running for the drivers’ championship in the Nascar Nationwide Series, but he certain has been driving like it. He posted his second win in the last five races to compliment his three runnerup finishes. Edwards and his Roush Fenway Racing #60 Fastenal team started in the third position but by lap three he was leading the field. He held the lead after a round of green flag pit stops around lap 40, stretching it to over one second over Kyle Busch. At lap 43 a debris caution initiated a variety of pit strategies. The 60 team pitted for tires and fuel while Elliot Sadler and Paul Menard remained on track. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. moved into the lead at lap 50. The second caution fell at lap 56, and again cars stayed on track. But Edwards continued to run in the top five, moving steadily toward the front. At lap 85, Edwards made his move to go three-wide on the inside to regain the point. The third caution was called at lap 93 as green flag pit stops were in progress. Mark Martin was finishing his pit stop as the yellow flag was thrown, and was able to remain on the lead lap and move into the lead as the majority of lead lap cars pitted. The green flag flew at lap 100, and it took Edwards one lap to move into the front once again. From that point on, his greatest competition came from fellow RFR driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Stenhouse held the lead until lap 116 when Edwards swooped beneath the 6 car to move a
head. Following Edwards across the line were Stenhouse, Kyle Busch, Paul Menard and fellow RFR driver Trevor Bayne.
Edwards led a total of 69 laps, the most of the field. This is his fourth win of the 2011 season, and the #60 now leads the owners’ standings by 13 points over Joe Gibbs’ #18, and gave Jack Roush his fifth win at Michigan.
The fans were treated to Edwards’ customary backflip followed by a most energetic run into the stands. After the race, Edwards said, “Ricky drove his heart out — that guy is unbelievable. I didn’t think I was going to be able to get him, but it was like his car got tightened up. I didn’t think I was going to be able to catch him. His car, I don’t think, was balanced as well as mine was, and he was somehow making it go that fast. So he’s someone I’m a little nervous about for the future.”
The Nationwide Series will travel next week to Road America in Wisconsin, where Carl Edwards posted a victory last year at the inaugural event.
Fan Shout Out #3
What has made Roush Fenway Racing, including Carl Edwards, so successful on the two-mile Michigan International Speedway?
Roush has had 162 starts, completed 30810 of 31893 and led 2056 laps. Roush Fenway has scored 11 wins, 49 top-fives, and 86 top-ten efforts at the track, going into this weekend where they will be considered heavy favorites to win. Please post your thoughts below.
Putting Pocono behind us, Michigan has the past success
Carl Edwards spent more than half of the race yesterday in the booth with TNT’s commentators after his engine broke a valve on the head of the engine. He knew it would take a win for someone to surpass him in the points standings, and likely would go to Michigan as the series’ points leader.
I have had several debates about what happened yesterday. A broken valve is something that is not a part that can be stopped as some have asked, it is a part that moves up and down inside the cylinder heads, there are intake and exhaust valves for each cylinder inside the motor. The team repaired the car enough where he could finish the last 3 laps of the race and leave without a DNF in the race. So now fans, let us all put that race at Pocono behind us. Pocono has been one of the up-and-down venues in the past for Edwards, but Michigan is a totally different story for Edwards.
In 13 career races at Michigan, Edwards has 3 wins, 8 top-fives, and 11 top-ten finishes, he has been out front for 244 of 2535 laps and has never failed to complete a lap around Michigan. Going into this weekend’s race, Edwards should be considered a pre-race favorite to win the 400-miler on the two-mile oval. Doug Yates builds excellent engines and I will go against any fan that put that man down Sunday after the valve broke on the engine, and he is a major reason that the Ford teams are back to consistently running up front each weekend. Parts malfunction, it is something every team has to put behind them.
That was the first engine problem that the 99 car has been faced with since the engine let go back at Charlotte in October of 2009. I will take that any day of the week compared to a lot of teams in this sport. So going into Michigan,
Broken valve takes Edwards points lead down to 6
Pocono Raceway – After having a strong run in practice on Friday afternoon and placing the fastest car in the two sessions; Carl Edwards was the last car to go out on Saturday afternoon in Coors Light Qualifying. Edwards posted the sixth fastest lap in the session and was considered one of them event favorites going into Sunday afternoon at Pocono.
Carl Edwards and his crew suffered their worst finish of 2011 at Pocono credit - Jason Smith/Getty Images
The green flag waved at 1:19 p.m. and Carl Edwards quickly moved passed the 78 of Regan Smith. His car appeared to have the speed to run with the front contenders in the event as the race began to span out. The first caution flag of the event fell on lap 9 for debris in turn one. Edwards and crew chief Bob Osborne decided to keep the No. 99 Kellogg’s Ford Fusion on the track, knowing that the competition caution would be falling on lap 20. Edwards remained in the fifth position through the run until lap 18 when the caution came out for debris on the track once again. Teams would make their first pit stops of the afternoon as Edwards came into the pits in fifth and left at the tail end of the top-ten.
By lap 34, Carl Edwards had moved around Dale Earnhardt Jr., for the fourth position and appeared to be as fast as the top-3 cars. It was just 13 laps later, that Edwards came back down pit road for adjustments and four tires on his car. In the move, Edwards repositioned himself into the third position after the pit stops, and was gaining on the race leaders. But on lap 60, Edwards called into his crew chief Bob Osborne that he was coming into the pits because he was down a cylinder and it could possibly be a loose plug wire.
The No. 99 Kellogg’s Racing team worked on the crew on pit road until lap 62, until Osborne called the team to the garage to work on the car. Edwards’ team found that they had a broken valve inside the engine and worked to fix the car. Even after having the trouble, Edwards went into the commentators booth with Kyle Petty and Wally Dallenbach to report on his issue and help with the races commentating. Edwards left after most of the race was completed and returned to the track to complete the final 3 laps of the race and record a 37th place finish, the worst for the team all season.
It took the points lead that Edwards had of 40 going into the race to 6 going into next weekend’s race at Michigan.
“What good is the points lead if you don’t use it?” Edwards said. “We are using it today and we’re going to need every bit we can to get out of here with the lead today.”
“We were running really well and I was babying the engine a little bit and not shifting too much,” the driver said. “It’s just one of those things. Sometimes things break.”
As the hot summer gets here, Edwards the hottest driver on the circuit
Carl Edwards climbs from his No. 99 Aflac Ford at Kansas
Edwards and Osborne stand to discuss practice at Charlotte Motor Speedway in October of 2010 (Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images)
“All of those things – there is not one trick, we don’t just have a good engine or just have a good aero package. We have good race cars, and all of that has come together. Almost all the teams have been to victory lane in one way or another this year.”
Now other drivers are starting to sit and notice things as the months keep moving by. Tony Stewart made the remark last weekend while racing at Kansas Speedway that competing against the Roush Fenway group was like “taking a knife to a gun fight.” Edwards simply responded by saying that the new FR9 was not a big advantage, that the team had done its home work and caught up to everyone else this season. And the fact is they have. Last season, Roush Fenway was way behind on research and Roush spent the extra money to get things back in place. Now the team is at the same standards with everyone of its competitors including Hendrick and Gibbs.
“We are here to win right now, and it is nice to be able to do that. I have never been in this position at this point in the season.”
Weekly Fan Shout Out #2
In the past few weeks Kyle Busch has gotten into it with Kevin Harvick at Darlington, then got the speeding ticket in the Lexus sports car, and now he has gotten into a match with Richard Childress? Do you think Busch looks for drama to bring to the press? And what will come next from Busch?
Edwards Posts Another Strong Finish at Kansas
It may not be the finish that he wanted, but Carl Edwards will take his fifth place finish at Kansas Speedway as another strong run in his quest for the Nascar Sprint Cup championship. The #99 Aflac Ford Fusion was in seventh place as the green flag dropped. It took him 84 laps to take over the lead, which he held until a caution fell at lap 110. Kyle Busch exited the pits with the lead, with Edwards in second place. Edwards reported his car was too loose on that run, and he was not able to keep up with the leaders, falling back to 8th place. The team continued to adjust on the car, but then fuel strategy became the buzz words of the day with about 100 laps to go. The 99 pitted with 20 laps to go, getting fuel and two tires. Because other teams had pitted earlier, and were gambling to make it to the finish ahead of Edwards, he was left with the waiting game to see when or if any of the cars ahead would run out of gas. The #22 of Kurt Busch did run out at lap 259, leaving his teammate Brad Keselowski with the lead. Keselowski was able to extend his fuel to the finish line, with Dale Earnhardt, Jr coming in second and Denny Hamlin in third place. Jeff Gordon and Edwards rounded out the top 5.
Post race quote: “I really wanted to win and it is really hard to win here,” Edwards said. “Today was a little bit extra difficult because the track was changing a lot. The first third of the race and even the first half our Aflac Ford Fusion was superior. It was great. Bob and I didn’t change the car enough to keep up with the conditions. We had a restart and I went backwards in a hurry and I thought we had to really gather it up. We did that and made it up to fifth. I had a good time though. It is a fun race track and it is my new favorite race track. When it is hot and slick like this you can slide the cars around and run multiple grooves. It is a lot of fun and I like it.”
This fifth place finish was the 7th top five of the year, and the 10th top ten of 13 races. Edwards was able to extend his points lead in the standings to 40 points over Jimmie Johnson. The second place finish for Earnhardt Jr moves him one point behind Johnson in the standings. The series moves on to Pocono next week for the 5-Hour Energy 500 on Sunday, June 12th.
Weekly Fan Shout Out #1
There are rumors floating around that Carl Edwards could leave Roush Fenway Racing, or re-sign. What is your opinion on where Carl will be in 2012? Roush Fenway Racing? Joe Gibbs Racing, Red Bull? Or Will he re-sign with RFR and keep his lasting relationship with Roush going? Post your comments below.
