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.”