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Rank Name Points
1. Jimmie Johnson 5878
2. Jeff Burton 5809
3. Greg Biffle 5792
4. Carl Edwards 5710
5. Clint Bowyer 5693
6. Kevin Harvick 5671
Rank Name Points
7. Tony Stewart 5650
8. Jeff Gordon 5633
9. Kyle Busch 5552
10. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 5524
11. Matt Kenseth 5518
12. Denny Hamlin 5498
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Edwards takes road less traveled to Gateway

By Lee Montgomery - Associate Editor

Sunday, July 20, 2008

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Jonathan Daniel / Getty Images

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MADISON, Ill. – Carl Edwards took the long way to Gateway International Raceway for Saturday’s Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 Nationwide Series race. And he took it on a mountain bike.

Edwards and five friends, including Nationwide Series chaplain Lonnie Clouse, rode their bikes along the Katy Trail from Edwards’ hometown of Columbia, Mo., to St. Louis. That’s about 190 miles, if you’re counting.

“I can’t tell if there’s something wrong with my seat or if my butt hurts that bad,” Edwards said.

Fellow driver Clint Bowyer jokingly questioned Edwards’ sanity while saying he’d never make such a trek.

“Absolutely … not,” Bowyer said with a laugh. “Who in the hell would ride a bicycle – I told him that last night. He said his butt was hurting so bad it was raw. His legs hurt so bad he couldn’t walk. I said, ‘Boy, that sounds like a great idea right there you got going on for yourself.’

“No, I just don’t see that much fun in my future any time soon.”

But Edwards said he “had a really good time,” though he added that “my legs hurt, my butt hurts from the seat and my abs hurt from laughing so much.”

There were two side trips that Edwards and his friends won’t soon forget. One was at a public pool in Herman, Mo., where Edwards taught some kids the finer points of a backflip off the diving board. And the kids had no idea who Edwards was.

“It was only four bucks to get in, and it was an awesome pool,” Edwards said. “We got straight off our bikes, they let us put our bikes at the lost and found. We just all walked out to the pool and jumped in. It was great.”

Next, Edwards and his clan stopped at a Save-A-Lot, a grocery store that also sponsors Edwards’ Nationwide car.

“We go in there, we’re all sugar depleted, buying bananas and Gummi bears,” Edwards said. “We went to the checkout line, and I saw they were going to have the race car there on Sunday. I was like, ‘Awesome, you guys are going to have the car here on Sunday?’ She was like, ‘Yeah, we sure are.’ We talked about it for a while, and then I left. Nobody recognized me. There were pictures of me everywhere. It was really neat. I got a kick out of that.”

The last stop was at Save-A-Lot headquarters, where a sweaty Edwards sauntered in the lobby and asked for CEO Bill Shaner.

“We got the CEO to come down in the parking lot, and everybody was looking at the fountain they had there,” Edwards said. “The fountain looked perfect to just jump in after you’ve been on your bicycle all day. He was like, ‘No problem. I can’t see anything wrong with you guys getting in the fountain.’”

Bowyer wonders if there’s something wrong with Edwards.

“He left a perfectly good airplane to get in a perfectly good car to ride a piece of junk bicycle 200-some miles here,” Bowyer said. “We all know Carl though.”

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Comments

6 responses to "Edwards takes road less traveled to Gateway"
  1. 1
    Chrissie Bennett said:
    Jul 19, 2008 at 6:09 PM

    Carl is crazy! LOL

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  2. 2
    Sunday Money said:
    Jul 19, 2008 at 7:31 PM

    That just goes to show how much in shape Nascar Drivers are. They have to work hard to be the best they can be on the track.

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  3. 3
    Anonymous said:
    Jul 20, 2008 at 1:35 PM

    Carl always smiling and having a great time. To bad he has to work for that Jerk Roush.

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  4. 4
    said:
    Jul 20, 2008 at 2:06 PM

    rusty was my man until he retired.how fitting this young man is like him in many ways.carl will win a championship soon,and who knows where from there.go 99!

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  5. 5
    Kenneth McLellan said:
    Jul 21, 2008 at 6:51 PM

    Carl is a class act. It's nice to see him take off his glasses when doing an interview.

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  6. 6
    Anonymous said:
    Jul 21, 2008 at 9:39 PM

    Rusty was my driver also now Carl is They also have the same birth month Aug Rusty 14 and Carl 15. And both from Missouri. Strange and I didn't know that when I picked him!!!! Anne

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