Roush Fenway Racing's Carl Edwards expecting good run in Cup race at Daytona
Roush Fenway Racing's Carl Edwards remains winless this season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
// LaDon George, NASCAR Scene
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Roush Fenway Racing’s Carl Edwards just always seems to get the short end of the stick in recent outings at NASCAR’s two restrictor-plate tracks.
In two of the last three plate races – this year’s spring event at Talladega and last season’s July race at Daytona – Edwards has been on been on the cusp of victory only to see it slip away in the final moments.
At Daytona last July, he was immersed in a side-by-side battle for the lead with Kyle Busch when the caution flag waved, freezing the field and ending the race with Busch just barely ahead. Then at Talladega earlier this year, Edwards was leading on the last lap when he and Brad Keselowski made contact entering the trioval and Edwards’ car went flipping wildly into the catchfence.
Edwards clearly hasn’t forgotten about either disappointment heading into Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 at DIS.
“We had a great race here a year ago. It was very close,” Edwards said on Thursday at the track. “Kyle and I finished 1-2, closer than these two chairs up here are sitting together. It was close. Hopefully, we can run that well again. … It would be really good to win one in that Subway Ford. That would be really fun. I think that it will be all right.”
Edwards doesn’t appear to be apprehensive about pushing the envelope on a restrictor-plate track even after the scary accident at Talladega, site of his most recent plate race.
“Honestly, I’ve had wrecks that were worse feeling than that by far,” he said. “That one was pretty wild. … I’m not going to drive any differently. If I had it to do over again, I think it would end up probably the same way. At least I’m aware more of the fact that, hey, there’s some things that can happen that I hadn’t thought of before.
“It’s funny in racing, you forget about those wrecks that quick and then you go do the same stupid stuff again and again – at least I do. So, I’d say that’s far from my mind.”
But how does a driver completely get over such a vicious wreck?
“One of the things that attracted me to racing so much was that the first time I drove a race car it scared the hell out of me, so, I was like, ‘Man, that’s pretty exciting,’” he said. “Now, I don’t get that feeling. It’s just the competition, and that the fear of losing. That’s the only real fear out there is making a mistake that costs you a position or the race. There’s really no issue there.”
Edwards clearly hasn’t forgotten his narrow miss at Daytona last July, though. And if that’s not motivation enough, he enters Saturday night still seeking his first win of the season, after going to victory lane a series-high nine times in 2008.
“The last two trips here, I felt like we’ve been good,” Edwards said. “This track is a lot more fun, for me. It’s the most fun restrictor-plate track, because it’s got bumps and it gets slick and handling comes into play, and that’s pretty cool after 10 or so laps.
“I feel like we’ve got a good handle on that, so hopefully that translates to a good run.”
