Roush Fenway Racing's Carl Edwards optimistic as NASCAR season comes to a close
Roush Fenway Racing's Carl Edwards remains winless this season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. // Mark Sluder, NASCAR Scene
HOMESTEAD, Fla. - Roush Fenway Racing's Carl Edwards says he has mixed feelings entering the season-ending NASCAR Sprint Cup Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
This time a year ago, Edwards was carrying the banner for Roush Fenway Racing. He had eight wins to his credit and a slight chance at the title, trailing Jimmie Johnson by 141 points entering the season-ending race.
This year, he's 11th in the standings and still seeking his first win of the year. He's also second in the Nationwide standings, but he will be eliminated from contention when Kyle Busch takes the green flag and officially locks up the title.
So Edwards admits to some ambivalence about this race weekend.
“I have mixed emotions about it," he said Friday at Homestead, site of Sunday's race. “We’ve had a long season and everything, but I don’t want it to be over. I want to go have some more opportunities to win and get it back on track, so I can look back and say, ‘Hey, see that wasn’t so bad.’
"But at the same time I’m really excited about getting this season done and starting next season and having a fresh start and getting back on track and saying, ‘All right we can do this.’ So I guess I’m just kind of middle of the road here – on the fence of whether I’m happy that this is the end of the season or not."
Aside from chasing what has been an elusive win this season, Edwards is looking to gain a little ground and break into the top 10 in the standings before the year ends.
“This is it," Edwards said as he prepares for the race he won last season at a track where his organization has won the last five events. "This is our last shot to get a win this season, so we couldn’t come to a better race track. Roush Fenway does really well here. Our Fords run well. Last year was a good race in the Nationwide Series and the Cup series.
“Hopefully, we can have a good run. I want to be in that top 10 [in points] really badly, so we’ve got to make up 44 points on Kasey [Kahne]. I had a dream last night that it all worked out, but then I woke up this morning and realized we still have to go do it. Hopefully, that’s the case, and we can get in that top 10, but we’ve been running well on the mile-and-a-halfs, so I’m pretty excited about being here for the final race.”
