Need for Speed
A NASCAR BLOG BY Jared Turner
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Edwards backflip still thrills
Apr
10
How disappointing would it be if the next time Carl Edwards won a race he ditched his trademark winner’s backflip at the start-finish line? If that ever happened, I think the fans should riot – or last demand a refund on their tickets.
Let’s face it: this postrace ritual has become as synonymous with Edwards winning as turkey with Thanksgiving Day.
The backflip has been a staple of Edwards’ victory repertoire since he joined the Cup series full time in 2005 and claimed his first win at Atlanta that spring. Since then, we’ve seen it replayed nine times after Cup series races, one for each of Edwards’ victories.
We saw it most recently after Edwards won Sunday’s Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
The backflip is a perfect made-for-TV moment, a confluence of adrenaline and relief that is copied by none.
Fans wait for it. Crew members expect it. Edwards’ sponsors must love it. The only other postrace ritual even worthy of comparison is Tony Stewart’s fence-climbing habit.
The standard celebrations - burnouts and victory laps - have become overused and watered-down. They lack any whiff of creativity and spontaneity. It’s about time another driver introduces a postrace victory ritual that rivals Edwards' in originality and popularity.
Let’s face it: this postrace ritual has become as synonymous with Edwards winning as turkey with Thanksgiving Day.
The backflip has been a staple of Edwards’ victory repertoire since he joined the Cup series full time in 2005 and claimed his first win at Atlanta that spring. Since then, we’ve seen it replayed nine times after Cup series races, one for each of Edwards’ victories.
We saw it most recently after Edwards won Sunday’s Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
The backflip is a perfect made-for-TV moment, a confluence of adrenaline and relief that is copied by none.
Fans wait for it. Crew members expect it. Edwards’ sponsors must love it. The only other postrace ritual even worthy of comparison is Tony Stewart’s fence-climbing habit.
The standard celebrations - burnouts and victory laps - have become overused and watered-down. They lack any whiff of creativity and spontaneity. It’s about time another driver introduces a postrace victory ritual that rivals Edwards' in originality and popularity.
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Comments
2 responses to "Edwards backflip still thrills"
Anonymous said:
Apr 15, 2008 at 6:43 PMMaybe we can see the angry young man make another driver backflip like he almost did to Kenseth???
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» Confirm Abuse ReportJudy Turner said:
Apr 22, 2008 at 12:27 PMYea, I agree. It certainly spicies things up!
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This feature is intended to allow you to report comments that are abusive in terms of foul/vulgar language, harassment, racial/religious prejudice and any words/phrases of a related nature. This feature should not be used to report users who simply make a comment about your favorite driver, with which you do not agree. Commenting is a forum in which we can all express our opinions. Reporting abuse of others should be done with this in mind.
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