Edwards and the new Nationwide Ford Mustang

Putting a little "Stock" back into Stock Car Racing

#60 Fastenal Ford Mustang

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Edwards Dominates Nationwide Race; Brings Mustang to Victory Lane at Texas

FT. WORTH, Texas (April 8, 2011) -- Carl Edwards started on the pole and never looked back, leading 169 of 200 laps in a dominating victory in Friday night's Nationwide Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. The win marked the first trip to victory lane for the Ford Mustang in the Nationwide Series. It is Edwards' second consecutive victory in the NNS at Texas and Roush Fenway's sixth series win at the 1.5-mile track. It was Edwards' 30th career Nationwide Series win, making him just the fifth driver ever to accomplish that feat. The win was Roush Fenway's 14th overall NASCAR win at Texas.

"That was big," said Edwards. "Just an unreal race; the car was fast. The first win for the Mustang and the first win for Fastenal this season, they have come on board and been a great partner and I've had a lot of fun with them. It was a great effort by this team. We still have space on this car, so if anyone wants to market with a great company and a great team, we have space available. "

#60 Scotts Ford Mustang (Ford Photo)

FORD RACING POLE STREAK CONTINUES

 

Carl Edwards qualifies at Bristol

GREG ERWIN, Crew Chief – No. 16 3M Ford Fusion – IS THIS THE ULTIMATE CURVEBALL? “Yeah, the car doesn’t drive anything like it did most of the day yesterday or even in the first session this morning. That new tire, at very best, is probably three or four-tenths a lap slower. Most of the Roush Fenway cars started with the new tire in this happy hour session, so none of them were really able to post a fast lap that’s gonna put them at the top of the board, but we ran that set of tires we had over 60 laps. We felt that was our best opportunity to get a good read on the tire wear and make the most adjustments to our race car. With the other tire there was just so much grip that there wasn’t a whole lot we could learn from it.” WHAT GOES ON BETWEEN NOW AND TOMORROW? “A lot of reading and a little bit of guessing. Truthfully, I think the cars that were good on the other tire are gonna be good on this tire. We’re lucky enough with our starting spot, and all of the Roush Fenway cars have good starting spots, so that will play to our advantage. We’re not into making big changes on our cars based off of things that we can’t run in practice, so we use our simulations to try and help steer us in certain directions. For the most part, what we’re gonna race tomorrow is gonna be one of the combinations that we ran today.

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CARL EDWARDS Talks about the 2011 Bud shootout, Feb 2, 2011 

2010 Photo Chicagoland Speedway by Dan Peters

No. 99 Scotts EZ Seed Ford Fusion – “We were three or
four-wide back there and I was going between the 88 and the 78 and I don’t think the 78 knew I was in there.  He kept coming down and I just had enough of my car in there. 

I laid up against the 88 and then the 78 got me in the right-front, but that’s just everybody going to try and get the best position they can so we can go out there and
race.  That’s what this race is for is to learn, but I hate that we tore up all those good cars.  We’ll have to loan them some EZ seed to take care of some of that damage on the backstraight.” 

WHAT WAS IT LIKE OUT THERE?  “It was pretty wild.  I’ll be tuned in watching the rest of it, that’s for sure.  I just wish we could have raced a little longer.  I appreciate all the fans coming out here.  I think this race and next week’s race is gonna be wild.  I think the fans are gonna get what they pay for.” 

2010 Photo Chicagoland Speedway by Dan Peters

WHAT HAPPENED?  “We were all just battling for position.  We were at least three-wide and I had my car up against
Dale Jr.’s as best I could and the 78 was on the outside.  I was in the middle and I don’t think he knew my nose was in there.  I was probably hidden by the 88 and he just kept coming down.  I was like, ‘No, no, no, no,’ and then he got me across the right-front.  I probably could have stabbed the brake and backed out of there, but I
didn’t know exactly what was going on behind me.” 

WHAT ABOUT THE RACING AND THE NEW ASPHALT? 

“It’s just gonna be two cars teamed up. It’s really difficult.  You have to really trust the guy that is pushing you.  We had our wreck right there in their normal pack, but once you get groups of cars running that last lap, it’s just all about trust.” 

ARE THE RPM’S A LOT HIGHER THAN THEY WERE BEFORE? 

“The cars are going so fast that the RPMs are really high.  It’ll be interesting to see if NASCAR lets us race like this or if they change something. Either way, it’ll be fine.  It’s actually, I think, safer for us to be out there racing two cars away from each other, rather than that pack, but it’s insane.  It’s wild.” 

WHAT IS THE CLOSING RATE LIKE?  IT
SEEMS WILD. 

“The problem is if you’re the guy pushing you can’t tell
what’s going on in front, so you almost need to be on the same radiochannel as the guy in front and that’s really hard to do.”

Carl Edwards Pole Winner at Chicagoland Speedway in 2009

Photo By Dan Peters

Carl Edwards – NSCS TALLADEGA ADVANCE

Team:           No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion

Crew Chief:   Bob Osborne

Chassis:       RK-677      Last raced at Budweiser Shootout, Feb. ‘11

Carl Edwards on racing at Talladega Superspeedway:

“It’s great to go into Talladega with a point lead and a little cushion because anything can happen there.  The Fords finished 1-2-3 in Daytona and I don’t know why we can’t do that again this weekend in Talladega .  That gives me a lot of confidence going into this race.  I just have to find a good drafting partner to run with all day and avoid the trouble that tends to happen there.”

Crew Chief Bob Osborne on racing at Talladega Superspeedway:

“ Talladega is challenging for a crew chief because so much of it is out of our control.  We do the best we can to get the car handling well and create a smart pit strategy, but most of this race depends on the driver and the spotter.  It’s always a tense race for everyone involved.  We’re taking the same car we raced at the Shootout at Daytona in February so we know it’s a pretty good car.  We just have to hope to avoid the inevitable wrecks to be there at the end to contend for the win.”

Fast Facts

• Carl Edwards currently leads the Sprint Cup point standings by nine points.  He has achieved one win, four top-five and five top-10 finishes, along with two poles this season.
• FOR THE RECORD… In his previous 13 starts at Talladega , Edwards has one top-five and three top-10 finishes. Edwards’ average start at Talladega is 16.2, his average finish is 22.1.  Edwards has completed 87.4 percent of his laps attempted at Talladega , and led 16 laps.
• ON THE TRACK… The No. 99 Aflac team will be unloading chassis RK-677 this weekend at Talladega .  This car raced in the Budweiser Shootout in February where Edwards finished 21^st after an early accident.
• REWIND, TALLADEGA APRIL 2010… Carl Edwards played it safe most of the race running single file in a smaller draft behind the big pack.  He was 20^th with 20 laps to go and began to work his way toward the front of the pack.  He got as high as seventh in the final laps, but finished the race 11^th.

Edwards Finishes Second In Bristol Sprint Cup Race

“It was exciting. I thought I could get to him at the end and rough him up a little bit and maybe get by him, but his car took off. I just told them I should have hit him harder when I got to his bumper the first time, but we were racing really hard. 

His car was better there at the end. I didn’t know how fast Jimmie was, so I thought, ‘Man, if we starting roughing each other up, it might end up worse for us in general.’ But it was a good race at Bristol. Kyle did a good job. Our team did a good job. We’ve got to thank all the fans and we appreciate them coming out and supporting us.”

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Carl Wins At Las Vegas

Ford Photos

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Carl Edwards on racing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway:

“I’m really pumped about running the Mustang for the first time in Las Vegas.  We are running the Roush Clean Tech Ford Mustang.  I have a feeling this is going to be a good race for us.  It’s great to be going to Vegas with all the lights and excitement.  The track has a great fan area and if you win the race they put you in the middle of the fans in the Neon Garage.  That’s where I want to be when the race ends.”

Crew chief Mike Beam on racing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway:

“We have had a lot of success on mile-and-a-half tracks so we always look forward to racing in Vegas. Our guys are doing a great job setting
up the cars for Carl and making sure we are knocking off accurate pit stops on pit road. We feel that we are strong contender for the win this
weekend.”

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Carl Edwards Photo Gallery 2010

Bucyrus 200 Road America 2010

Carl Edwards #60 Fastenal Ford Fusion at Road America in 2010

Photo By Dan Peters

 


Road Course Warrior Carl Edwards