Carl Edwards secured a second place finish last week at Pocono and looks forward to a win this Sunday at Michigan (Photo: Jason Smith/Getty Images)
Carl Edwards began the 2009 NASCAR season as a heavy favorite to prevail in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. But with the season nearly halfway complete, right now he’d settle for simply winning a race.
The good news is, he’ll have a very, very good chance to do just that Sunday at Michigan International Speedway, where his Roush Fenway Racing Ford Fusion will be one of the favorites in the LifeLock 400.
In nine starts at the high-banked, 2-mile MIS oval, Edwards has posted some extremely strong numbers, including two race victories, five top-five and eight top-10 finishes in Sprint Cup races. Edwards also won a NASCAR Nationwide Series race here last August.
Given the fact that Edwards led the most laps and finished second last Sunday in the Pocono 500 at Pocono Raceway and given Roush Fenway’s historically dominant performance here, Edwards should be in good shape on Sunday.
That said, he is only too aware of the sense of urgency in his position. Edwards closed out the 2008 season with three victories in the final four races en route to a series-high nine overall, and a runner-up finish in points behind Jimmie Johnson in the final NASCAR Sprint Cup points standings.
So far this year, though, Edwards is winless in the first 14 races of the 36-race season. On the other hand, he’s been much better in his last three races. After a seven-race stretch where he never finished higher than 10th, Edwards finished fourth in the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, seventh at the Autism Speaks 400 at Dover International Speedway and second last weekend at Pocono.
