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Sprint Cup
CUP: Edwards Sets New Tradition By Going Into Grandstands
Carl Edwards ventured into the grandstands to celebrate with fans after winning Sunday at Phoenix...
Carl Edwards celebrates in a sea of fans after winning Sunday at Phoenix. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Carl Edwards capped his first Sprint Cup victory in 70 races by going into the grandstands at Phoenix International Raceway and celebrating amid adoring (mostly) fans.
Edwards ventured into the stands when he won the Nationwide Series race at Texas Motor Speedway last week and did it again Sunday after his win in the Kobalt Tools 500.
“People are wound up,” Edwards said. “Fortunately, they all seem to be fans of mine, but everybody is really excited. I had never really considered doing that until that gate was open at Texas. The hole in the fence there at Texas was right in front of me, so I thought, ‘Well, we’ll see how this goes.’”
Edwards admitted that it wasn’t an original idea.
“The wrestler, John Cena, he was at a Gillette commercial shoot with us a few years ago and he did that,” Edwards said. “There were some fans there and they just couldn’t believe he did it, so that’s kind of what sparked the idea.
“Those two times I’ve done that, I’ll never forget those. It’s really neat to go up there. I would highly recommend it to anybody. It feels really neat.”
If Edwards does it again, he might do something different with the checkered flag. He doesn’t have the one from Phoenix.
“I think I actually hit somebody with the checkered flag,” Edwards said. “I kind of threw it and it didn’t fly like I thought it was going to, but somebody got the checkered flag up there.”
Don’t expect team owner Jack Roush to join Edwards in the fan mosh pit after a race.
“I’m not sure people like me as well as they do [Edwards],” Roush said. “I’ve got a spotted past, so I’m not sure how it would work out for me.”
Tight Points Battles All Around
There are more points battles going on than just the battle for the championship entering the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
There is a battle for 10th, which is significant because the top 10 in the final standings are honored on stage during the postseason awards banquet in Las Vegas. All 12 Chase for the Sprint Cup drivers go to Las Vegas but only 10 get to speak at the banquet.
The top eight drivers appear safe, but ninth-place Tony Stewart leads Kurt Busch by 41 points for 10th. Busch is just five points ahead of 11th-place Clint Bowyer. Jeff Burton is 70 points behind Bowyer.
Busch moved back into the top 10 with a ninth-place finish at Phoenix.
“It was a solid day, but we need to get a better balance on the car,” Busch said. “For us, it comes down to working on getting the front end to work better in the center of the corner.”
In the battle for 13th – a moral victory for being the top driver not in the Chase – Mark Martin leads Jamie McMurray by 24 points and Ryan Newman by 93.
Then there’s the battle for the top 35 in owner points. It appears that is set unless the Front Row Motorsports No. 38 team can make up 74 points on TRG Motorsports’ No. 71 team.
There are three other teams that have not clinched top-35 spots. Robby Gordon Motorsports is 32nd and has a 115-point cushion on the No. 38 team, while the two other Front Row teams are between the Gordon team and TRG.
The top 35 in owner points are guaranteed starting spots in the first five races next season.
Joey Logano Finishing Season Strong
Aside from the three championship contenders, the hottest driver on the circuit right now is Joey Logano, who has finishes of seventh, sixth, fifth, fourth and third in his last five races. Logano has seven top-10 finishes in his last 10 races to climb from 22nd to 16th in points.
“That’s pretty crazy,” Logano said after finishing third in the fuel-mileage race at Phoenix. “I never thought that. The guys did a good job. … We had a lot of things that went wrong during the race – we didn’t start the race very well at all.
“We fell back to further back than 20th. Everyone kept their head in the game and did a good job. … If we finish off the year like this, I’m excited about next year, that’s for sure.”
SceneDaily.com • Rick Hendrick approves of crew swap, says team will do best it can
Edwards ventured into the stands when he won the Nationwide Series race at Texas Motor Speedway last week and did it again Sunday after his win in the Kobalt Tools 500.
“People are wound up,” Edwards said. “Fortunately, they all seem to be fans of mine, but everybody is really excited. I had never really considered doing that until that gate was open at Texas. The hole in the fence there at Texas was right in front of me, so I thought, ‘Well, we’ll see how this goes.’”
Edwards admitted that it wasn’t an original idea.
“The wrestler, John Cena, he was at a Gillette commercial shoot with us a few years ago and he did that,” Edwards said. “There were some fans there and they just couldn’t believe he did it, so that’s kind of what sparked the idea.
“Those two times I’ve done that, I’ll never forget those. It’s really neat to go up there. I would highly recommend it to anybody. It feels really neat.”
If Edwards does it again, he might do something different with the checkered flag. He doesn’t have the one from Phoenix.
“I think I actually hit somebody with the checkered flag,” Edwards said. “I kind of threw it and it didn’t fly like I thought it was going to, but somebody got the checkered flag up there.”
Don’t expect team owner Jack Roush to join Edwards in the fan mosh pit after a race.
“I’m not sure people like me as well as they do [Edwards],” Roush said. “I’ve got a spotted past, so I’m not sure how it would work out for me.”
Tight Points Battles All Around
There are more points battles going on than just the battle for the championship entering the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
There is a battle for 10th, which is significant because the top 10 in the final standings are honored on stage during the postseason awards banquet in Las Vegas. All 12 Chase for the Sprint Cup drivers go to Las Vegas but only 10 get to speak at the banquet.
The top eight drivers appear safe, but ninth-place Tony Stewart leads Kurt Busch by 41 points for 10th. Busch is just five points ahead of 11th-place Clint Bowyer. Jeff Burton is 70 points behind Bowyer.
Busch moved back into the top 10 with a ninth-place finish at Phoenix.
“It was a solid day, but we need to get a better balance on the car,” Busch said. “For us, it comes down to working on getting the front end to work better in the center of the corner.”
In the battle for 13th – a moral victory for being the top driver not in the Chase – Mark Martin leads Jamie McMurray by 24 points and Ryan Newman by 93.
Then there’s the battle for the top 35 in owner points. It appears that is set unless the Front Row Motorsports No. 38 team can make up 74 points on TRG Motorsports’ No. 71 team.
There are three other teams that have not clinched top-35 spots. Robby Gordon Motorsports is 32nd and has a 115-point cushion on the No. 38 team, while the two other Front Row teams are between the Gordon team and TRG.
The top 35 in owner points are guaranteed starting spots in the first five races next season.
Joey Logano Finishing Season Strong
Aside from the three championship contenders, the hottest driver on the circuit right now is Joey Logano, who has finishes of seventh, sixth, fifth, fourth and third in his last five races. Logano has seven top-10 finishes in his last 10 races to climb from 22nd to 16th in points.
“That’s pretty crazy,” Logano said after finishing third in the fuel-mileage race at Phoenix. “I never thought that. The guys did a good job. … We had a lot of things that went wrong during the race – we didn’t start the race very well at all.
“We fell back to further back than 20th. Everyone kept their head in the game and did a good job. … If we finish off the year like this, I’m excited about next year, that’s for sure.”
SceneDaily.com • Rick Hendrick approves of crew swap, says team will do best it can
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