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Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Ford, finished second at Daytona. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) ยป More Photos
Restrictor-plate tracks historically haven’t been the forte of Roush Fenway Racing, but Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth put on a powerhouse performance Saturday night to finish second and third, respectively, in the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway.
And yet, Edwards was distraught that he was just inches from passing race winner Kyle Busch on the final lap when a caution flag froze the field and prevented him from making the winning pass in his Ford.
“Man, I'd have given anything to be able to run at least down to the end of the back straightaway but that's the way it went and Kyle did a great job,” said Edwards, who has three NASCAR Sprint Cup victories this season, second only to Busch’s six. “They were real fast. It was a little nerve wracking there before they announced the winner, but I don't know what to tell you, second place is second place. Really wanted to win.”
One of the reasons Edwards wanted to win was because of bonus points. Once the NASCAR’s regular season is complete in eight more races, the top 12 drivers in the points will have their point totals reset to 5,000 plus 10 bonus points for each race victory. By winning at Daytona, Busch has 5,060 bonus points and Edwards has 5,020. Had Edwards been able to prevail, he would have cut 20 points off Busch’s lead.
“That's what hurt the most,” said Edwards. “ … Especially with one guy like Kyle who is winning all those races, he's really setting himself up for a great start to the Chase. You know, if he wins one or two more, he's almost got a freebie there if he blows an engine or has a bad race or something. They are doing it right, and that's going to be hard for the rest of us — those points, we are going to have to make up. That's just the way it
The one consolation Edwards could take is that he feels like the Roush Fenway Racing squad will be able to give Busch and the other title contenders a run for their money once the Chase arrives.
“You know, Kyle's got the trophies and I've got all the respect in the world for him, but once the Chase starts, everybody kind of gets to almost start over again,” said Edwards. “He's getting a little bit of a head start with all of these wins on the bonus points, but I feel very good about our team, all of them, we have the potential to be very good in the Chase.”
As for Kenseth, he continues to rebound from a disastrous start to his season. “Happy I finished third, best I ever finished at Daytona,” said Kenseth, the 2003 series champion. “The guys made great adjustments and we were pretty competitive, so it feels good.”
COKE ZERO 400 RESULTS
Tom Jensen is the Senior NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,” and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to
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