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Sprint Cup
CUP: Saturday Kansas Notebook
Carl Edwards ‘going strictly to the front’ Sunday…
Carl Edwards, driver of the No.99 Fastenal Ford, stands on pit road during qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway. (Photo: Getty Images)
EDWARDS GUNNING FOR WIN – Few who were there have forgotten the spectacle of the final lap of the September 2008 Sprint Cup race at Kansas Speedway.
Jimmie Johnson appeared to have an easy victory in hand, but Carl Edwards made the last lap very interesting.
As Johnson and Edwards entered the third turn in the first and second positions on the final lap, Edwards made a banzai charge for the lead, gunning his Ford low into the turn and in front of Johnson.
Edwards’ momentum carried him into the third turn wall, however, and Johnson went low to regain the lead and, ultimately, score the victory. Edwards brought his battered car home in second.
That move illustrated how badly Edwards wants to win at his home track. Out of the Chase and winless since March 2011, Edwards might make another crazy move in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 if he’s within range of the victory.
“There is nothing that is off the table if I can see the lead on the last lap,” Edwards said. “There is no telling. I want to win.”
Edwards will be seeking to end his winless string on a track that has produced speeds drivers have called “stupid” this week.
“This race track is so fast,” Edwards said. “It is going to be hard to pass, and it is a little scary when you get out of the groove. I swear to you I am going to drive as aggressively as possible. This is not going to be a points race or a cruise-around race. I am going strictly to the front.”
MARTIN A SPOILER? – Mark Martin might be the most likely candidate to spoil the Chase drivers’ fun at Kansas Sunday.
Martin has come frustratingly close to scoring a victory in his part-time schedule for Michael Waltrip Racing this season. He has been third at Texas, second at Pocono, third at Richmond, third at Dover and sixth last week at Charlotte.
Martin qualified second for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 and has a sturdy record at Kansas, where he won in 2005. But he and the other 42 starters Sunday face a “new” track after summer repaving and reconfiguring.
“This race track is coming in very slowly, and I think it will widen out and things will change quite a bit Saturday and Sunday,” Martin said. “They're hard to win no matter where you are and no matter what the circumstances are."
BUESCHER TIMES TWO? – There could be another Buescher racing at NASCAR’s top levels soon.
Chris Buescher, 19-year-old cousin of Camping World Truck Series/Nationwide Series driver James Buescher, won the Automobile Racing Club of America championship Friday night at Kansas Speedway by finishing eighth.
Buescher, like his cousin a Texas resident, drives for Roulo Brothers Racing. He won the ARCA title by 75 points over nine-time champion Frank Kimmel.
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 30 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
Jimmie Johnson appeared to have an easy victory in hand, but Carl Edwards made the last lap very interesting.
As Johnson and Edwards entered the third turn in the first and second positions on the final lap, Edwards made a banzai charge for the lead, gunning his Ford low into the turn and in front of Johnson.
Edwards’ momentum carried him into the third turn wall, however, and Johnson went low to regain the lead and, ultimately, score the victory. Edwards brought his battered car home in second.
That move illustrated how badly Edwards wants to win at his home track. Out of the Chase and winless since March 2011, Edwards might make another crazy move in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 if he’s within range of the victory.
“There is nothing that is off the table if I can see the lead on the last lap,” Edwards said. “There is no telling. I want to win.”
Edwards will be seeking to end his winless string on a track that has produced speeds drivers have called “stupid” this week.
“This race track is so fast,” Edwards said. “It is going to be hard to pass, and it is a little scary when you get out of the groove. I swear to you I am going to drive as aggressively as possible. This is not going to be a points race or a cruise-around race. I am going strictly to the front.”
MARTIN A SPOILER? – Mark Martin might be the most likely candidate to spoil the Chase drivers’ fun at Kansas Sunday.
Martin has come frustratingly close to scoring a victory in his part-time schedule for Michael Waltrip Racing this season. He has been third at Texas, second at Pocono, third at Richmond, third at Dover and sixth last week at Charlotte.
Martin qualified second for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 and has a sturdy record at Kansas, where he won in 2005. But he and the other 42 starters Sunday face a “new” track after summer repaving and reconfiguring.
“This race track is coming in very slowly, and I think it will widen out and things will change quite a bit Saturday and Sunday,” Martin said. “They're hard to win no matter where you are and no matter what the circumstances are."
BUESCHER TIMES TWO? – There could be another Buescher racing at NASCAR’s top levels soon.
Chris Buescher, 19-year-old cousin of Camping World Truck Series/Nationwide Series driver James Buescher, won the Automobile Racing Club of America championship Friday night at Kansas Speedway by finishing eighth.
Buescher, like his cousin a Texas resident, drives for Roulo Brothers Racing. He won the ARCA title by 75 points over nine-time champion Frank Kimmel.
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 30 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
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