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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Season’s Best For Edwards
"Kurt Busch had been fast all day, so I knew he was the guy to beat,” said Carl Edwards. “He was right there behind me with four tires and I kind of felt like a sitting duck there...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted March 08, 2009   Harrisburg, NC
Jason Myers says his depression led to suicide attempts, one coming less than a week before the 2009 Daytona 500. (Photo: Geoff Burke/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Carl Edwards, the consensus pre-season pick to become NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion in 2009, still is looking for his first race victory of the season after a third-place run in the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday.

But at least this time, his foes knew he was there.

Edwards, winner of the three of the final four NASCAR Sprint Cup races of 2008 and the runner-up in the points, was virtually the forgotten man in the first three events this year, where he cracked the top 10 just once — a seventh-place finish at California Speedway — and led just three laps out of 687 run.

But on Sunday at the 1.54-mile AMS oval, a place where Edwards had won three of his previous nine Sprint Cup starts, the Roush Fenway Racing driver looked very much like his old self again.

Edwards led twice for a total of 28 laps. Although his Ford Fusion was nowhere near as stout as race-winner Kurt Busch’s Dodge Charger, Edwards and crew chief nearly won the race on strategy.

When the leaders came down pit road for the final time on Lap 324, Osborne called for a two-tire pit stop that put the No. 99 Aflac-sponsored Ford out front of Busch and Jeff Gordon for the race-ending green-white-checkers restart on Lap 329. Edwards was not able to make two tires work for him and he had settle for third, but it still was his best finish of the season and it moved him up five places all the way to fourth in the Sprint Cup points standings.

So on balance, it was a positive afternoon for Edwards and his minions. And, Edwards said after the race, he and Osborne felt like their hand was forced somewhat because the No. 99’s pit stall was between Gordon and Gordon’s teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. That, in turn, would have made it really easy to get stuck during the critical final pit stop.

“Third place, considering our pit debacle down there — we were boxed in,” said Edwards. “It was just a bad pit stall selection and it didn’t work out like we planned, but we made the most of it.”

He certainly gave it his all on the race-ending restart, but it just wasn’t quite enough. “Kurt had been fast all day, so I knew he was the guy to beat,” said Edwards. “He was right there behind me with four tires and I kind of felt like a sitting duck there, pun intended. We got down into Turn 1 and he got to the outside of me and that was it, so I was fighting with Jeff there to try to get everything we could.”

Which is exactly what he did on Sunday, as perhaps he truly is on the edge of another stellar title run.

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES RACE RESULTS: ATLANTA

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 past 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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