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Category Archives: Carl Edwards

The Racing Geek – Ford 400 Preview

November 21, 2010   Daniel VIning   Comments

Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway

By Jordan Bianchi, The Racing Geek

Storylines Worth Following

Denny Hamlin Coming From The Back
Entering the final round of the Chase, one of the things we’ve learned thus far is that qualifying can be a tad overrated. Look at Denny Hamlin, who has yet to start better than 17th in the last three weeks, and has an average starting position in the Chase of 17.7.

While at first blush the No. 11 Toyota qualifying 38th today may not appear to be that big of a deal – he did after all win last year starting in the exact same position – the circumstances are a bit different compared to a year ago.

In 2009, Hamlin wasn’t racing for a championship and could afford to take a chance or two on the track. That opportunity won’t be afforded to him on Sunday, as he’ll have to mix cautiousness with aggressiveness as he attempts to work his way to the front. One ill-timed move and his title hopes will have to wait another year.

Jimmie Johnson/Chad Knaus Forcing The Hand of The 11 & 29
The strategy of Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus is a simple one. Start near the front, lead a lap(s), and force the 11 and 29 teams into making mistakes in their efforts to keep pace. So far the plan has worked well, as Johnson clocked in the sixth fastest time today, while his two rivals will be lining up 28th (Harvick) and 38th (Hamlin).

However, there are two issues to watch for on Sunday regarding the 48s fortunes. The first is whether Johnson and Knaus have found the speed during long runs that has been absent for the majority of the Chase. Two, as this team uncharacteristically has gotten worse not better as the race moves towards its conclusion. If both of these trends continue, their run of consecutive titles will certainly come to an end at four.

Kevin Harvick Going For Broke
If he is to win his first Sprint Cup championship, Kevin Harvick not only has to outrun Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson, he’s going to need both of them to stub their toes. Not a lot mind you, but enough as to where it allows Harvick to overcome a 46-point deficit.

The only way he’s going to be able to do that, is by throwing deep, taking chances and not caring about the consequences. Be it going for two tires when everyone else is taking four or trying to stretch his fuel much like the 48 team did a week ago.

Carl Going For Two In a Row
Last weekend at Phoenix, Carl Edwards snapped a 70-race winless streak. He did so in fine fashion, having what could be described as a perfect weekend. As he was fastest in every practice session; set fast time in qualifying and then went on to win his first race in close to two years.

While the Columbia, Missouri driver won’t go two-for-two in the perfect weekend department – Kasey Kahne won the pole forcing Edwards to start second – it’s looking like he may not have to wait 70 races before returning to victory lane. In fact, it wouldn’t be at all surprising to see him go back-to-back for the first time since the fall of 2008.

More Misery For Jeff Gordon?
Between not winning a race through a variety of late-race miscues, having won only once in the last three years and seeing his pit crew taken from him in a effort to bolster the chances of Jimmie Johnson, you can safely say that it’s been a trying year all-around for Jeff Gordon. Can the 85-race winner muster some magic on a track he’s never tasted victory, or will it be more of the same frustration and disappointment?

Keep An Eye on The Gas Gauge
As we saw last weekend, fuel mileage can be the great equalizer in NASCAR. And Homestead-Miami Speedway happens to be the kind of track where how much petrol you have left can come into play. Take for instance two years ago when Matt Kenseth ran out of gas with four laps to go and handed the win to teammate Carl Edwards.

With the difficulty he had in Phoenix keeping fuel in his tank, it has to be a concern of Denny Hamlin’s and his crew chief Mike Ford not to have a repeat of what happened a week ago.

For even more into the Ford 400, go to The Racing Geek.com

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Full Contact Racing [Video]

March 08, 2010   Daniel VIning   Comments
Edwards and Keselowski tangle at 'Dega in 2009

Talladega 2009

If NASCAR wants rivalries, it’s got one hell of one. Enter Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards. These two race against each other in both the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and and the Nationwide Series. In Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500, the two had a couple of instances of contact, resulting in Keselowski’s otherwise stellar performance being turned upside down.

Before recounting today’s madness, let’s take a look back to last year at Talladega. On the final lap of the race, Edwards led Keselowski as they raced down the front-stretch. With NASCAR’s yellow line rule at restrictor plate tracks, the two found themselves trying to claim the same section of real-estate. They made contact, and Edwards went flying into the catch-fence in spectacular fashion. Keselowski went on to win the race, the first win of his career.

Back to today’s events. Early in the race, the two drives collided. Edwards slid up the track in turn one after a bump from Keselowski. Keselowski claimed that he did all he could to avoid contact, but Edwards just came down on him. When Edwards slid up, he collected Joey Lagano, and sent he, and himself to the garage. Both would return to the race, many laps down. Keselowski would continue with minor damage.

After a long race, and with only a hand full of laps remaining, Edwards and Keselowski found themselves together once again. Keselowski was running in the top five, and in a position to earn his best finish with Penske Racing. The Roush Racing driver of Carl Edwards, however, saw an opportunity at getting a little pay back on Keselowski. Edwards purposely turned into Keseloweski, turning him sideways.

Once Keselowski was turned around, air and speed worked to his disadvantage. That, and the pesky rear wing. After the air built up under Keselowski’s rear wing, we quickly went airborne, flipping into the catch-fence in a fashion very similar to Edwards wreck at Talledega.

Afterwards, Keselowski climbed from his car, dazed and mad, but okay. In a post wreck interview, Keselowski warned NASCAR that if drivers are allowed to wreck each other on purpose, then either a driver or a fan will end up hurt or dead.

Edwards, after being parked and summoned to the NASCAR hauler, admitted that he wreck Keselowski, but acted very surprised that he flipped.

I guess we will find out Tuesday the ramifications of today’s full contact racing. You can chime in now. What do you think about the wreck? Should either be penalized any further? Should NASCAR tighten the reins on driver’s aggressiveness more? Post your comment bellow.

More pictures of the Edwards/Keselowski wreck courtesy of Awesome Wreckage:

http://awesomewreckage.com/crashes/brad-keselowski-wrecks-in-atlanta/

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Kobalt Tools 500 Post Race Thoughts

March 07, 2010   Daniel VIning   Comments
Kurt Busch in Atlanta Victory Lane

Kurt Busch Celebrates Kobalt Tools 500 Victory

Normally, I would look at a race like Atlanta as being an opportunity to get in a good nap.  Not this week.  The Kobalt Tools 500 was a very exciting race, with story lines throughout the field.  So many, I can’t begin to cover them all.  I will mention the stories that I noticed, and followed.

Let’s start with Hendrick Motorsports.  Don’t leave just yet, this isn’t your typical HMS story.  Going into the race, Hendrick was riding a two race win streak from four time champion Jimmie Johnson, and an Atlanta pole from Dale Earnhardt Jr.  The first story line(s) I looked to follow were if Johnson could bring home three in a row, and if Dale Jr. could capitalize on his pole start.

Earnhardt Jr. failed to lead a lap in the race, his fate all but sealed after a bizzare tire issue mid-way through the race which left him 2 laps down.  Neither HMS or Goodyear could figure out what caused his tire issue.

Jimmie Johnson was strong early, and often.  He ran in the front third of the field all day, and looked to be a threat for the win.  As his race wore on, however, he began to fade, but climbed back up to finish 12th.

Another story line I followed through the course for the race was Kevin Harvick’s run.  Coming into the weekend as the series points leader, he has been one of the drivers to watch in this early season.   His weekend started off great with a win in the Truck Series on Saturday.  Sunday, however, would be a struggle.  Harvick raced most of the day in middle of the field, but clawed his way to a very impressive 9th place finish, far better than expected by the way his day looked.

His Richard Childress Racing (RCR) teammates would would also struggle throughout the race.  33-Clint Bowyer was as low as 42nd at one point after a tire failure, and 31-Jeff Burton raced mid-pack.  Bowyer and Burton did find themselves at the front of the field on occasion, but would wind up finishing in the twenties.

One of the biggest stories I followed this race was that of the Underdogs.  The earliest race of the day wasn’t up front, instead it was between the Prism Motorsports teammates of 66-Dave Blanney and 55-Michael McDowell.  NASCAR recently announced that they would tear down the motor of the first team to fall out of a race that was not part of a clear wreck or obvious failure.  This means that the “start and park” teams cannot simply pull off track, unless they want to be torn down in inspection.  McDowell raced a total of 37 laps and finished in 42nd place.  I challenged wether or not the 55 team was trying to come back on track late to avoid the NASCAR tear down.

In a response tweet McDowell posted, “We are working on the car. Trying to get back out before the end. Making big adjustments.”

Whether or not this was in an effort to avoid the tear down is unclear, but it looks as though they could be that team (that gets torn down).

As the end of the race drew near, the clear favorites were 2-Kurt Busch and 42- Juan Montoya.  Montoya came with mere car lengths of Busch with a hand full of laps remaining when all hell broke loose.

99- Carl Edwards got into the rear quarter panel of 12-Brad Keselowski, sending him around, and over in much the same fashion as last year at Talledega.  Keselowski’s car flipped into the catchfence, destroying his car and ending his day.  This was clear pay back for an earlier incident involving the two drivers that sent Edwards behind the wall.  Keselowski recovered from the early accident and was poised for a top five finish before the Edwards pay back.  Keselowski emerged from his mangled car a little dazed, very mad, but okay.  Edwards admitted to the pay back, but said that he was expecting his (Keselowski) car to flip.  After the wreck, Edwards was parked for the balance of the race and sent to the NASCAR hauler.

After that dramatic turn of events, the race was set up for Overdrive.  The first Green, White, Checkered attempt.  I say first because before the field finished the green flag lap, half the cars had spun, wreck, or slid through a mess started by Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray.

A little clean up later, the race restarted with the second Overdrive attempt.  Kurt Busch held off a charging Juan Montoya to claim the victory, his 21st career Cup Series win.

What a race!  No way this could be considered a snoozer!  What did you think of the Kobalt Tools 500?  Post your comments bellow.

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