Carl Edwards Is a Champion

Carl and his team arrived in Miami ready to make a charge at the championship.  His car started out 9th fastest in first practice.  In qualifying, he made it through all three rounds with spots of 6th, 4th, and 10th.  That 10th place starting position gave him a 7.1 average starting spot for the year. They seemed to find something in the second and third practice sessions, because his car was speedy fast:  3rd in the second practice and 1st in ten-lap averages, 2nd in the final practice and 5th in ten-lap averages.

And that speed was still there when they dropped the green flag.  From his 10th place starting spot, he moved into the top five by lap 7.  Ten more laps, and he was up to 3rd.  Between pitting during cautions combined with green-flag pit stops, Dave Rogers kept trying wedge adjustments and changes to air pressure.  Carl wheeled his Arris Toyota into the lead on lap 32.  Over the next 170 laps he maintained a spot in the top 3, leading four different times for a total of 47 laps.

While changing the tires during a caution on lap 206, the pit crew had the tiniest of struggles.  By tiny I really mean tiny:  their stop was one second slower than normal.  But that extra second cost the team 3 spots.  Carl restarted in 5th.  And that is when we found out just how strong his Camry was.  He picked his way through the field, passing his competitors one by one.  It took him just over 30 laps to get back to 2nd place.  And watching him hunt down the next car and go around it was a thrill to watch.

The caution flag flew again with only 16 laps to go.  Carl brought the 19 car down pit road for his final service.  This time the crew was poetry in motion.  Carl came on to pit road in 2nd, and left pit road in 2nd.  He restarted on the inside of the front row with 10 laps remaining.

Joey Logano started right behind Carl.  While Carl's car had the long run speed, Joey's car had better short run speed,and there wasn't much time left in the race.  In his interview afterward, Carl said that he felt that if Joey got ahead of him, his chance at the championship was over.  He did not want to live with the thought that he did not do everything possible to prevent Joey from getting around him.  So when he felt Joey try to cut to the inside, he moved down to block him.

The problem is that he moved just a fraction too late.  He knew he had to take a big risk, but it was just a little bit too much.  In one of those intense racing moments that you would expect ten laps before the championship will be decided, Joey got into the back of Carl and turned him into the inside wall.

Carl bounced off the inside wall and shot back up the racetrack into the outside wall, collecting eight other cars along the way.  Kasey Kahne's car ended up driving underneath Carl's car, and Martin Truex, Jr. had to evacuate a car with a frightening engine fire.  Thankfully nobody was injured.  But it ended Carl's chance at this year's championship.  He finished in 34th place, 4th on the Chase grid and in the drivers' standings, 33 points back.

However those statistics are not the story that came out of that racetrack wreck.  During the next several minutes, Carl showed all of NASCAR just exactly what kind of man he is.  As Carl walked to the care center, he stopped at Joey Logano's pit box to shake the crew chief's hand and wish them good luck.

Carl Edwards at Logano's Pit Box

During the interview following his brief visit to the care center, he did not blame Joey Logano for the situation.  Rather he attributed it to the racing situation they found themselves in.  There was no anger, no blaming, no petulant quips, no venting, no hostility.  Instead there was charm, smiling, maturity, graciousness, acceptance, composure.  In other words, the dignity that Carl's fans are quite familiar with.

But this time his sportsmanship was on display for the entire NASCAR community, and for a change they sat up and took notice.  NBC said that "Carl Edwards is the definition of Class under pressure."  Dave Moody noted that "not all champions wear crowns."  And Jeff Gluck wrote this article:

Carl Edwards Responds with Pure Class

I am brokenhearted that Carl did not win the championship.  If not for that caution, he could well have hoisted that trophy over his head.  Such opportunities are not easy to come by.  It may never come again.  But my favorite NASCAR driver has something more important.  He knows how to comport himself; he understands how to treat other people.  His family must be so very proud of him.  I know I am.  In spite of the fact that he did not win the race today, he is still a champion in my eyes and in the eyes of the NASCAR community.

Carl, during your video shoutout to me on Twitter, you promised to give me plenty to write about.  Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to write about your character.  I am honored to be one of your proud fans.

Carl Edwards Will Race for the Championship!

Due to Carl's victory at Texas last weekend, the intense pressure of the Chase took a one-week Phoenix holiday.  Thank goodness, because the car did not unload with much speed.  Between the three practices plus the three rounds of qualifying, his times ranged between 10th and 20th.  The better times were recorded during qualifying, allowing the #19 Stanley Camry to move on through all three rounds and secure an 11th place starting spot.

The race started off with a bang even before the first lap was complete, with a couple of cars making contact and sending one of them spinning.  Once the race resumed, Carl fell back as far as 15th due to a tight racecar.  The race ran caution free for a while, resulting in green-flag pit stops.  Dave Rogers called Carl in on lap 81 for four fresh tires and fuel.

But before everyone completed their green-flag pit stops, the caution was brought out by two cars having trouble getting onto pit road.  That put Carl a lap down, but he was able to take the wave around to get back on the lead lap.  He restarted 14th, but at the back of the field.  A poor restart sent him back to 19th.

In spite of a vibration, he was able to move up 2 spots over the next 35 laps.  When the yellow flag for debris came out on lap 131, he pitted for four tires and fuel.  The adjustments must have helped some, because over the next 75 laps he moved up as far as 9th place.  Lap 210 brought another debris caution, another pit stop for four tires and fuel, and a restart from the 9th position.

Echoing the pattern of the day, the next caution came during the restart lap.  This time the pit stop was only for a top-off of fuel, and Carl restarted 11th.  This caution was again followed by Carl losing positions, falling back to 14th over the next five laps.

A couple of cars got into the wall on lap 255.  This trip down pit road got Carl four tires, fuel, and 3 positions, restarting in 11th.  But back out on the track, he continued to slide backwards through the field, falling back to 15th over the next ten laps.  He was in 14th when a car got into the wall on lap 310.

When the race resumed, Carl was back inside the top ten in 8th place.  Another accident on the restart lap, and for the next restart he was in 6th place.  It was looking like a combination of adjustments to his car and attrition among his competitors might be giving him a chance at a top five finish or even a miraculous win.  But over the remaining two laps, he fell all the way back to 19th place.

Thank goodness he got the victory last weekend at Texas, because his Phoenix race was not one of his best.  Perhaps they were not putting a ton of effort into this race as they turned their focus toward Homestead, perhaps they simply missed the setup, perhaps he was simply staying out of the way of his teammates to avoid interfering with their efforts.  But whatever the situation was, it did not matter in the grand scheme of things.

With only one race left in the season, Carl is one of the four drivers eligible to race for the championship title.  This is the first time he has accomplished this within this version of the Chase.  He sits 3rd on the Chase grid.  Before the drivers' standings were reset, he was in 7th, 47 points behind the leader.  (See, he would not have advanced without that Texas victory.)  After the points were reset, putting the four remaining drivers into a tie, the tie breaker has him in 3rd.  That is where he would start, just in case rain washes out qualifying in Homestead.

This has been a tremendous season.  All along, Carl has said that he just wanted to get to Homestead with a shot at the title.  Well, now he has his shot.  And he practiced his aim last weekend.  He took aim as his competitors and drove into victory lane.  Then in the winner's circle he took aim with a pair of pistols and fired them into the air.  He is poised to be competitive next weekend.  Let's go to Miami!

Redemption in the Rain

After a rough weekend in Martinsville, Carl Edwards found himself on the ropes for the remaining two races in this segment of the Chase.  While not (yet) a mathematical necessity, realistically he would have to win one of those two races if he wanted to stay alive in the championship hunt.  The first of his two chances was slated to take place at Texas Motor Speedway.

Things started promising with a 2nd fastest time in the first practice.  He finished each of the three qualifying rounds in 9th, 2nd, and 9th, earning a top ten starting position and a good pit stall selection.  In the second practice session, he was only 22nd fastest, but running the fastest speed in the ten-lap averages showed solid long-run speed.  The third and final practice continued to show speed:  8th fastest, 5th in ten-lap averages.

The Texas weather was fine . . . until they played the national anthem just before the start of the Sunday Cup race.  Sprinkles turned into a steady rain that delayed the start of the race for more than five hours.

 

But once the weather cleared and the race got started, Carl ran well.  Other than during green-flag pit stops, he maintained a spot in the top ten throughout the race.  It took him only 25 laps to climb into the top five, and then he maintained that for the rest of the race.  All of tonight's pit stops were spot-on, with the 19 crew maintaining his position or gaining him a spot on every single stop.
 

The tension really ramped up on lap 255 when an accident brought out the caution.  Most of the cars, Carl included, came down pit road for a critical pit stop.  In a clutch moment, his pit crew gained him one spot, sending him back onto the track in the lead.  He restarted strong, pulling away to lead the race for all of one lap.

But then another accident and another caution set up another restart.  This time the leaders did not pit.  When they dropped the green flag, Carl had another strong restart, grabbing the lead and driving away from the rest of the field.  Nobody could reel him in.

Every Carl Edwards fan on the planet was pacing, praying, and chewing on their fingernails for the next 19 laps.  That is exactly how long it took for the clouds to open up and resume raining on the track.  It did not take long before the track was lost and the cars were directed down pit road for a red flag.  Knowing how long it took earlier to dry the track, NASCAR called the race.

Immediately after the disastrous Martinsville race, Carl called it.  He said his team would simply go to Texas and win, because that is what they had to do.  And that is exactly what they did.  Carl won at Texas.  With everything that was on the line, he stepped up and willed his Sport Clips Toyota into victory lane.
 
This sweet victory earned Carl one of the final spots in the last round of the Chase, ensuring that he would be one of the four drivers competing for the championship in two weeks at Homestead.  In the current Chase format, this is the first time Carl has made it all the way to the final round.  He currently sits 2nd on the Chase grid and 7th in the drivers' standings, 25 points behind the leader.

When you have the courage to call your shot, when you have a car with proven speed, when you have a crew who consistently puts down lightning fast pit stops, when you have a history of running well at the final racetrack on the schedule, then you know you have what it takes to be a contender for the championship.  Good luck to the 19 team!

But before any of this week's track activities got started, I had the most incredible thing happen to me.  Arris arranged for Carl to film a shoutout to me, acknowledging this blog that I write each week.  I wonder if he realizes just what these gestures mean to his fans.  I still have not been able to wipe the smile off my face.  Arris and Carl, you ROCK for taking the time to do this!

My employer posted the video on our intranet for my colleagues to view, and sent it off to our local newspaper.  As a result, I discovered that one of my colleagues is a Carl fan, and he shared with me several photographs from a pit road encounter nine years ago.  You see, I do not live in an area with a lot of devoted NASCAR fans.  We are few and far between.  So this has given me the opportunity to show people just how special NASCAR drivers are, how they connect with their fans, how they are really fun people to cheer for.

By the way, could someone tell Carl that I was not a Matt Kenseth fan?  I had not even heard of him before I started following Carl in NASCAR.  Not that Matt does not seem like a fun fellow.  Watching a Packers game with him could be a lot of fun.   But it was the Aflac duck and backflip that got me here.  And it is Carl Edwards that keeps me here.