The car showed evidence of speed during practice, finishing the three sessions in 2nd, 1st, and 8th. And he showed good long-run speed, flashing the 2nd fastest 10-lap average during the final practice session. During the first round of qualifying, he posted the 9th fastest time, easily moving on to the second round. But in the second round, his time was 13th fastest, 0.01 behind 12th place. So he did not make it into the third and final round, settling for the 13th starting position, and at a track where position is critical because of how difficult it is to pass.
To complicate things even further, the team received their fourth warning of the season during inspection. The penalty for that infraction is to lose the right to choose their pit stall based on their qualifying position. So instead of being the 13th team to select a stall, they were 40th and last, getting the leftover stall. That left them sandwiched between Ryan Blaney's #21 car and Alex Bowman in Junior's #88.
With two less experienced drivers and a large number of cars maintaining positions on the lead lap, Carl and his team found themselves in tight quarters. One time Alex Bowman clipped the corner of Carl's car when trying to exit his pit stall. Another time, Blaney's position in his stall had the 19 team blocked in, so Dave Rogers called an audible. He changed what would have been a two-tire stop to a four-time stop, because they could not get out of their stall anyway, leaving them further back than they otherwise would have restarted.
Out on the track during much of the race, Carl's position ranged from a high of 4th to a low of 17th. The better positions were often the result of adjustments made to the car followed by digging to gain spots on a restart. The poorer positions were mostly the result of difficulties on pit road. Not only did they struggle with the cars on either side of them, but the 19 crew had its own struggle when a tire got hung up on the fender. But other than those situations, Carl mostly seemed to hang between 7th and 13th.
It was a typical Loudon race, with long green-flag runs at the beginning of the race, followed by a flurry of cautions as the race wound down and the drivers wound up. The attrition rate during those last few cautions seemed to indicate that Carl might end up with a top ten finish after all. But no. On lap 284 out of 301, several cars ahead, someone checked up. That was followed by Ryan Newman getting into Carl who got into Kasey Kahne who got into Kyle Larson. Larson's car went sliding through the grass, clearly taking the worst of it. Newman sailed through the mess pretty much unscathed. Carl had to take his car down pit road a couple of times to get new tires and adjusted fenders, but he managed to stay on the lead lap. When the race resumed on lap 290, he restarted way back in 23rd. With only 11 laps left, he did not have much time to recover, but he did advance a few spots, finishing the day in 20th.
In spite of that disappointing finish, he did maintain the 3rd spot on the Chase grid and 4th in the drivers' standings. And it is official; Carl is now firmly in the Chase! His spot is clinched as a result of the race at Loudon. Comparing his points with the number of races left before the Chase gets underway, mathematically he cannot fall out of the top 30. The best news of the weekend!
His teammate Matt Kenseth took the checkered flag, moving the Gibbs organization into position for the third most wins in the Cup series, eclipsing the Roush organization. Quite an accomplishment, given what a short period of time JGR has existed, as compared to the lifespan of the other organizations. Once the race was over and the television show moved into the interview portion, the broadcasters had the chance to talk to Coach Gibbs about this accomplishment as well as how this year's successes set them up for the Chase. During this interview, one of the announcers said something like "you have done well with Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, and Matt Kenseth." That observation leads me to ending my weekly column with this note:
Dear Kyle Petty,
It may interest you to know that about a year and a half ago, the Gibbs stable added a fourth team piloted by a young up-and-coming driver by the name of Carl Edwards. This young man from Columbia, Missouri, has previously had some success in both the Truck and Xfinity (then Nationwide) series. Since arriving in the Cup series, he has won a few races. Well, more than a few, actually. He has enough wins to put him in the top ten most wins of active drivers. Over the several years that he has been in Cup series, he has come close to winning the championship on a couple of different occasions. I predict he will do wonderful things in the future. Perhaps you could consider putting him on your radar.
Sincerely,
Every Carl Edwards' fan who weeps when he is overlooked
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