Typical Daytona

Rain was an issue in Daytona, wiping out the first and second practice sessions.  The only opportunity to get the Cup cars on the track was the final 45-minute practice session on Friday morning.  Carl Edwards finished in 29th place, concerned with a vibration that might have been related to the engine.

But it did not seem to be an issue once qualifying got underway.  The Gibbs cars showed good speed; Carl finished the first round in 4th place, then ended the second and final round in 2nd place.  Greg Biffle just edged him out from a second consecutive pole, putting the former teammates side by side on the front row for the start of the race.

Carl started on the inside and took the lead for the first 8 laps of the race.  Again he expressed some concern with a vibration, but it did not end up being an issue in the race.  After restarting 5th following the competition caution, he fell back to 27th where he regrouped with teammates Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch.  After the Gibbs success staying together as a group back in February at Daytona, the other teams seemed to have learned that it would be wise on their part to disrupt the Toyota line up.

About 45 laps later, following green-flag pit stops, they once again found themselves up near the front of the race.  The timing was auspicious as The Big One hit just past the halfway mark of the race.  Carl whizzed past Jamie MacMurray as the wreck got underway, with approximately half of the field affected to one degree or another.

Things were looking promising, as Carl restarted in 6th place, directly in line behind his teammates Kyle Busch (in 4th) and Denny Hamlin (in 2nd).  But he got bitten by a plate-racing wreck when Tony Stewart got into him with only 12 laps remaining in the race.  Dave Rogers and crew got him back out on the track, but about a half a dozen laps later another wreck did him in.  That time he got turned into the wall, and his day was over.  He finished in 25th place, dropping one spot on the Chase grid (2nd to 3rd) and 2 spots in the drivers' standings (3rd to 5th).  It was your typical Daytona plate-racing wreckfest.  Thankfully nobody was injured, but a lot of cars were junk.

P.S. Not only did Roush Fenway Racing claim the pole, they also put all three of their cars in the top ten (Bayne in 3rd, Stenhouse in 5th, and Biffle in 8th).  They seem to be making some progress, at least in their superspeedway program.