It was blisteringly hot and tropically humid in Indianapolis this weekend. The air temperature reached into the 90s. It often approached 120 inside the cars, even hotter when the cars were stationary.
Carl Edwards, as well as his Gibbs teammates, were fast in practice and qualifying. Carl finished the first practice in 6th, the second and final practice in 5th, the first round of qualifying in 4th, the second round of qualifying in 3rd, and the third and final round of qualifying in 2nd. Following that upward trajectory, it was only logical to anticipate that he would finish the race in 1st, right?
Although he began the race on the front row, he fell back to 6th place before the first lap was over, 7th place before the tenth lap was over. But from there, he gradually recovered, gaining back one spot at a time, until on lap 64 he was back in the 2nd spot. He was able to stay there for quite some time during lengthy green flag runs, clearly having one of the strongest cars in the field.
Cautions picked up with about 25 laps remaining. While during previous restarts he had been the only car to even approach Kyle Busch's lead car, when the green flag flew on lap 134 he fell back from 2nd to 5th. In conversation with Dave Rogers, his crew chief, Carl indicated that the outside lane was slick.
Less than 20 laps later, the field was restarting again. Once more Carl was on the outside, this time in 4th place. To get away from the slick outside line, he took the first opportunity to dive down into the inside lane, thinking that would solve his grip problem. It was a good theory. It just was not an accurate theory.
His car got loose in tight quarters, and he spun out. Not only did he slam into the outside wall hard, he also collected a number of other cars. The Stanley Toyota was damaged too badly to continue, so the 19 crew ended their day less than ten laps before the scheduled end of the race. Sadly another DNF. Once the race ended, he was listed in 35th place.
While he maintained the 3rd spot on the Chase grid, he fell back two positions in the drivers' standings, from 4th to 6th. Good thing he has already clinched a spot in the Chase.
While we feel badly that Carl did not contend for the victory and his chance at kissing the bricks, it is good to remember that he climbed out of that car and walked away without so much as a scratch. He moves on to race another day. Kudos to everyone responsible for the safety features that protect our favorite driver and his colleagues.
This is my 19th Carl Edwards blog, so I had hoped he would win all three practices, all three rounds of qualifying, and the pole, lead all 301 laps, and finally drive his SportClips Toyota Camry into victory lane. It did not quite go as planned.
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
We have become used to Dave Rogers unloading a speedy car for Carl, but this weekend the car was exceptionally fast. He logged the fastest time in three of the four practices. The only practice session he did not "win" was the second session that was shortened due to weather.
Unfortunately qualifying was rained out. Until very recently they would set the field based on speeds from the first practice session, but NASCAR realized that policy would create a bad situation for the non-charter teams in position to make the Chase. So just last weekend they changed the rule to instead set the starting grid based on owners' points. It was a very practical change that just happened to work against Carl in this case. His fastest time in the first practice session would have given him the first position at the start of the race (and the best pit stall). But his fifth place position in the owners' points was not a bad starting spot anyway. And Kurt Busch, who lined up in third place, had to drop to the back at the start of the race. So when all was said and done, Carl took the green flag in third place.
Once that green flag dropped, Carl immediately moved up to 2nd. But then he fell back all the way to 8th. Thus began the pattern of the day. He would gain a bit here, lose a few spots there, but never falling out of the top 15. On some restarts he would fall back, on others he would dive to the bottom and charge ahead. Carl said that his car drove much differently than it had in practice. Everybody was learning about the new Kentucky track surface "on the job." Sometimes tight, sometimes loose, using more brake than usual for an intermediate track.
The learning curve was particularly painful for quite a few drivers. Both experienced and rookie men found themselves in the wall from tires going down or in the garage from competitors getting loose and taking them out. It created quite a bit of stress for the teams on the Chase bubble.
Then the cautions settled down and the evening turned into a fuel mileage race. Carl started saving earlier than many of the other teams. Several cars came down pit road for a splash of fuel in the last few laps, but the 19 team saved well enough to make it to the finish line. Unfortunately so did one other car. Carl finished in 2nd place, but if the race had been one more lap longer, I bet he would have won!
Carl maintained the 3rd spot on the Chase grid, and moved up one position in the drivers' standings, from 5th to 4th. The worst part of the race took place in the parking lot, where a pickup truck went up in flames. The fire was so intense that it damaged the cars parked on either side of it. A grill was perched in the bed of the truck, leading to the suspicion that it was likely the cause of the fire. However, a post on Twitter indicated that the fire started in the cabin of the truck and emergency responders pulled someone out of there. Whatever the cause, the result was a bigger mess than what was accumulating in the Cup garage.
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, thenended 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 didnot end up being an issue in the race. After restarting 5th following the competition caution, he fell back to 27th where he regrouped with teammatesMatt 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.
This race weekend started out good for Carl Edwards even before the cars hit the track. Several weeks ago, in the All-star race, Carl's highest finish for a Toyota earned him the right to grace the cover of a soon-to-be-released video game. At the Sonoma track, they unveiled the final artwork. If you have not already seen Carl's visage on the video game case, here it is:
But they did not go all the way to California to unveil a video game cover. There was a race to prepare for, after all. Carl led the majority of the first practice, finishing the session in 5th place. Similarly, he finished the second and final practice session in 4th place. Apparently they came ready to go fast!
Qualifying went even better. The #19 Stanley Camry posted the fastest time in the first round of qualifying, easily advancing to the second and final round. And in the second round, POLE!!!!! This was Carl's third pole this season, the most poles earned by any driver this year.
Once Sunday rolled around and the race got underway, Carl started alongside of AJ Allmendinger. In spite of the Dinger's strong road racing skills, Carl managed to hold him off and maintain the lead for the first nine laps. The two of them made their green flag pit stop on the same lap, and Carl's top notch pit crew got them out first. Once everything cycled back around after everybody completed their green flag pit stops on lap 32, Carl was back in the lead.
You could tell that Carl had a strong car underneath him. The set up was allowing him to drive the car out of the corners better than anybody else. Even Darrell Waltrip said that Carl was "driving as strong as steel and as smooth as silk."
At the first caution on lap 47, he once again won the race off pit road. However, several cars stayed out because they had pitted under green just before the caution. He restarted in 7th. And that was the beginning of the various strategies that would change the race.
Before the next caution on lap 88, he moved up one stop to 6th. On pit road, he moved up another two spots to 4th. With one car not pitting, he restarted 5th. And when other cars could not getting going, he fell back to 6th.
On lap 97, Carl's Toyota ended up as the meat in a three-way sandwich, never a good thing on a road course. He made contact with Junior on his inside, but it did not appear to affect the handling of his car. Before the end of the race, he had climbed back up to 4th, notching yet another top five finish. Had it not been for the various strategies in place, he might have well contended for the win, as his car was consistently one of the fastest on the track.
His high finishing position nudged him up a bit in the standings. On the Chase grid, he moved up from 3rd to 2nd. Only Kyle, with three wins to Carl's two, is ahead of him. In the drivers' standings, he moved up from 4th to 3rd.
Coming off a couple of poor finishes, the 19 team headed to the Irish Hills of Michigan. Once again, they unloaded a hotrod, finishing the first practice in 3rd place.
Qualifying continued to look promising. They ended the first qualifying round in 3rd and the second qualifying round in 2nd. It looked like a pole was possible. But during the third round, Carl admitted to trying too hard and overdriving the car, ending up with the 11th fastest qualifying time. For the third and final practice session, they tried a new setup that left them with the 17th fastest time. Eh, no sweat! It is easy to try something new when you have a top-notch setup to fall back on.
Once the green flag dropped, he began moving forward. By lap 35, he was in 7th place. During a restart on lap 51, he (and his teammate Denny Hamlin) had some problems with second gear, causing him to drop back to 13th. And the next restart saw him fall back to 17th place.
During the next caution he misunderstood radio instructions from his crew chief, Dave Rogers, resulting in him staying out when they planned on pitting. The confusion got him some track position, as he restarted 17th. Unfortunately, though, it left him on worn tires and lower on fuel than the other cars. But what could have been a problem turned into a positive, as his Subway Camry came to life. He was back in the top ten by lap 119. The next caution occurred at just the right time to level the playing field, and he went into and came off of pit road in 8th place.
By lap 154, he was in the top five, but that is about where he stayed. He fell back to 7th, restarted in 5th and then 4th, and finished the race in 6th. A good, solid top ten, almost a top five, after a couple of weeks of poor finishes. He maintained the 4th spot in the drivers' standings and the 3rd position on the Chase grid. Now time for a week off to refresh and regroup.
Usually the focus here is on Carl, but this week warrants mention of two of his Xfinity teammates. First, Erik Jones drove with a heavy heart, after his father passed away from cancer on Tuesday. Losing my dad when I was 56 was devastating, and my dad lived a good, long life to the age of 88. Coping with the death of a parent when you are 20 is beyond my ability to comprehend. Prayers and all good wishes to the family.
Another Xfinity teammate had a weekend deserving of a shout out. Although everyone knew it was only a matter of time before the "other 19" Arris Toyota found success, it has always seemed just out of reach for Daniel Suarez. He did do his best to put it out of reach on Saturday in Michigan, too. Apparently lead feet run in the 19 family, because Daniel Suarez got nabbed speeding on pit road. The resulting drive-through penalty put him well back in the field. Thankfully he made that error early in the race, giving him plenty of time to drive himself back up to the leaders. With ten laps to go, he found himself in 2nd place behind Kyle Busch. He crept closer and closer to the leader until he was right on his tail with two laps to go. He made a clean pass to take the white flag in the lead and held him off to the finish line.
Daniel was understandably at a loss for words in the winner's circle, in both English AND Spanish! To show just what an amazing young man he is, one of his first thoughts was for his teammate, as Daniel dedicated his win in honor of Erik Jones' father. This was Daniel's first win as well as the first win by a Mexican in any of NASCAR's three national series. His win more than likely earned him a spot in the Xfinity Chase, as he now sits 2nd on the Chase grid and 1st in the driver's standings. He planted himself firmly in the conversation of championship contenders. How much fun would it be to have two 19-car champions in the same year!
Sorry for the delay this week, folks. First the Pocono rain pushed the race back to Monday. It was painful to leave for work that morning, but the DVR was set. Once the green flag dropped, I avoided all forms of news and social media. Racing home from work (see what I did there?), I attempted to turn on my television. But Time Warner Cable decided that the middle of the race would be a good time for an outage of cable television AND internet service, an outage that lasted for 11 hours. Thankfully I was able to find and record a rebroadcast of the race. Now that I have finally gotten to see the race and get caught up on social media, here I am!
Weather at Pocono can be as tricky as the triangulartrack, but this time around it seemed to be particularly troublesome. Various combinations of rain and fog resulted in delays and curtailments of practice as well as the race itself. The first practice lasted for a grand total of eight minutes, enough time for 70% of the cars to put down a lap or two. Out of that minimal bit of practice, Carl managed to snag the fastest speed. That did not tell us much, but it did tell us that they unloaded with a good setup.
The weather did allow for a complete qualifying session, and Carl made it through all three segments, claiming the 5th spot on the starting grid. And then in the final practice, he was 12th fastest.
During the race, he ran between 2nd and 13th place. Most of the time was spent in the back half of the top ten, from 5th to 9th. He lost spots on a couple of shaky restarts, but both the driver and the pit crew avoided costly pit road mistakes this weekend. And although there were quite a number of crashes during the race, those mercifully avoided him, too. After a couple of races with poor results, he got himself back into the top ten with an 8th place finish. He maintained the 3rd spot on the Chase grid and moved up one spot in the drivers' standings to sit in 4th.
