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At Chase cusp, Edwards aims for consistency

Associated Press
Published July 21, 2005

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Carl Edwards would have so much to celebrate if he wins Sunday at Pocono that a double backflip could be in order.

Last month, Edwards did his trademark backflip off the car's windowsill after a victory at the triangle on the mountaintop. This time, a win would mean even more.

Edwards is 54 points behind Dale Jarrett, who holds the 10th, and perhaps last, position for inclusion in NASCAR's Chase for the Nextel Cup Championship.

"We've already won two races, and I think now is definitely the time to go race for points," Edwards said at New Hampshire International Speedway, where he finished 12th Sunday. "That's not something I'm really good at yet."

Victories at Pocono and Atlanta, combined with five other top-10 runs in 19 races, have cast the second-year driver in the unlikely role of contender. He would be in even better shape had he avoided finishes of 38th, 33rd and 39th in the races that immediately preceded the New England 300.

Before that race, Edwards got some valuable advice from car owner Jack Roush.

"Jack just said, "Carl, you've gone out the last three weeks and had terrible finishes. You've put your car in places where you probably will learn not to,' " Edwards said. "He said, "You can go out here and if you do everything right and you give it 100 percent and you drive the wheels off it, you might win three more races, but you'll probably wreck three or four more times and you won't be in that Chase.' "

Roush Racing has won the past two Cup titles with Matt Kenseth and reigning champion Kurt Busch. So the boss knows plenty about what it takes to hoist the trophy that goes to the best stock car racer in the world.

Edwards said Roush has convinced him that an average finish of fifth in the seven races before the field is established for the 10-race Chase should just about guarantee his inclusion.

So the hard-charging Edwards plans to throttle back a bit and hope patience is rewarded.

"I'm going to do my best to go out and use the first 75-80 percent of the races just to race for points," he said.

Then, Edwards and crew chief Bob Osborne will decide what to do in the closing laps.

"If we feel like we can go out and drive the wheels off of it and try to win the race, that's what we'll try to do," Edwards said.

The presence of Edwards could mean four of the five Roush cars would be among the final 10. Greg Biffle is second in the standings, Busch fifth and Mark Martin seventh.

FORD SUIT: Lawyers for NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne asked a federal judge in Detroit to dismiss a breach-of-contract lawsuit filed by Ford Motor Co., saying Kahne never agreed to race exclusively for the automaker.

Ford claims Kahne signed a contract that obligated him to drive its cars and appear in promotional activities. The lawsuit alleges Kahne left Ford to join a Dodge team owned by Ray Evernham in 2003, when he was racing in the NASCAR Busch Series.

But Kahne's attorney, David Baum, told U.S. District Judge Robert Cleland the contract was merely an "agreement to agree" on a "mutually acceptable racing series with a reasonably competitive team." Baum said it wasn't an enforceable contract for Kahne to exclusively race for Ford.

SADLER TEAM DOCKED, FINED: NASCAR penalized Elliott Sadler's Busch series team for rules infractions at New Hampshire International Speedway.

Driver Sadler was docked 25 points, Robert Yates lost 25 car-owner points and crew chief Todd Parrott was fined $10,000 and placed on probation until Sept. 21 for using unapproved shock absorbers. The infraction was discovered during the postrace inspection Saturday.

CREW CHIEF FINED: Danny Gill, crew chief for the No. 32 Chevrolet driven by Bobby Hamilton Jr. in the Nextel Cup Series, was fined $1,000 for an infraction discovered during opening day inspection at New Hampshire International Speedway last weekend. Gill was fined for a seat belt with an expired manufacturer's date.

[Last modified July 21, 2005, 00:57:10]

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