Without a Win So Far, Carl Edwards Struggles to Find Success of 2008

Raise your hand if you believe Carl Edwards is in danger of not winning a single race in 2009.

No takers?

Now raise your hand if you believed that Jeff Gordon would go an entire season winless?

My point exactly.

Yes, it's only 11 races into this season, and the fact that Edwards hasn't visited Victory Lane has really stood out so far. Not only just the fact he hasn't won so far, but the fact that his season has been rather...pedestrian.

Edwards is currently in the cut-off position in the chase—12th in points, just seven ahead of Clint Bowyer. The No. 99 team has only one top-five finish and four top 10s with an average finish of 17.1 this year.

Edwards' best finish was a third-place run at Atlanta. But at this point last year, he had won three times and was seventh in points (a 100-point penalty notwithstanding).

The slow start has raised questions about what exactly is wrong with last year's runner-up in the final standings.

To be fair, the team has had its share of bad luck. The final pit stop at Texas. The yellow line at Talladega. But there's been races where Edwards just hasn't been a factor, and sometimes downright invisible.

Las Vegas? Bristol? California?

Carl? Paging Cousin Carl?

This could be the week, however, that he is able to turn it around and break through into Victory Lane.

Roush Racing is always strong on 1.5- and 2-mile ovals, and Lowe's Motor Speedway should be no different, even if the team's last win came in the 2002 Coke 600 with Mark Martin behind the wheel of the old No. 6 car.

Edwards owns a pair of third-place finishes at this track, along with an average finish of 10.8.

Will Edwards go winless in 2009?

Probably not.

But if Edwards is not careful, he might be well on his way to matching Gordon in a way he never intended to.