Is Gritty Charlotte Win What Carl Edwards Needs to Jumpstart 1st Season at JGR?
Carl Edwards, a driving talent of the highest order, moved to Joe Gibbsโ Toyota team with great expectations this season. It was widely believed that he would quickly contend for a Sprint Cup championship.
He finished in the top 10 only once in the seasonโs first 11 races.
It took fuel strategy to pull off Edwardsโ first victory of the season, for Gibbs and in nearly a year, but Edwards punched his ticket to the Chase for the Sprint Cup the best way he and crew chief Darian Grubb knew how: by winning NASCARโs longest race, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
โHopefully, all that bad luck weโve had โฆ I guess I got it negated or equaled out by good luck tonight,โ Edwards said in Victory Lane to Fox Sports. โIโve been stressed. You can ask the people close to me. Iโm just so competitive, and Iโm not happy with how weโve performed and the results weโve had.
โI feel like this is a gift โฆ and Iโm going to take advantage of it and enjoy it, and weโll get better.โ
The victory was a bit overshadowed by Juan Pablo Montoyaโs breathtaking victory earlier Sunday at the Indianapolis 500, but Edwardsโ emergence was significant on its own merits.
โJGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) is back, and these Toyotas are great,โ said Edwards, 35, who campaigned Fords for Jack Roush from 2004 through 2014, in Victory Lane. โI had the slowest one in the [four-car team], but our crew did it.
โI canโt believe we won this race.โ
In 2011, Tony Stewart edged Edwards in the closest Chase in history. Stewartโs crew chief at the time was Grubb, who directs Edwardsโ team now. Grubb, recognizing that Edwardsโ Toyota lacked the speed to defeat the drivers who dominated the first 90 percent of the race, had Edwards pit late, estimating he could make it to the end.
โThatโs what won the race for us,โ Edwards said on the Fox telecast. โThatโs what [Grubb] does on the box. He takes a mediocre day like that and puts us in a good position.
"When the actual last caution [flag] came out (lap 338), it was right on the lap we were going to pit under green flag to make it to the end," Grubb said in the post-race media conference. "I was really surprisedย that a lot of people didn't come and pit when we did.
"We were actually planning to do two tires just to make sure we could get enough fuel to finish, but since hardly anybody (else) came we took four, fueled up and were good to go to the end."
| Season | Wins | Avg. Finish | Laps Led | Ranking |
| 2004 | 0 | 18.6 | 15 | 37 |
| 2005 | 4 | 14.0 | 434 | 3 |
| 2006 | 0 | 15.2 | 189 | 12 |
| 2007 | 3 | 13.9 | 515 | 9 |
| 2008 | 9 | 9.5 | 1282 | 2 |
| 2009 | 0 | 15.1 | 164 | 11 |
| 2010 | 2 | 11.8 | 427 | 4 |
| 2011 | 1 | 9.3 | 903 | 2 |
| 2012 | 0 | 15.6 | 254 | 15 |
| 2013 | 2 | 13.6 | 524 | 13 |
| 2014 | 2 | 15.1 | 135 | 9 |
| 2015 | 1 | 18.8 | 142 | 16 |
Though Edwards started third, he led only four laps before inheriting the lead for the final 21. It took 32 tries to capture the 24thย victory of his career.
Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin could not make it to the end on fuel and pitted as the laps expired. Thus did Edwards win, Greg Biffle finish second and Dale Earnhardt Jr. take third.
โI donโt know what to do about fuel-mileage [races],โ said Truex, who finished fifth. โIโve never, ever come out on the right end of them.โ
โWeโve [already] got a win, so it doesnโt matter,โ Earnhardt said of his gamble. โI just needed the guys in front of me to run out. I like to gamble. We didnโt have the car to beat the (No.) 4 (Harvick), the โ41โ (Kurt Busch), or the โ78โ (Truex).โ
โWe were both saving gas,โ Biffle said, referring to him and Edwards. โComing to two [laps] to go, I started running out, so I had to start backing out.โ
Biffleโs performance represented something of an irony since Roush Fenway Racing, where Edwards was formerly his teammate, has struggled for the past two seasons.
โItโs been well documented how bad weโve been running,โ he said in a post-race media conference. โIt feels kind of funny. I decided if I finished in the top 10 tonight, I was going to stand on the door top and be all excited and cheer, and I finished second and Iโm not happy.
โThat was a huge improvement. We havenโt [run well] in probably a year, so Iโm super-excited about that.โ
The Gibbs entries finished first, fourth (Matt Kenseth), eighth (Hamlin) and 11thย (Kyle Busch). Edwards, Kenseth and Hamlin have qualified for the Chase by virtue of each having won one of the seasonโs 12 races to date. Kyle Busch, who missed the first 11 races due to leg injuries sustained in an Xfinity Series race at Daytona, faces an uphill task since NASCAR requires he reach the top 30 in points and win a race by the end of the regular season, which is 14 races away. Itโs possible but difficult.
Edwards remains only 16thย in Sprint Cup points, trailing teammates Kenseth (seventh) and Hamlin (15th).
"Up to this point in the year, we have basically just done a good job holding it all together and staying focused," Edwards said in his media conference, "but we've not delivered the results we all planned on. To get this win and to put ourselves in position to be in the Chase, we're able to now take a deep breath and step back and work on the little things we know we need to be a championship-level team.
"I have been trying very hard to pace myself, to be smart and not do stupid things or try too hard, but I'm curious now to see if we go out and just start hauling the mail and winning races left and right. It might have been me putting too much pressure on myself."
All quotes are taken from NASCAR media, team and manufacturer sources unless otherwise noted.
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