Carl Edwards is known for the signature back flip he does at the finish line every time he wins a NASCAR race.
Edwards has flipped once this year. That frightening flip however came on the frontstretch at Talladega when his Ford Fusion flipped then careened along the fence and slid to a stop short of the finish line.
But as the NASCAR Sprint Cup series heads to Dover International Speedway for Sunday’s Autism Speaks 400, Edwards has a good chance to do the kind of flip he enjoys.
At this point of the season last year, Edwards already had three victories under his belt in route to a series leading nine for the year. He was fourth in the Series standings and would finish the year in second.
This year Edwards enters Dover 11th in the standings and has two top-five and five top-10 finishes, but hasn’t yet visited victory lane.
One of the best chances to score his first season victory could come at Dover. Edwards has a total of ten Sprint Cup series starts here and the last five of those have resulted in finishes of no worse then third. Mixed in with those finishes is a win in the Fall 2007 race. He’s also led 285 laps at Dover. At only two other tracks has he led more laps; Texas (499) and Atlanta (299).
"Dover is one of my favorite tracks; it is a lot like Darlington. Dover and Darlington are fun racetracks because they're so fast and the driver can make a big difference,” Edwards said. “At Dover when you drive off into turn one, it's a lot like driving off into turn one at Darlington -- the car kind of lifts off a little bit and then it settles and the sensation of speed is really high.”
One may think that Edwards’ past results at Dover and his second place finish in the series standings last season give a reason for optimism. According to Edwards though, confidence is an ever-changing thing,
“You can bring confidence and, yeah, I was really confident going into this year, but it really changes week to week,” Edwards said. “You can't build on anything you've done on this sport, really. You have to go prove yourself every week and every lap, really.”
One problem that has seemed to plague the No. 99 Roush-Fenway Ford team this season has been pit stops. Mistakes in the pits have taken the team out of contention for the win more then one race this year.
Edwards has his own theory on what has changed in the pits from last year.
"I think they changed the stud length rule and that's caused some trouble with the guys who carry the tires, getting them put on and making sure all the lugnuts are in the right spot,” he said. “And then for us, we've had some new guys working together and had a couple of injuries. I don't know. I've heard people telling me after the race that guys were driving through their pit stalls and I think it's just more competitive now than ever and pit road is a place where you can typically gain an advantage or lose, and it shows up now more than ever."
If the pit work is flawless though and Edwards can build on his past success at Dover he may finally get what it is he needs most, his first Sprint Cup victory of the year and a chance for his signature back flip celebration.
"Right now, Roush Fenway -- relative to the rest of the field -- we're not performing as well as we should be and we all know that,” Edwards said. “We've been working really hard and not just on the racetrack -- on pit road, us as drivers. We can all do better. We all know that and we're working hard. The good thing is that even though we aren't as great as we were at this point last season, we're still really competitive and we've just got a couple little things to fix. So we're not in panic mode, but we're definitely aware that we can be better."
Fast Facts
The Race: Autism Speaks 400 presented by Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips & Cheese
The Date: Sunday, May 31
The Track: Dover International Speedway (1-mile concrete oval)
The Time: 2 p.m. ET
The Distance: 400 laps/400 miles
TV: FOX. 1:30 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN and Sirius Satellite (Local WDSD-FM 94.7)
2008 Polesitter: Greg Biffle
2008 Winner: Kyle Busch
Schedule: Friday – Practice, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Qualifying – 3:10 p.m. Saturday – 11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m. and 12:50-1:50 p.m.
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