Edwards putting distractions aside

Carl Edwards is on a roll so far in 2010. A runner-up finish in the Drive4COPD 300 season-opener in Daytona gave him the second position in the Nationwide Series points standings, and he took over the points lead with last weekend's fourth-place run in the Stater Brothers 300 at Fontana. He looks to already be in championship form only two races into the season, but are there too many distractions heading into Saturday's Sam's Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway?

He already had the task of getting reacquainted with crew chief Drew Blickensderfer. Edwards and Blickensderfer have worked together previously in Nationwide Series competition, but Blickensderfer moved to the Sprint Cup Series last year to assist the efforts of fellow-Roush Fenway Racing driver Matt Kenseth. After the Daytona 500, Blickensderfer was replaced by veteran crew chief Todd Parrott atop Kenseth's pit box, so he now returns to Edwards and the No. 60 Nationwide team.

"I am looking forward to working with Carl again and getting back to victory lane," Blickensderfer said.

To add to that change, Edwards and wife, Kate, welcomed into the world their first child, a girl they named Annie, on Wednesday afternoon. The first-time father, doesn't seem to think the recent changes in his life will be distractions.

"We're going into Vegas leading the points, and as a team we are right where we want to be," he said. "We hope to have a really solid run and hope that we can come out of Vegas with a bigger points lead than we cam in with."

Edwards heads into this weekend's Vegas race with a 24-point lead over Joey Logano, who will not be competing in the Nationwide Series full-time. Kyle Busch, who is third in points, has also said that he would not be running full-time in the Nationwide Series in 2010. Edwards' closest competition, among drivers running full-time this season, is sophomore Nationwide competitor Justin Allgaier, who is fourth in points, 32 markers behind Edwards.

Edwards hasn't visited the Nationwide Series victory lane at LVMS, but he has won there. He claimed victory in the Sprint Cup Series race in Vegas in 2008. In Nationwide competition at LVMS, he has two top-fives and four top-10s in five starts with an average finish of 6.8.

If he's not distracted by his new role of father, Edwards, along with Roush Fenway Racing teammates Colin Braun, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Paul Menard will be competing to be the driver to give team owner Jack Roush his 400th win across all NASCAR and road racing series.

The Sam's Town 300 can be seen live on ESPN2 at 4:30 p.m. ET Saturday.

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