Posts Tagged ‘carl edwards’
Add Best Buy to the Brigade of sponsors for 99
Less than a week after Kellogg’s Company announced that they would be on Carl Edwards’ No. 99 Ford Fusion for four races next season, another company announces that they would be on the car of the Missouri native’s Ford as well.
Best Buy announced today that they would on the car of Edwards for two races, and his teammate Matt Kenseth for nine events next year. This fills in 24 dates of the schedule for Edwards next season as Fastenal has 17 races filled in, UPS will be on for just one race at Kentucky, Kellogg’s will have four races with two separate paint schemes, and Best Buy added two more today.
There has been no word on the amount of races that Aflac will be on the car next season, however, it was made official that they would be a primary sponsor on the race car for next year and the future.
Kellogg’s Renews with Edwards for 2012, beyond
Carl Edwards will be carrying the colors of Tony the Tiger and Cheez-It for two races a piece in 2012, and beyond as an announcement came from the team on Thursday afternoon from Roush Fenway and Kellogg’s Company.
The partnership that began two seasons ago, has grown from being just a two-race deal to now four races. Kellogg’s Company as a season-long sponsor for many years when they were with Hendrick Motorsports and drivers Terry Labonte, Kyle Busch and Mark Martin. Winning the title with Labonte in 1996. Now their championship odds are back to that same form with a great spokesman Carl Edwards who will probably once again contend for the title in 2012.
Edwards finished second in the points standings this season by virtue of a tie with Tony Stewart who scored five victories compared to his 1. Edwards ran the two Kellogg’s paint schemes this season at Pocono in June and at Richmond in August this past year. He finished second at Richmond where it looked as if he had the car to beat at the 3/4 mile track in Virginia.
Kellogg’s Company is looking forward to expanding to four races in the 2012 season with the driver and team as they will be on the car for an additional two events this season.
“Our involvement with racing gives us a great opportunity to interact with our consumers in a fun, exciting environment,” said Brad Davidson, president, Kellogg North America. “We are thrilled to extend our relationship with Carl and Roush Fenway Racing, and we look forward to seeing Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes and Cheez-it crackers on the No. 99 car next season.”
Edwards himself is looking forward to having Kellogg’s on board next year and competing for the 2012 Sprint Cup Series title, along with continuing his partnership with the company who has a long standing run in NASCAR.
“It’s an honor to be involved with Kellogg,” said Edwards. “They have tremendous commitment to quality in everything they do and racing fans love their products. They are a fun partner to go racing with and I’m excited about continuing the relationship.”
Edwards Wins Again In Michigan
Carl Edwards may not be running for the drivers’ championship in the Nascar Nationwide Series, but he certain has been driving like it. He posted his second win in the last five races to compliment his three runnerup finishes. Edwards and his Roush Fenway Racing #60 Fastenal team started in the third position but by lap three he was leading the field. He held the lead after a round of green flag pit stops around lap 40, stretching it to over one second over Kyle Busch. At lap 43 a debris caution initiated a variety of pit strategies. The 60 team pitted for tires and fuel while Elliot Sadler and Paul Menard remained on track. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. moved into the lead at lap 50. The second caution fell at lap 56, and again cars stayed on track. But Edwards continued to run in the top five, moving steadily toward the front. At lap 85, Edwards made his move to go three-wide on the inside to regain the point. The third caution was called at lap 93 as green flag pit stops were in progress. Mark Martin was finishing his pit stop as the yellow flag was thrown, and was able to remain on the lead lap and move into the lead as the majority of lead lap cars pitted. The green flag flew at lap 100, and it took Edwards one lap to move into the front once again. From that point on, his greatest competition came from fellow RFR driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Stenhouse held the lead until lap 116 when Edwards swooped beneath the 6 car to move a
head. Following Edwards across the line were Stenhouse, Kyle Busch, Paul Menard and fellow RFR driver Trevor Bayne.
Edwards led a total of 69 laps, the most of the field. This is his fourth win of the 2011 season, and the #60 now leads the owners’ standings by 13 points over Joe Gibbs’ #18, and gave Jack Roush his fifth win at Michigan.
The fans were treated to Edwards’ customary backflip followed by a most energetic run into the stands. After the race, Edwards said, “Ricky drove his heart out — that guy is unbelievable. I didn’t think I was going to be able to get him, but it was like his car got tightened up. I didn’t think I was going to be able to catch him. His car, I don’t think, was balanced as well as mine was, and he was somehow making it go that fast. So he’s someone I’m a little nervous about for the future.”
The Nationwide Series will travel next week to Road America in Wisconsin, where Carl Edwards posted a victory last year at the inaugural event.
Edwards Posts Another Strong Finish at Kansas
It may not be the finish that he wanted, but Carl Edwards will take his fifth place finish at Kansas Speedway as another strong run in his quest for the Nascar Sprint Cup championship. The #99 Aflac Ford Fusion was in seventh place as the green flag dropped. It took him 84 laps to take over the lead, which he held until a caution fell at lap 110. Kyle Busch exited the pits with the lead, with Edwards in second place. Edwards reported his car was too loose on that run, and he was not able to keep up with the leaders, falling back to 8th place. The team continued to adjust on the car, but then fuel strategy became the buzz words of the day with about 100 laps to go. The 99 pitted with 20 laps to go, getting fuel and two tires. Because other teams had pitted earlier, and were gambling to make it to the finish ahead of Edwards, he was left with the waiting game to see when or if any of the cars ahead would run out of gas. The #22 of Kurt Busch did run out at lap 259, leaving his teammate Brad Keselowski with the lead. Keselowski was able to extend his fuel to the finish line, with Dale Earnhardt, Jr coming in second and Denny Hamlin in third place. Jeff Gordon and Edwards rounded out the top 5.
Post race quote: “I really wanted to win and it is really hard to win here,” Edwards said. “Today was a little bit extra difficult because the track was changing a lot. The first third of the race and even the first half our Aflac Ford Fusion was superior. It was great. Bob and I didn’t change the car enough to keep up with the conditions. We had a restart and I went backwards in a hurry and I thought we had to really gather it up. We did that and made it up to fifth. I had a good time though. It is a fun race track and it is my new favorite race track. When it is hot and slick like this you can slide the cars around and run multiple grooves. It is a lot of fun and I like it.”
This fifth place finish was the 7th top five of the year, and the 10th top ten of 13 races. Edwards was able to extend his points lead in the standings to 40 points over Jimmie Johnson. The second place finish for Earnhardt Jr moves him one point behind Johnson in the standings. The series moves on to Pocono next week for the 5-Hour Energy 500 on Sunday, June 12th.
Edwards Follows All Star Win With Runnerup Finish in Iowa
One day after winning the Sprint Cup All Star Race, Carl Edwards traveled to the Iowa Speedway to compete in the Nationwide Series John Deere Dealers 250. He followed the win on Saturday evening in Concord, NC by finishing second to Roush Fenway Racing teammate Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Not a bad weekend. Edwards started fourth after qualifying was rained out, and positions were set by practice times. As the race started, Edwards’ #60 Polaris Mustang started loosing spots slowly, and by lap 68 was battling an ill-handling car. He slid high on the track, but maintained control and no caution was thrown.
No one car dominated in this race as there were seven different leaders, with Reed Sorenson captured the most laps wed with 77. There were only five cautions, including the mandatory caution at lap 50. By lap 131, crew chief Mike Beam was able to adjust the car to Edwards’ liking, and he was able to take the lead briefly. He continued to battle in the top 5 until lap 175, when he took the lead again by passing Stenhouse Jr. The Roushkateers had a spirited battle back and forth for the next 20 laps, before Stenhouse was able to take the lead for good on lap 232. Following Stenhouse across the finish line were Edwards, Brad Keselowski, Reed Sorenson and Elliot Sadler.
After the race, Edwards said that he thought he had the car to win the race, but asked for some adjustments he “probably shouldn’t have.” He added,”I really like racing here. It’s just about the perfect track.”
The win was the first for Nationwide Series regular Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. who, just a year ago was battling to keep his ride. It also capped off a perfect weekend for car owner Jack Roush who swept the weekend with David Ragan winning the All Star Shootout, Greg Biffle winning the first segment of the All Star Race, and Carl Edwards winning the final 3 segments and the race.
Elliot Sadler now leads in the standings with Reed Sorenson seven points back, and Stenhouse in third just 8 points off the lead. The series heads to the Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Top Gear 300 on Saturday, May 28th.
Royal Purple 200
The famed Darlington Raceway held true to form this week with challenges abounding for new father Carl Edwards and his #60 Roush Fenway Racing team. Rainstorms washed out qualifying, so the lineup was set according to practice speeds. Kyle Busch sat on the pole, with Clint Bowyer, Carl Edwards, Kasey Kahne and Reed Sorenson earning the top five spots. By lap 2, Edwards made a power pass on the #18 car to take the lead. That was when the first hint troubles and oddities would strike the #60 Mustang. Carl reported his rear window braces had broken off at the top of the window. At lap 16, both Kahne and Busch passed Edwards. Edwards then reported a very stiff throttle pedal. He was able to move back up to P2 before the competition caution was called on lap 36.
Edwards continued a strong run until just past the halfway point, when he pitted under caution to take four tires and fuel. The plan was to race to the finish without further stops. The strategies were as varied as the teams in the race — four tires, two tires, no tires and several teams stayed out. Edwards found himself in the sixteenth spot. This put the 60 car in the midst of the big wreck involving Edwards, Brad Keselowski, Aric Almirola, Brian Scott, Mike Bliss, Ryan Truex and Kasey Kahne. The RFR team managed to stay on the lead lap while making repairs during the extended caution period. Even with a heavily damaged racecar, Carl fought his way back to the tenth spot but the hopes of salvaging a top ten finish faded until Carl hit the wall on lap 128.
The second half of the race was dominated by Kyle Busch who drove his #18 Toyota to his first Darlington victory. Busch was followed by Denny Hamlin, Elliott Sadler, Justin Allgaier and Steve Wallace. Edwards finished three laps down in 20th place. Teammates Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. finished in 10th place, and Chris Buescher (subbing for Trevor Bayne in the 16 car) survived a lap 45 crash to finish a respectable 17th place. Allgaier now holds a slim 5 point lead over Sadler in the points standings.
After the race, Edwards said, “We had a really fast race car, but they were all wrecking. I thought I had it missed and I just got caught in the right-rear. I tried my hardest to miss that, but there was nothing we could do. We got lucky it wasn’t torn up worse, and I thought we were still gonna end up with a top 10, but there was just nothing I could do about it. I blew the right-front or something and hit the fence again, but the guys did a good job.”
The team heads to Dover next Saturday for the 5-Hour Energy 200.
Bubba Burger No Treat for Edwards in Richmond
The Bubba Burger 250 race at Richmond International Raceway was no treat for Carl Edwards and the #60 Fastenal team on Friday night. Only 41 cars entered the race, and hopes were high for the Roush-Fenway Racing group with Ricky Stenhouse Jr starting 9th and Carl Edwards starting on the pole. Edwards led the first 43 laps before ceding the lead to Denny Hamlin driving the JGR #20 car. By lap 40, Edwards was still hanging on to 4th place, behind Hamlin, Kenny Wallace and Brian Scott. After that point, Edwards reported the car was too tight, and he began to drop back steadily until going a lap down at about lap 100. Pit stops under the green flag concluded at lap 109, and the #60 was running in 19th place, 1 lap down, while Hamlin continued to lead and lap cars.
Edwards’ struggles continued throughout the rest of the race. Crew Chief Mike Beam commented that they had selected the wrong front end set up for this race, and had little to no chance to make corrections as this race had only 2 cautions. This is unheard of at short tracks. More trouble followed at lap 125 when the 60 ran out of fuel and had to pit. The car stalled, and while trying to push the car to restart it, Nascar penalized the team for “pitting outside the box.” Edwards served a drive-through penalty, dropping back to 25th place where he finished the race. We cannot confirm this, but there is a report that Nascar admitted this call was an error.
Denny Hamlin was victorious, followed by Paul Menard, Justin Allgaier, Elliot Sadler and Brad Keselowski. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who also ran short on fuel, finished 24th. Trevor Bayne missed this race as he remains in the hospital.
Unofficially, Allgaier takes over the points lead, and Stenhouse Jr. drops to 5th, 17 points back.
After the race Edwards said “We had the fastest race car on the race track. We were too tight the first run after a long run and then we fought back really hard and I was really proud of everybody.” said Edwards. “We got in the lucky dog position and then we ran out of gas. We messed that up, but that is racing. We didn’t give up and we didn’t quit. We had a race car that could have won if circumstances would have been a little different and that is the hard part.”
The team travels to Darlington SC for the Royal Purple 200 on Friday May 6th at 7:30 pm. The race will be aired on ESPN2.
Fan Editorial – Gateway Nationwide Event
There’s a lot of misinterpretation of Carl’s post-race comment about not apologizing.
Carl never said that he intentionally wrecked Brad. He would have been better advised, had he had the time to think about it, to explain that all he did was not lift or back off when Brad implemented his too-late slide job. Nobody has evidently taken the time to view the incident from all the views available and in super-slow motion, which is what NASCAR did immediately after the race.
The rest of the media are simply running their mouths based on what they think they saw, and then Carl’s “admission”.
Brad simply wrecked himself when Carl didn’t lift.
The thing that really PO’s me is that people that should know better (Like Dave Despain) are making comments about Carl “turning deliberately into Brad’s quarter panel. That never happened, and makes it obvious that they “saw” things that didn’t happen and didn’t bother to look further.
All Carl did was correct to his left when their bumpers came together. That “left turn” was completely limited to the back of the car until Brad went around. Carl’s fender damage was from driving through what was already debris on the track (the 22).
Carl could have lifted; he didn’t. …repeat of ‘dega last year.
It’s a fine line, but it’s not “intentionally taking him out”. It was simply intentionally choosing not to lose the race.
Carl didn’t, and shouldn’t apologize; he no reason to apologize for not choosing to lose.
If Brad was fast enough to have won the race off the corner, there wouldn’t have been any contact or opportunity for contact; it was an unsuccessful attempt to block, plain and simple.
Carl Edwards Diehard Fan,
Buz
