How Carl Edwards Got Busted

We cheered as Tony Stewart and Juan Pablo Montoya mixed it up at Homestead last November, eventually "adjusting each other's cars (in their own words)" out of the race. We applauded NASCAR afterward for deeming the incident the kind of racing the fans want to see, and later announcing that they would give the drivers more leeway in deciding how they wanted to race each other.

So, in some parts of the NASCAR world, there may be some confusion as to why Carl Edwards incurred the wrath of NASCAR officials when, late in the race, he blatantly turned Brad Keselowski's car, causing it to go airborne. NASCAR had Edwards park his car for the remainder of the race, and is now in the position of deciding what other penalties, if any, will be handed down to the #99 team.

Why the seeming reversal of NASCAR policy? It isn't really a reversal; NASCAR's policy is to allow bump drafting where they wouldn't previously, and to allow the type of beating and banging that thrills the crowd when two or more drivers are racing for position. Edwards wasn't racing for position--he was, in fact, more than one hundred and thirty laps behind Keselowski when he made an obvious move to purposefully cause Keselowski's car to spin at 190 miles per hour.

The result of the obvious retaliatory action was that Keselowski's car flipped over into the air and against the fence separating the fans from the track. Seven spectators were hit by fly debris from the accident. The action clearly could have caused a major disaster. Luckily, there were no serious injuries, and Keselowski walked away from the fearsome wreck.

NASCAR has given the drivers the freedom to use their own judgment when racing. With that freedom comes the responsibility to use good judgment. Edwards clearly showed a lack of good judgment in his timing and the manner in which he sought revenge. The drivers, given their freedom, should show professionalism and think about the consequences of their actions.

Putting the Edwards penalty aside, we got a reminder of how dangerous the elevated "wing" on the rear of the racecars can be. When air passes below the wing while the car is turned around, it creates as much lifting force as it provides downforce when the car is in its normal position. This can be very dangerous for both driver and spectator, as we saw at the Firecracker 400 last year, when it was Edwards' car that went airborne, and at Atlanta on Sunday. The traditional spoiler, to which NASCAR will return in April, does not allow air to pass under it when the car is reversed.

There are other advantages to the traditional spoiler--the spoiler provides downforce at all four wheels, and it allows for better side drafting on the straightaways than the wing does--but the main concern should be safety, and we feel that the return of the traditional spoiler can't come soon enough.

On Type Delay: The Pocono 500

Countdown to Green would be a great name for a television program sponsored by General Electric or the Corn Growers Association, and hosted by Al Gore, but instead it is the name of the pre-race show on TNT. No "Digger" cartoon here, and the show is refreshingly mature. Probably boring for the kids though, but do kids watch pre-race shows anyway?

Bad luck at the start of the race for Denny Hamlin. His car just stopped, and stalls in the first turn of the race. As the cars come around to start the second lap, the caution comes out. Nobody pits this time, but after the restart, the race goes a couple of more laps, and Hamlin comes out and brings out another caution as his car stalls again. This time the leaders pit, and most take two tires. Tony Stewart takes four tires, and restarts in eighteenth, but the four tires gives him a better ability to gain more positions. While these would have been single file restarts, because there is nobody a lap or more down, now we get to see the double file restarts, and we have already seen the new rule in action twice.

Tony Stewart had to start at the back of the field after going to a back up car. He wrecked his primary during the first practice on Saturday, and had to forfeit the pole. But in 27 laps, he has made it to the top fifteen, and in 39 laps, has made it into the top ten.

There is some real action for the lead on lap 37 as Greg Biffle catches up to the leader, Jimmie Johnson. As Biffle and Johnson battle, Carl Edwards catches up with them, and lap 38 features some very interesting three way racing, as Edwards takes the lead. Who says Pocono is boring? Who says the Sprint Cup car can't make passes at speed, under green? Well, Monte Dutton has said that, as have many fans, but now it looks like something is being done by the teams to correct both problems.

Greg Biffle is exciting enough to watch by himself. He has been sliding sideways at every turn, but his car is fast. That is just the way Da Biff rolls, but his talent in that skill has been overshadowed by Kyle Busch, who takes that style a step further. Another thing interesting about this lead change is that Edwards and Biffle were able to race each other without bouncing off of each other, which, recently, had seemed to have been a habit whenever those two get together.

Green flag pit stops begin on lap 44, and cycle through until lap 49. Edwards retains the lead after the cycle. Edwards gains some distance on second place Greg Biffle, but that may be because we have come into the "save the car and see what we need" portion of the race.

So, not much happens during this stretch of the race, and we have green flag pit stops again, beginning on lap 76. Edwards has some trouble with the refueling, and they do not get all the fuel in his fuel cell. Still, after the pit stops cycle through, Edwards retains the lead. Stewart stays out while the other cars are pitting, and leads a lap before he pits. As the pit cycle ends, Stewart is still running in tenth.

Still not much happening at this point in the race. Ryan Newman's car has developed some intermittant ignition trouble, that may or not be a spark plug wire. His team will have to wait until the scheduled pit stop to check it out. Edwards gives up the lead on lap 102 for fuel and tires, and the other cars begin pit stops one or two laps later. Just as Jimmie Johnson, who has just passed the commitment line is caught entering the pits just as the caution comes out for debris in turn two. The pit road is closed, but Johnson pits anyway, and will have to restart at the back of the field. If things go as usual for the #48 team, this means another victory for Jimmie Johnson.

Before we can set the running order after the restart, we get a caution on lap 115 after Dale Earnhardt,Jr helps David Stremme find the wall. The top four cars stay out, while most of the other leaders pit. Ryan Newman gets caught speeding on pit road, and has to restart in the back of the field. Restart on lap 118 with Edwards first, Kenseth second, Martin third, and Stewart fourth.

This is where we like the new double file "shootout style" restarts. The fastest cars are up front racing the fastest cars. Stewart passes Martin on the restart, being on the outside of the second row. Kenseth, from the outside of the first row, passes Edwards and leads lap 119. Edwards moves back into the lead on lap 121, and Stewart moves into second a few laps later.

Johnson is really moving up through the field. He is back in the top ten after only three green flag laps. As green flag pit stops begin around lap 135 he is running in eighth. Edwards, Stewart, and Johnson all pit on lap 138, and Edwards gets out ahead of Stewart, while Kenseth leads a lap. After the stops cycle through, Edwards is more than a second ahead of Stewart, Kenseth is third, Biffle fourth, and Martin fifth. Kurt Busch, who has been running in or near the top five all day, has a water pump go out and has to go into the garage for repairs. When he finally returns to the track, after the water pump was replaced, he is scored seventeen laps down. Meanwhile, Newman's problems have been solved, and he is moving up toward the top ten.

With 43 laps to go, there is a caution for debris. Edwards was three seconds ahead of Stewart when the caution flew, but it was Edwards who reported the debris, so there is nothing imaginary about this one to tighten the field. This stop is barely within the fuel window, so we may see yet another fuel mileage race at Pocono, no surprise there. The restart here is sure to be exciting. Tony Stewart gets off of pit road first, and now we are getting some rain. Carl Edwards comes off second. The rain is a light rain, so the caution will continue. Jeff Gordon stayed out, hoping for rain. It wasn't supposed to rain at Long Pond today, so hopefully this will just be a short shower. Incidently, we just had a very short rain shower in Colorado Springs, as well.

If the race restarts, it will be Jeff Gordon first, Tony Stewart second, and Carl Edwards third. If the rain wins, it will be a victory for Gordon similar to his Pocono victory in 2007, and Smoke will once again finish second.

The rain stops and the track is dry. Stewart assumes the lead as Gordon pits. This will be good! And, yes it will be a fuel mileage race. Unless there is another caution, of course.

Stewart first, Edwards second. Kenseth third, and Biffle fourth at the restart with 35 laps to go. Stewart leads the lap. Biffle looses positions, and Kasey Kahne comes into the picture. If you hate commercials, and are a Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, or Kasey Kahne fan, now is the time to really dispise them. The adreneline builds during the commercials, but so does the anxiety.

26 laps to go, and it's Stewart, Edwards, Kahne, Jimmie Johnson fourth, and in fuel conservation mode, and Clint Bowyer is fifth, also in fuel mileage mode. Kenseth, Biffle, Newman, Reutimann, and Martin Truex, Jr fill out the top ten. Kenseth is definitely short on fuel, Edwards could be four laps short, Reutimann has plenty of fuel, Newman has more fuel than Stewart, and just might make it, but Darien Grubb, Stewart's crew chief is hoping that his driver barely has enough fuel to make it. He is also hoping for a caution to be sure.

Crap, more commercials. Rev' Jim is wishing he had stocked up on Depends.

Quote of the race so far: "Michael (Waltrip)'s pit crew is fast. They had to dodge his car twice."

What we like about the TNT coverage is that they cover the cars further back. With fifteen laps to go, Biffle, Kyle Busch, Mark Martin, and Clint Bowyer pit for fuel and tires. Kenseth, Earnhardt, Jr, and more cars pit with thirteen laps to go.

On lap 191, Stewart goes to fuel conservation mode. Edwards is still second, Johnson is third, Reutimann is fourth, and Newman is fifth, as Kahne pitted for fuel during the commercial. We are coming up on the white flag lap and it's all or nothing for Stewart, while Johnson is gaining on him, having passed Edwards. Tony is in turn two, and Johnson and Edwards are barreling down on him, but Johnson is out of fuel. Around turn three, and Stewart floors it. He wins! Tony Stewart is the first owner driver to win a points race since Ricky Rudd did it at Martinsville in 1997, or 98, or somewhere around there. Heck, Smoke even saved enough fuel to perform a good victory celebration.

Another one for the record books: Smoke is the first driver ever to win a race at Pocono from the forty-third starting position. Previously, the starting position furthest back from which a victory was won at Pocono was twenty-ninth. Carl Edwards did that last year.

Carl Edwards was second, Reutimann is third, Jeff Gordon fourth, and Ryan Newman is fifth. Remember, Newman was running on seven cylinders early in the race. He pitted six times during green flag runs while his team figured out what was wrong with the engine, and changed a spark plug. His fifth place finish is a comeback story, and a tribute to a very good team. Other notable finishes were Marcos Ambrose, finishing sixth, and Sam Hornish, Jr finishing in tenth place.

We have written here before about how one of the great things about being a NASCAR fan is that when your driver wins a race, it feels like a major victory in any other sport. For us, today feels like we just won the Super Bowl. Now if you escuse me, I have to strip naked, paint a red number "14" on my chest, and go running down Colorado Avenue whooping and hollering.

Live on Type Delay: Michigan II

The beginning of any race at Michigan International Speedway is always exciting, as forty-three cars take the green flag and immediately go three and four wide. But Jimmie Johnson takes the lead and starts to take off. Dale Earnhardt, Jr, the winner of the previous race at MIS is right behind him, and by lap 7, has caught him and passed him. The Hendrick cars look good right at the start, so it will be difficult for anybody else to catch them at this point.

By lap thirteen, the field has settled into single file, and there is no action to report. Lap 19 and the #21 car of Marcos Ambrose seems to have lost its engine going into turn three. Yes, it seems that the engine blew up and the Wood Brothers car is out of the race. As somebody said last week (or the week before), the oil pan couldn't hold all those engine parts.

Johnson gets off the pit road first and will take the lead, Vickers is second, and Earnhardt, Jr is scored in third. Immediately at the wave of the green flag, Earnhardt makes a move on Vickers for second, That race goes on for a few laps, with Jr ultimately taking the second spot. Meanwhile Kurt Busch, Greg Biffle, and Jeff Gordon are racing three wide for fifth.

Jr retakes the lead on lap 28, and that car is flying. Kyle Busch takes advantage of Jr's forward momentum and passes Johnson for 2nd. Brian Vickers has regained third, but Carl Edwards is making his move toward the front. During the TV commercial, Jimmie Johnson is passed by Edwards, and Edwards has his sights set on Vickers. Johnson continues to fall back as Biffle gains a position.

Did Johnson lose the handle on his car, or was there a bad adjustment on the last pit stop? Perhaps this is the scenario we have seen so many times before on intermediate tracks--the car is good running in clean are, but becomes unmanageable in traffic. That seems to be the case as Jeff Gordon takes sixth place from Johnson.

Now some bad news from the 88 team. Jr is running away from the field but his car is overheating. While we were concerned about that, Vickers races Kyle Busch and takes the second position after a good race between the two purported "bad boys."

Something right was done on Stewart's pit stop, as he remained around 21st spot during most of the first segment, and has now moved up into eighteenth position.

Earnhardt, Jr has slowed down enough to let Brian Vickers pass him, and gets on Vickers's bumper to try to remove any debris from the grill that might be causing the engine to overheat. So Vickers takes the lead during the commercial, Jr's grill is clean, and Jr's car still seems competitive as he backs off to let his engine get some air. While ESPN's beloved "Draft tracks" are being shown on TV, Edwards takes third place from Kyle Busch. Vickers is moving away with the lead.

Green flag pit stops begin on lap 62. Many of the drivers are reporting that their cars are tight going into the turn, and loose from the center off. While they are talking about that on the radio, we can see on the television that Stewart is having some serious handling problems with his car. He looks almost like he is dirt tracking, and doing all he can to hold onto seventeenth position.

Junior pits on lap 66, and reports that the water temperature has dropped about thirty degrees, so he is out of the woods as far as engine temperature goes. There is some contact on the pit lane between Reed Sorenson and somebody else. Jr takes the lead after pit stops cycle through.

Again, we commend MRN for their excellent pit coverage, but it is way too much information to try to keep up with. Not complaining, just making excuses for any errors.

Edwards is second, Brian Vickers third, and Greg Biffle fourth, and Kyle Busch is in fifth. 69 laps are complete. This race is going fast.

Carl Edwards takes the lead on lap 74 as Junior runs up against the tale end of the field. Vickers follows Edwards into second place, and Junior settles in third. Jr's car has gotten loose over the last ten laps, and now loses another spot as Biffle takes third.

The 88 team is probably hoping for a caution, before he loses much more on the track. That comes during the commercial, as Newman gets clipped from behind, runs out of control into Dave Blaney's car, which, in turn hits the wall. Now, looking at the replay on TV, it looks like it was Paul "Daddy bought this car for me" Menard was the one who hit Newman. That was a great save for Newman, but not for Blaney.

Edwards barely beats Biffle and Vickers off the pit lane, and Jr comes off fourth. Kyle Busch will restart in fifth.

Johnson hit something with the left front fender of his car, and heavy smoke is issuing from that wheel well. He returns to the pits for repair.

While that was going on Edwards let Biffle lead a lap for points, then retakes the lead. Kyle Busch has passed Vickers, and then passes Biffle for second and is catching the leader. Now surprise there. Jr has fallen back to seventh, and Smoke has moved into twelfth. Now Jeff Gordon cuts a tire, and a caution comes out. We hate to see this, because racing is much more fun when Gordon is competitive. It turns out that it was Gordon's right front fender that was the something Johnson hit, while they were racing for eleventh place four wide.

The leaders pit, and Edwards once again comes out in the lead. Greg Biffle is second, Brian Vickers is third, Kyle fourth, and a third RFR driver, David Ragan is in fifth. It's Michigan, it's Ford, and it's Ford at Michigan. Oh yeah, Matt Kenseth is in sixth. McMurray, where are you? Might as well get all of them up there in front.

Kyle Bush makes his move on 106 and takes second, while Vickers battles Biffle for third. We may be treated to a Edwards-Busch wheel to wheel contest toward the end of the race, which is a very good reason to keep watching, in our opinion.

We are wondering, along with ESPN, why the 88 car can start a race in good shape, and then just start losing handling before the race is half over. This is not a good day for HMS. Jr is still running in the top ten, but his car looks very loose. This is where, once again, we admire Junior's car handling abilities. There would be several Cup regulars who would be out of the race by now if their car was handling like that.

73 laps to go, and Edwards has a four second lead over Kyle Busch, who has a substantial lead over Brian Vickers and Greg Biffle. Biffle has debris on his grill that is causing overheating, and Vickers once again obliges another driver by moving in front of Biffle so the debris clears off of the grill.

Now Kasey Kahne is having engine problems. He lost a cylinder a little while earlier, and now smoke is issuing from the rear of the car.

Green flag pit stops begin on lap 137. Edwards Kyle Busch, and Biffle pit on lap 141, as does Brian Vickers. and the stops cycle through with Busch in the lead. Edwards catches him and he takes the lead. Then Busch races back for the lead. This was good stuff.

Greg Biffle comes out in third, and Vickers in fourth. 56 laps to go and fuel is good for about 44 laps, so there should be one more set of pit stops to go. Will there be another caution or will the "money stops" be under green. We do expect some stops to begin in about fourteen laps, as that will be the window to make it to the end of the race.

A caution does come for debris from the 24 car, which has re-entered the race, and on lap 166, the lead cars pit. Vickers gets out first by virtue of a two tire stop, and Kyle Busch will restart second. This should be very interesting when the race goes green. Carl Edwards is third, Greg Biffle is fourth, David Ragan fifth, and Dale Jr. is sixth.

Wow, Busch has the advantage at the wave of the green, and quickly passes Vickers. Now we see Busch using the entire track while in the lead, to find the fastest line. Vickers, loses second to Edwards.

Kurt Busch spins with a cut left side tire, but the race stays green. Biffle has fourth, and Dale Jr has moved all the way back to nineth, while Jeff Burton has moved up to eighth. Biffle now takes third from Vickers, and Edwards is about to engage Kyle Busch for the lead. Ragan maintains fifth and Kenseth is running in sixth.

Wow wow wow, some great racing between Busch and Edwards with 23 to go. This is some real racing that goes up and down the track, from the bottom to the top. Great stuff, wheel to wheel for the lead. With 22 to go, Kyle is still in the lead, and just as this was getting exciting, we get a debris caution. Here is where we see a possible psych-out between the leaders, but I don't think anyone will pit.

Wrong. Kyle pits, and Edwards makes a last minute decision to pit. Both Edwards and Busch take two and fuel, but Edwards gets out first. David Ragan and Dale Jr stayed out, which makes this even more exciting because we know these guys are going all in to win.

18 laps to go when they take the green, and I think this is going to be fun! Ragan is first, Jr second, Edwards third, and Kyle is fourth. Awwww &%#! Junior gets tangled up with lapped traffic and gets clipped, and hits the outside wall. His day is over. Kyle wasn't involved.

As things settle, Edwards has taken first, Ragan is second and Kyle is third. Another caution for debris with thirteen laps to go.

There are fifteen cars on the lead lap when the race restarts with ten laps to go. Will Ragan, running on much older tires than the leader, be able to hold his spot, or hold up Kyle? No, Kyle quickly gets around Ragan, but now with nine to go Ragan is racing Busch for his position back. Good racing but Carl is getting away.

Denny Hamlin loses his engine with five laps to go. This will tighten the field up again as the caution comes out. There is likely oil on the track, and there will be a shootout. This will be a single file restart, and will be a two lap shootout in regulation time. I like this much better than a fuel mileage race, and something tells me most fans do as well.

Kyle Bush did get second before the caution, but Edwards gets a great restart and is ahead by five car lengths as he takes the white flag. Busch has nothing for him. Edwards win, and the fans get to see a backflip for the second day in a row.

Final thoughts. It was okay. That's about it. Mostly predictable, though we can't really say that or else we could have won the pick five for this week, so maybe ist wasn't that predictable. But the race started, the cars raced, and Carl Edwards won. Average.

Jack's House

I will take back what I wrote about bad luck not sticking to my favorite driver. It seems like it has. Hopefully, that won't happen this weekend, as Tony Stewart has pledged his winnings from Michigan International Speedway to the Red Cross for flood relief efforts in the Midwest.

But let's not make this post about Smoke. Instead let's talk about The Guy who, from all reports, should win the Life Lock 400, Sunday. That would be Carl Edwards.

If Lowe's Motor Speedway is, or has been, The House of Hendrick, then MIS would be the House of Roush. The Roush-Yates engines seem to be custom designed for the 2 mile intermediate class track, and, as he did at the most recent MIS race, and at California earlier this year, Edwards should be able to put that engine to good use and dominate the race.

Though MIS is similar to the Auto Club Speedway, in Fontana, CA, there are some major differences in the characteristics. ACS isn't a multiple groove track like MIS, and passing is much harder at California than it is at Michigan. This should actually work to Edward's advantage, as he is a driver who will find the best line for his techniques, and there are many more choices for him at MIS than at California.

If it isn't a backflip we see in victory celebration Sunday, it could be the competition winning burn out by Greg Biffle. He has been very strong this season, often just a breath or a lugnut away from victory. Matt Kenseth has been strong as well, with four top ten finishes in the last four races. He could easily enter the top twelve this weekend, while only a month ago, many writers and bloggers were willing to give up hope of Matt The Bratt making it into the Chase. Nor can we rule out David Ragan who seems to be on the verge of racking up his first win. These are all Roush-Fenway teams, and they all have excellent records at MIS.

If, by some weird act of Fate it isn't a Roush-Fenway car that wins Sunday, we should look at the Dodges, particularly those of Gillett-Evernham Motorsports and Penske Racing. You may remember way back to Speedweeks last February, when Jack Roush waved around numbers from dyno testing of the different manufacturers' cars and claimed that the Toyotas had more horsepower than Ford or Chevy. Ryan Newman looked at the numbers and said, "we've got that kind of horsepower," then figuratively clapped his hand over his mouth, thinking, "Was I supposed to say that?"

While Roush complained about unfair advantage, and the Chevy teams said "we have more work to do," Newman and his Dodge won the Daytona 500. NASCAR, incidentally, denied that any team had a significant horsepower advantage over another.

Horsepower advantage or not, Kasey Kahne and the GEM #9 team have been on a roll since winning the All Star race, and he is liking Victory Lane. There is no reason to believe that he won't run well again Sunday. The Dodge teams hold their cards close to their chests and we don't hear much from them during practice and qualifying, but, somehow, that seems to mean they have something to show the other teams.

Before we close, and just for fun, let's have an imaginary shoot-out between Carl Edwards and the driver who I think is the most similar in terms of talent and technique, Denny Hamlin. Twenty laps at O'Reilly Motorsports Park, Edwards and Hamlin in identically prepared cars, and racing one on one.

Both drivers like to find a line where they feel most comfortable and stick to it. Edwards is slightly better at car control than Hamlin, but Hamlin is just a wee bit gutsier going into the turns. Both drivers like to slide around the corners to give themselves the straightest route for exiting the turns. Carl Edwards is barely more popular than Kyle Busch, by one or two fans, while Hamlin is slightly less popular, which is hard to do since Busch has only eleven or twelve fans (counting me).

Both Edwards and Hamlin have a reputation of acting out their tempers, and both have been known to use their cars as retaliatory weapons. With that in mind we begin our fantasy shootout.

Edwards takes an early lead, but Hamlin follows Edwards closely and matches the exact line Edwards is taking. Around lap ten Hamlin tries to go around Edwards on the outside of turn 2, but Edwards moves up to block him, giving Hamlin the inside at turn 3. Edwards moves down, but Hamlin gets him lose and completes the pass. Edwards retaliates and bumps Hamlin hard in turn 1. Hamlin moves up the track, and as Edwards gets along side him, Hamlin smashes his car into Edwards' right-side door panel. Edwards gets even angrier and smashes back. This goes on for another lap or two, with the anger of both drivers escalating. By lap fourteen, each is more intent on wrecking the other than in winning the race, and, finally, they hit each other so hard they both wreck. Nobody wins. The moral? Don't let your anger get the best of you.