Edwards hopes to survive Talladega, stay in hunt for Cup title
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver came close to winning the Sprint Cup title in 2011 but lost on a tiebreaker
By
Yvonne Jones
•
3 min read
As if Carl Edwards needs an incentive, a Sprint Cup trophy is displayed in front of him at the podium at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
"It's nice of you to put the trophy up here. I don't know what you're trying to do. But it's working. I have my emotions all wound up," said Edwards during a test session on Tuesday.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver, one of 11 teams that took part in a two-day test from Oct. 18-19 at HMS, says his desire is to return to the track on Nov. 20 with a shot at the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship.
"My dream is to be in that final four at Homestead-Miami Speedway, to win the race and to be the Sprint Cup Series champion."
Edwards came close in 2011, when he was part of one of the most thrilling finishes in NASCAR championship history. The then-Roush-Fenway driver ran second to Tony Stewart, who clinched the title on a tiebreaker.
"That was the most fun championship battle I've been in," Edwards said. "It was so neat to be racing that hard for a championship with a guy like Tony Stewart, one of the best drivers on Earth."
"Looking back on it, that's the kind of thing I would really like to be part of again. I would like to have a battle like that again in a few weeks."
But before the 37-year-old Missouri native can get to Homestead, he'll have to survive and advance at Talladega on Sunday.
"It's unpredictable because you can't separate yourself from the group and everything is on edge with all the cars all the time," Edwards said of the track known for the 'Big One. "And if you have one guy with a flat tire or one guy has a miscue and we are all going 200 mph ... there's just no room for error."
"You are really at the mercy of a lot of chance the entire day."
Four drivers will be elimination from championship contention after Sunday's race at the 2.66-mile track. Edwards enters the finale of the Round of 12 in fifth, three spots above the cutoff position.
But he knows he can't take comfort in that after two teammates had mishaps at the mammoth track. In 2014, Kyle Busch entered 25 points ahead of the cutoff and was eliminated after a poor finish. The following year, Denny Hamlin suffered the same fate as his 18-point edge vanished.
"I guess we have a 20 or 25-point cushion, which can be erased in an instance at Talladega, said Edwards, who has just one top 5 in his past six trips to NASCAR's biggest track. "The plan is to go there and win the race and leave no doubt."
Only two drivers: Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick - who won at Charlotte and Kansas respectively -- have already guaranteed their place in the next round.
So with six spots up for grabs, Edwards will have to battle teammates Busch, Hamlin and Matt Kenseth as well as Toyota affiliate Martin Truex Jr. to make the Round of 8.
"We race hard against one another. Everyone at JGR, we work well together," said the driver of the No. 19 Toyota Camry. "As long as we can balance that, and as long as we can motivate one another and not take it over the edge, I think it's great."
What's also great is that Edwards is trending in the right direction with five races to go.
"Things have been picking up for us. We've been running really well. We had a great run at Kansas," said Edwards, who had a runner-up finish at his 'hometown' track. "And our pit crews are doing well. We're qualifying well. That was the best performance, I believe, we've have had at a 1.5-mile since Texas."
"So this test is going well so far and hopefully we can go run really well at Texas and come back here [Homestead] and dominate this race."
Oh, and if Edwards wins the title? He'll let the world know via tweet.
"I have committed that if I win the championship, I will get a Twitter account. "If I win the championship, I will start."
