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March 8, 2010 8:30 AM

Early Accident Takes Edwards Out of Contention at Atlanta

Hampton, Ga. (March 7, 2010) – Carl Edwards was looking forward to returning to Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend, the site of his first career NASCAR Sprint Cup win in 2005. With a retro Scotts paint scheme to commemorate the event, Edwards hoped for a repeat performance of the race five years ago. Unfortunately the race played out differently for him this year as he was involved in an accident on lap 40 which put him in the garage for over 150 laps for repairs. Just before the race ended, he was involved in another accident which also sent him to the garage after being black flagged by NASCAR. The incidents of the day left him with a 39th-place finish.

Edwards qualified 10th for the 325-lap event. He was as high as seventh on the board before the Scotts Ford Fusion became tight through the center. The crew made chassis and air pressure adjustments during a stop under caution on lap 36, but Edwards never got the chance to find out if the changes helped.

During the restart on lap 40, there was contact between Edwards and Brad Keselowski. When Keselowski got into Edwards’ bumper, it sent him up the track into Joey Logano and then into the wall. The right-side damage was severe enough to force Edwards to the garage. The crew spent the next 154 laps making repairs before he returned to the track in 41st place on lap 190.

The team was determined to finish the race to gain what track position and points they could. In the closing laps of the race Edwards moved up to 39th place, but with two laps to go he made contact with Keselowski again. This time Keselowski took the brunt of it when his car became airborne and flipped onto its roof. Luckily Keselowski was not injured and NASCAR penalized Edwards by sending him to the garage for the remaining laps of the race.

Kurt Busch won the race, followed by Matt Kenseth, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kasey Kahne and Paul Menard. AJ Allmendinger, Brian Vickers, Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick and Scott Speed rounded out the top 10.

“The first incident we were on the restart and I was going for the bottom,” Edwards said. “I knew Brad was peeking inside, but I thought he’d give me just a little bit of room and he didn’t and we ended up overlapping. I had it saved and I guess I got into the 20 car at the very top of the race track. I didn’t see that part of it, but it’s so frustrating for a number of reasons, most of which is that I love racing here. I love this race track and I wanted to be out there driving the entire race. I know Brad has made his career on

being super-aggressive. We both had a part in it and it’s not his fault, but it’s just a little too aggressive overall, I think, for that early in the race and caused us to wreck.

“Brad knows the deal between him and me at the end of the race. The scary part was his car went airborne, which was not at all what I expected. At the end of the day, we’re out here to race and people have to have respect for one another and I have a lot of respect for people’s safety. I wish it wouldn’t have gone like it did, but I’m glad he’s okay and we’ll just go on and race some more and maybe him and I won’t get in anymore incidents together. That would be the best thing.”

Edwards and the No. 99 Aflac team are currently 20th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings, 209 points behind leader Kevin Harvick. After a weekend off, the next race will be Sunday, March 21 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Coverage will begin at noon (ET) on FOX.

Kobalt Tools 500 Results
Start: 10th
Finish: 39th
Laps: 170/341
Led: 0
Status: Parked
High: 7th
Low: 41st
Fastest Laps: 2
Laps in top 15: 36/341
Points: 20th

Edwards’ 2010 Cumulative Record
Races: 4 of 36
Points: 435
Behind Leader: -209
Rank: 20th
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
Top 5s: 0
Top 10s: 1
Top 15s: 3

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