In racing, which laps you lead matters more than how many, as Carl Edwards will attest. The Aflac Ford driver led 45 of the first 65 laps of Sunday’s NASCAR Kobalt Tools 500, and he led the last 45, taking the checkered flag in first place.
In a race decided by fuel strategy, Edwards stretched his fuel far enough to end his 70-race Sprint Cup losing streak, while Denny Hamlin, who led 190 laps of the 312 lap race, pitted for a possibly unnecessary splash, costing him half his points lead over Jimmie Johnson.
“Man, this is unreal,” Edwards told ESPN after the race. “[Team owner] Jack Roush said, ‘I’d forgotten what it felt like to win one on fuel mileage, except for that feeling in the pit of your stomach for the last two laps.’ I know the feeling.”
Edwards’ last Sprint Cup win came at Homestead in 2008; he ran all of one season and all but one race of the next without ever seeing Victory Circle. It was tough on the team, but they didn’t give up.
“It’s been a long drought. It’s been really hard to keep our confidence up and this is what we needed. It still doesn’t feel like this really happened. We needed this win.”
As he did at his last two nationwide wins, last week at Texas and Saturday at Phoenix, Edwards went through the fence into the crowd to meet his fans after the race. His fans mobbed him—one commentator mentioned that that was the most dangerous thing he had done all weekend—but Edwards enjoyed it.
“That’s so cool to be able to go up there and celebrate with the fans,” he said, thanking track officials for opening the gate to let him through.
In a race decided by fuel strategy, Edwards stretched his fuel far enough to end his 70-race Sprint Cup losing streak, while Denny Hamlin, who led 190 laps of the 312 lap race, pitted for a possibly unnecessary splash, costing him half his points lead over Jimmie Johnson.
“Man, this is unreal,” Edwards told ESPN after the race. “[Team owner] Jack Roush said, ‘I’d forgotten what it felt like to win one on fuel mileage, except for that feeling in the pit of your stomach for the last two laps.’ I know the feeling.”
Edwards’ last Sprint Cup win came at Homestead in 2008; he ran all of one season and all but one race of the next without ever seeing Victory Circle. It was tough on the team, but they didn’t give up.
“It’s been a long drought. It’s been really hard to keep our confidence up and this is what we needed. It still doesn’t feel like this really happened. We needed this win.”
As he did at his last two nationwide wins, last week at Texas and Saturday at Phoenix, Edwards went through the fence into the crowd to meet his fans after the race. His fans mobbed him—one commentator mentioned that that was the most dangerous thing he had done all weekend—but Edwards enjoyed it.
“That’s so cool to be able to go up there and celebrate with the fans,” he said, thanking track officials for opening the gate to let him through.
