Carl Edwards Advance
California Speedway
September 2nd-4th, 2005 NEXTEL Cup Series
Sony HD 500, Sunday 5:00PM
Carl Edwards
Team: No.99 Office Depot Ford Taurus
Crew Chief: Bob Osborne
Chassis Number: RK-270 (won at Atlanta and Pocono)
Edwards on racing at California Speedway:
“I'm excited to go to California this weekend. It's a fun track to drive especially this weekend since we start during the day and finish at night. Last year the track got really slick and reminded me a lot of a dirt track which made it fun. I think we have a great car for this weekend and I feel pretty good about our chances of running up front. I think a strong run this weekend could really help our chances of solidifying a spot in the 'Chase'. If we make it that would be awesome but if we don't, there's still 10 races left to win and that's what we'll do. There are a million reasons we shouldn't make the 'Chase' right now but we're going to try our hardest to make it these last two races.”
Crew Chief Bob Osborne on racing at California Speedway:
“I think we are all relieved to make it out of Bristol moving up a position in the points. We've been good at California the last couple times and I feel like we have a pretty good chance to run up front this weekend. We have two races until the 'Chase' so we need to do our very best in order to make it and I think we have a driver and team that are fully capable of that.”
Fast Facts
Carl Edwards has made two NEXTEL Cup starts at California, finishing inside the top 10 both times. Edwards finished fifth there in the spring, his best finish at the track in the No. 99 Ford to date. He also led 33 laps that same race.
At California, Edwards has an average starting position of 19th while his average finishing position is 5.5. In all four of his starts (two Cup and two truck) he has finished inside the top 10.
RK-270 has been a staple in the No. 99 stable of cars. It's raced to two wins (Atlanta, Pocono) in 2005. Also in 2005 the car has raced at the first Texas, first Atlanta, All-Star race and both Pocono races. In 2004 the team raced the car at the second Atlanta and Darlington races. To date the car has four top-five and five top-10 finishes in seven starts.
Edwards moved up one position in the overall point standings to eighth. He sits 561 out of first and 133 points out of seventh. Only 62 points separates eighth place from 12th in the point standings.
