Carl Edwards says “what problems” to new car critics

By Charlie Turner, Thunder Lounge
Published on Thunder Lounge.

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Forty two Sprint Cup drivers hated NASCAR’s experiment in stock car design after the Samsung 500 Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway.

Jeff Gordon actually parked his car early - after an inevitable spin and wall wack - and insisted that crew chief Steve Letarte “fix the dang thing”. Gordon later returned to the track to taste the results of Letarte’s efforts. The leftovers weren’t much better and after a few more laps Gordon called it a day. Jeff said that they tried every possible set-up. Nothing works for the team. That is not a good sign.

Gordon’s teammate Jimmy Johnson finished second and led sixty-some laps. All-in-all that is a big improvement from recent results, but Johnson says the new car needs help. You can’t drive it in traffic, it needs more down-force. And this is a team that has tested the new car nearly every non-race day for the last two weeks. Hell, Chad - can I hear a hallelujah - Knauss is the crew chief! If they can’t figure it out ……?

Maybe Joe Gibbs Racing can. Not according to third place finisher Kyle Busch who said;

“Was it fun to drive? No. Was it hard to drive? Yes,” Busch said. “Did it survive the day? Yes. So was it a good day? Sure.”

Kyle was asked to talk further about the car and said:

“I’m not going to answer that question. Ask NASCAR that question.”

Ryan Newman finished fourth, but flunked the post-race rectal and will undoubtedly lose points, cash and crew chief attendance for a while. Presumably because they exceeded legality in the effort to fix the problems with the car. So much for the cheating solution.

The race winner was Carl “flipper” Edwards - for the third time this year. Carl doesn’t see the problem. At all. It isn’t so much that Edwards thinks that his new cars handle any better than his competitor’s rides. He just thinks the way that they are is OK. The same for everybody, a challenge to drive for sure but rewarding to master. He likes it.

NASCAR says they have no intention of making big - or even small - changes to the former CoT. That fact may make Carl Edwards the eventual champion of the first Sprint CoT Cup Series.

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Filed Under: Carl Edwards, Charlie Turner, Guest Authors, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Sprint Cup, Texas

Tagged As: Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Jimmy Johnson, kyle busch, Nascar, Samsung 500, Texas Motor Speedway



Trackback URL for: Carl Edwards says “what problems” to new car critics

By Charlie Turner, Thunder Lounge
Sunday April 6, 2008
9:05am CDT
Published on Thunder Lounge.

NASCAR’s annual silly season is off to an early start.

Last week the story was of Richard Childress Racing capturing the General Mills flag from the Petty #43 and planting it on the hood of a fourth RCR Cup car. Where there’s a car there must eventually be a driver and the speculation began that Petty Enterprises’ Bobby Labonte might make the move to that ride in 2009. The last few days have seen the names of Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, Martin Truex Jr emerge. Earlier, others had speculated that Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman were possibilities.

Next up came the news that Kyle Petty was pulling himself or being ranked - you decide - from the Petty #45 and being replaced by young Chad McCumbee - at least for the Texas race. The #45 is well out of the top thirty five in owner’s points now and it feels like Kyle may be on the way out of the picture as a full time driver for the venerable team.

Then yesterday came rumblings from Florida, where Chip Ganassi is watching over his Indy Car investment and stewing about the performance of his three Cup teams. Chip isn’t happy with either Dario Franchitti’s or Reed Sorenson’s seasons so far. Ganassi talks as if he feels the problems are more team than driver related. But that wouldn’t make me feel all that comfortable if I were Dario or Reed.

The top thirty five qualifying rule puts more focus and pressure on the tail-enders of Sprint Cup. We’ve only had one race since the automatic qualifiers started being based on this year’s owners’ points. The sixth race of the year is now opening day for NASCAR’s silly season.

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Filed Under: Bobby Labonte, Carl Edwards, Charlie Turner, Chip Ganassi Racing #40, Dario Franchitti, Greg Biffle, Guest Authors, Kyle Petty, Petty Enterprises #45, Reed Sorenson, Ricky Rudd, Sprint Cup, Teams

Tagged As: Chad McCumbee, Chip Ganassi, Greg Biffle, Indy Car, Kyle Petty, Nascar, Petty Enterprises, Richard Childress Racing, silly season, Tony Stewart



Trackback URL for: The six race NASCAR honeymoon is over

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Wednesday March 5, 2008
7:42pm CST
Published on Thunder Lounge.

NASCAR handed out, or handed back if you prefer, points a plenty this afternoon.

In an unprecedented move, NASCAR not only swiped the recent standard of 100 driver/owner points, 6 week vacation and $100,000 fine for the crew chief (Bob Osbourne) for the #99 Office Depot team, but they also took back the 10 bonus points Carl Edwards had obtained for the seeding of the Chase.

Roush Fenway Racing President Geoff Smith commented from Vail, Colorado that RFR would be getting their ducks in a row over the next week to decide whether or not to appeal the penalty.

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Filed Under: Carl Edwards, Daytona, Drivers, Las Vegas, Nascar, Robby Gordon, Robby Gordon Motorsports #7, Roush Racing #99, Sprint Cup, Teams, Tracks

Tagged As: Carl Edwards, Cousin Carl, NASCAR Penalties, Robby Gordon



Trackback URL for: Gordon Outweighs Edwards On Penalty Wednesday

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Monday March 3, 2008
12:52am CST
Published on Thunder Lounge.

Well, it was almost like deja vu as Carl Edwards led the last lap for the second week in a row.

After much impending anticipation, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series made it to Las Vegas. After the fiasco in Fontana last week, it was definitely a welcomed weekend where weather wasn’t an issue, and the racing was anticipated to be really good.

It wasn’t bad, however as a colleague pointed out, I was left with a slight empty feeling. To me it felt like the guys we’re leaving something on the table, for lack of a better term. I reflect back to comments about the tires, a lack of overall grip, and the term cautiously aggressive comes to mind.

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Filed Under: Carl Edwards, Drivers, Hendrick Motorsports #24, Jeff Gordon, Joe Gibbs Racing #20, Las Vegas, Nascar, Roush Racing #99, Sprint Cup, Teams, Tony Stewart, Tracks

Tagged As: Carl Edwards, Cousin Carl, Jeff Gordon, Las Vegas, Post-Race Inspection, Tony Stewart



Trackback URL for: Deja Flippin Vu, Almost

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Monday February 25, 2008
3:11pm CST
Published on Thunder Lounge.

About flippin time is right.

About flippin time someone won out in California.

About flippin timethe weather took a back seat to racing.

About time for a lot of things, but I’ll cut it at this. About time the racing was worth watching at this southern California track.

It wasn’t a perfect show, and yeah there is room for improvement. Isn’t there always, though?

However, love or hate this car, we saw again that it’s racy. It’s nice to see these cars around each other for lengths of time without one driver or another losing it. All seeping water aside.

One thing prevalent in this race, of many, is that this is the house of Roush. What looked last night to be the Gordon Show, turned a tick to Johnsonville, but the Roushketeers didn’t flinch. Had the race continued last night the outcome would be anyone’s guess. But it didn’t, so end of that story.

Another lesson here is that Roush has their act together with the car now, and they’re getting better. Further still, is that Hendrick is still as strong as ever. While taking home half the trophies this season seems out of the question, as the competition is much stiffer this season thus far, you can bet they’ll take home a fair share before the season is over.

Now it’s on to the Nationwide race, where a historic moment has a chance to take place. That moment being that for the first time, a driver could leave the weekend behind and sit atop all 3 Series points. Trucks, Nationwide, and Sprint Cup. That driver is Kyle Busch.

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Filed Under: California, Carl Edwards, Drivers, Nascar, Roush Racing #99, Sprint Cup, Teams, Tracks

Tagged As: Carl Edwards, Cousin Carl, Hendrick Motorsports, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, kyle busch, Roush Fenway Racing, Roushketeers



Trackback URL for: About flippin time

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Friday February 8, 2008
8:51pm CST
Published on Thunder Lounge.

Carl Edwards

• 2007 Stats

  • Organization: Roush Fenway Racing
  • Car Number: 99
  • Crew Chief: Bob Osbourne
  • Sponsor: Office Depot
  • Points: 9th :: 6222 :: -501
  • Starts: 36
  • Poles: 1
  • Wins: 3
  • Top 5’s: 11
  • Top 10’s: 15
  • Winnings: $4,611,970

• 2008 Preview

  • Organization: Roush Fenway Racing
  • Car Number: 99
  • Crew Chief: Bob Osbourne
  • Sponsor: Office Depot

Welcome back Bob Osbourne. Three wins, 11 Top-5’s and 15 Top-10’s later, Cousin Carl found himself getting back into the thick of it. Much to the sighs of relief from his fans across the nation, including my own mother, Carl Edwards was getting back to his pre-Wally performance level. Edwards flipped for joy, naturally, as I’m sure Jack did as well.

In 2007 Carl had his ups and downs, as did everybody. One such down was the little scuffle with Matt Kenseth last fall, where Edwards was roasted in the media for what honestly wasn’t that. Do you want these guys to have emotions or not? Please make up your mind. While Edwards is normally all goody-goody, it happens to everyone at some point in time. At least he didn’t get all “Cole Trickle” on Kenseth, as he did the year before with a certain Most Popular Driver in NASCAR. Oops!

Carl also took home his first title from NASCAR’s top divisions, winning the last Busch Series Championship by the time August was upon us. OK, not literally, but it was that big of a snoozer in the Drivers Championship. Too bad Roush lost out on the Owners Championship, but hey, you can’t win them all. With this happening on the heels of Kevin Harvick doing the same thing in 2006, it has caused an even further cry for action about Bushwhacking, for which we’ve yet to figure out better term. Nationwide-whacking sounds like a plot line from Natural Born Killers (or worse, for you pervs out there), but I’m sure we’ll come up with something.

2008 hold high hopes for the Office Depot team. Continuing to build on the successful return of Bob Osbourne, a new deal to be signed with Roush, and another run at the Cup Title all come into play. At least Carl has one distinct advantage over his competitiors. While he’s riding around and playing chess in a little over a week, he has a fine collection of artists to listen to from his own Back40 Records.

Note: information is accurate as of date published. Check Thunder Lounge for additional updates and information.

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Filed Under: Carl Edwards, Drivers, Nascar, Nextel Cup, Roush Racing #99, Sprint Cup, Teams

Tagged As: Cousin Carl



Trackback URL for: Daytona 500: 9 Days and Counting

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Thursday June 28, 2007
1:47pm CDT
Published on Thunder Lounge.

Well well well now. According to Roush Fenway, they have secured Lumber Liquidators as a sponsor for New Hampshire, as well as Gillette.

Both being sponsors of the Boston Red Sox, they plan to leverage their NASCAR sponsorship of Edwards to expand awareness of their association with the Red Sox as their sponsors.

Is that so?

I wonder if Jack isn’t secretly stewing over this. Why, you may ask?

Lumber Liquidators being the primary sponsor of Todd Bodine and his (gasp) Toyota in the Craftsman Truck Series.

We all know how Jack just “loves” Toyota, and is just so buddy-buddy cozy with them. Yeah, OK.

Granted, money is money these days. He’s taken on Viagra, so there’s the standard. Not that is hasn’t helped many a folk out there, but try explaining what it is to an 8yr old. Thanks Jack, just what I needed. At least that can slip under the rug now.

However, I still can’t help but wonder if on the inside Jack is a little steamed.

We do have an example of what he was after, and so many other Owner’s in the garage as well, when he inked the deal with Fenway. Marketing leverage, and additional reach. At the same time, we can see how Fenway is benefiting too. Interesting, and not much different overall. Still have a sponsor on the car, etc. The real power comes in the abilities and method of distribution for the partners involved, and exposing each other to additional outlets.

As a side note, anybody still taking notice that on average more Toyota’s that are involved in accidents on track can thank a Roushketeer? Hmmm… interesting.

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Filed Under: Carl Edwards, Drivers, Nascar, New Hampshire, Nextel Cup, Roush Racing #99, Teams, Tracks





Trackback URL for: Uh Oh Jack! Have A Conflict Of Interests, Do We?

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Monday April 2, 2007
1:33pm CDT
Published on Thunder Lounge.

Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but here’s my take on this. But first, let me say this is nothing against Greg Biffle. He’s the unfortunate innocent party in this new Roush Debacle. As you know, here a Thunder Lounge we don’t necessarily dislike any driver. The few exceptions to the rule being Todd Bodine, and on occasion a love to hate Mr. Flip-Flop’s opinions.

So when NASCAR drew the line at 4 Cup teams per stable, Roush was grandfathered into the mix with a clause that essentially said they had to whittle down to 4 teams as soon as possible, once a sponsorship or driver contract had come to the end of its terms.

OK, so let me see here. Since then Roush has replaced Mark Martin, and Greg Biffle is flying new colors this season as well. Not too long ago, NASCAR must have saw the light and made a firm date of “no later than the 2010 season” for the ol’ Cat in the Hat to whittle his stable down by one team, unless contracts dictated a sooner date.

So let me see here if I get this right. Essentially Jack is either playing NASCAR for a fool, or he’s playing favorites amongst his Roushketeers. Perhaps a little of both.

Greg apparently has another year left on his contract after this season, and Ameriquest has opted to not renew for 2008. So here Geoff Smith is trying to not only broker a new contract for Biffle, but a new sponsorship contract as well. So we are already up to the third opportunity for Roush to comply with the NASCAR mandate. Anybody see anything wrong with this picture here? Anybody want to call shenanigans yet?

The above being the case, and three neglected opportunities to comply, what’s going on here? Roush may very well be the biggest independent influence in NASCAR. He’s built a powerhouse that commands respect of his accomplishments no matter what your personal opinion is. Yet, is he “above” NASCAR?

He’s going to have to pick one team, and soon, to begin phasing it out of operations. The likely scenario is a partnership or an under the table deal with Yates, where if need be Roush is running that team but under a different stable. It would be a Yates team, but Roush would foot the bills and whatever else on the side if need be.

The question is, who will it be? Greg doesn’t seem likely, and you know Carl isn’t going anywhere. The rookie isn’t a safe bet, else he wouldn’t have been hired unless his contract is the same length as AAA’s sponsorship. Matt? OK, yeah, right. Roush give up his Championship team? Not hardly. That leaves Jamie, at the moment.

It’s no secret that the performance to date has been very “Un-Roush” like. Last year was dismal for McMurray, but then again, Roush struggled as a whole with the new Fusion. So the blame isn’t squarely on the 26 team, and so far this season things are picking up in that department so far. So what about David Ragan then? I’ll give a thumbs up for improvement at Martinsville this past Sunday, in comparison to last October, and at least he’s not being told to skip Texas. However with him being the new face in the crowd, does that limit his credentials in the stable? Obviously Jack doesn’t think so, and knows it would be an uphill battle to bring out the kid’s potential. What it very well may come down to is performance between the 26 and 6 teams. He who finishes best, keeps his Roush logo on his fire suit.

Not a position I’d want to be in, then again I wouldn’t want to be a TV reporter either. (Note: TV reporter comment just to give Jay a laugh.)

So what’s the deal going on here? Is it Roush playing favorites, acting as his Roushketeers are above the “law”, or what?

Could it be that he’s holding out as long as possible, playing Russian Roulette instead, and whoever comes up comes up?

I don’t think so. Roush isn’t dumb, folks. He has something up his sleeve, and that you can be sure of. Trying to guess their next move is like trying to predict a winner on Sunday. You can guess, but until it happens you just don’t know. Some obviously guess right, and some don’t.

Kind of reminds you of how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Tootsie Pop, huh?

Maybe Mr. Owl has an answer for the Roush Camp too.

Share your thoughts!.

Filed Under: Carl Edwards, Damn Good Points, Drivers, Greg Biffle, Jamie McMurray, Matt Kenseth, Nascar, Nextel Cup, Roush Racing #16, Roush Racing #17, Roush Racing #26, Roush Racing #99, Teams





Trackback URL for: Jack Roush Playing Favorites Amongst His Roushketeers?