So I am entering the world of blogging this week, and have been feverishly working on my first theme. Mind you, I do want to make a good impression. After a couple hours of typing and re-typing, I had a full page written, and I was not happy with where this topic (picking your favorite driver) was going. So I hit the save button and decided I would come back to it today to try to polish it up. Yesterday was a good day to be a Carl fan. He took the #60 PlantersPeanut-FordFusion-ifyouhaven’tdrivena- Fordyoushouldtryit-SaveALot-Scott’s car to victory lane in Michigan, so I knew this win would help to inspire something creative in me.

Day two, and I have already opened my mouth to a friend, telling him that I have a good feeling about this weekend. Certainly this would be the kiss of death for my favorite driver. As race time approached, I sat down in front of my computer and logged into Nascar dot com, loaded up the RaceView and the Pit Command, grabbed a soda and sat down to enjoy the race. I could feel some trepidation as the green flag dropped, and Carl began a most incredible drive from 27th position toward the front of the field. And this, my friends, is what I would like to discuss with you. This is not a commercial, but a personal experience with technology. If you haven’t tried this RaceView thing, you must. I watched and listened as my driver drove the top, bottom and middle of Michigan’s wide sweeping track. I followed along, as if I were in a balloon that was tied to the back bumper. Nervously, I checked in front and back of the car – scouting the nearby competition. Passing one, two and even three cars at a time – calling out to Bob, telling how the car was working at any particular point in the race. Oh, my! Up to P20, P16, P13. Cautions! Awesome pit stops! I monitored the pit times, noting to myself how much the pit crew has improved over the course of the season. I ran a second scanner – listening in on a handful of other drivers to see what I can pick up on other potential strategies. Raceview is the next thing to being there in person. All that’s missing is the roar of the engines, smell of oil and tires, and the wind on my face as the cars roll past.

Let me take a moment to give a shout out to one incredible spotter, Jason Hedlleski. (My apologies for any misspelling here.) He gave Carl a heads up a full lap before the 22 got spun up into the barrier. There were four tail end of the lead lap cars, “racing their guts out” to quote Jason. He further added “be ready for anything there!” I could witness this accident from my little vantage point in back of Carl, hanging on for dear life as “we” took a sharp left turn to the infield pavement and back onto the track. As I heard “they’re wreckin’”, the yellow flag flashed on my computer, and I could look up to the TV to review the carnage.

The remainder of the race was just as heart-stopping and nail-biting as the first part. I suffered through the bad set of tires and the loose condition, Kyle Busch’s turn at leading, and that darned last caution and restart with three to go. Another win, another backflip and that winning, endearing smile spread across the face of a young man who celebrated his 29th birthday on Friday. I watched Carl joyously thrust his fists upward, then turn to his team to include them in the celebration.

This is what it means to be a fan. This is why I have come to be a Carl Edwards fan in particular. I knew he was the real deal when he won his first cup race. I have learned over the last couple years how this driver is a dedicated, focused and extremely disciplined athlete. He works out diligently. He appreciates his good fortune, and has eschewed the life in Charlotte to return to his roots in Columbia, MO. He gives of his time and fortune to charity. He gives his trophies to kids who will treasure the memories that hardware represents for the rest of their lives. He apologizes for his mistakes – and better yet, admits to them. What’s not to like? Oh, and by the way – he is a champion already, and maybe – just maybe he can rewrite the history books by becoming the first double champion in Nascar.

Happy Birthday, Carl. Many happy returns, especially to Victory Lane. What a flipping good time!

Carl Edwards has been a man on a mission since the start of 2008. His numbers are on top in most catergories, with the exception of most wins. The season is buckling down towards the Chase, and as of late, Carl Edwards has pulled up on Busch in the standings, going from being over 300 points behind him after Chicagoland to being less than 200 points behind(185).

Look good at Edwards’ numbers. He has posted 4 wins, 9 top-fives, and 15 top-ten finishes. Along the way he has led 468 laps, and he has completed 5963 of 6052 laps on the schedule of 21 races.

There are some numbers also people don’t look at too often, Edwards has finished second four times this season, and three of them were to Kyle Busch. His consistency shows that he is in title mode, as he has quickly picked off some solid numbers. I look at the last six races(from nascar.com) and Carl Edwards is second only to Jimmie Johnson. He has 1 win, 3 top-fives, and 4 top-ten efforts over the last six races, and he has 25 bonus points.

With the chase coming up in 5 more events, Edwards solid finishes could be just what he needs to beat Busch and the rest of the field for the title.

Most drivers think winning at Daytona or Indianapolis are their career achievements, however, for Carl Edwards winning Saturday night in Madison, Illinois at Gateway International Raceway was one of his.

Edwards took control of the event with 48 laps remaining in the race, and consistently moved away from his competitors to a 6.8 second victory margin over 18-year old Joey Logano. Edwards won the event two years ago in the No. 60 Ford Fusion but this one might be even sweeter for him, as he was able to do it in a more dominant fashion.

Fans were able to gather in victory lane to celebrate with the Columbia, Missouri native that grew up almost two hours away from the St. Louis area track. Crew chief Drew Blickensderfer might have played a big part in the event, as he took notes from the teams win 2006 and then added to it from the year before at the track when they struggled to compete with Reed Sorenson. It might have helped as well that several of the top-competitors in the event took each other out of the race, including the one that might have been the top-car in the field David Reutimann; who was taken out by Brad Keselowski.

Edwards was one of the major event favorites and he had enough support there. Many of his fans were gathered at the track and witnessed an extemely dominant performance through the night by the entire team.

This might be one of those events that rank there for Edwards.

Carl Edwards signed his new contract a couple of months ago, while silly season was really just getting started off. Then it was announced not long after that Aflac would be taking over as the primary sponsor of the No. 99 Ford Fusion in 2009.

Now there is a lot of rumors and talk on what might come for 2009. Luckily, Edwards’ name is not even coming up in the mix, with the exception of his current sponsor Office Depot being in the rumor mill as the new primary sponsor for Tony Stewart in 09′. Edwards has been 100% concentrated in his racing since he signed a new 3-year deal with Roush Fenway Racing and he has been full-speed ahead in 2009. It was back during the start of May, when Carl signed his new deal and he did it like not many others.

Edwards did his own negotiating and there were rumors for weeks that he was in the talks with Hendrick, Gibbs and Childress to be in one of their open rides come 2009.

Edwards, however, took the easy way out and signed a new deal that is possibly one of the best in NASCAR to stay with Roush Fenway Racing. Edwards, unlike several other drivers that are racing, doesn’t have to worry about signing a new deal, worrying about whether or not a new sponsor will be on the car or if the old one is going to be signed back on.

Edwards might have the upper hand as the season winds down.

Since I have been friends with the Kuettel’s the last two and a half years, tonight’s win at Milwaukee possessed a different feel for me. I am definetly happy that the win was put in the books this weekend, but it almost makes things look as if the entire place shifted because of one change.

Carl Edwards drove like he really wanted to win tonight and I give him two thumbs up for that, because the entire team needed motivation. He used the old fashion bump n run move on Clint Bowyer to win the race and in the end felt he didn’t need to celebrate with his usual backflip. While this is a motivator for a lot of people right now, I want to make something known. This was a car that was prepared for the No. 60 Save A Lot team by P.K., and Carl thanked him for it at the end of the race.

However, I didn’t care for some of the remarks that were put down by commentators Rusty Wallace and Andy Petree about the change. Making it feel as if Kuettel had lost his edge, that is definetly not the case. While the chemistry between the two might have fallen off, Carl didn’t forget how to win races, and Pierre Kuettel didn’t forget how to setup race cars. I know it is part of a business that is very hard to cope with changes. There are changes made on a weekly basis to teams, and maybe this was a situation needed to be changed around.

I seen Mark Martin go through two faces of changes from 1996-2002. He and Steve Hmiel were a winning combination for almost 7 years and then after the 1995 season went winless and the two parted ways, and then Jimmy Fennig took over the position and went five seasons and won quite a bit with Mark Martin, but out of the blew in 2001, he and Martin lost their edge.

So maybe that is what happened with Edwards and Kuettel. There are always questions that are left unanswered and we may never know the real reason, but after tonight and the win, we seen a hard charging driver that raced better than he had the entire season in the No. 60 Ford Fusion. But I wish Pierre the best, he is one of the best crew chiefs in the garage area and I expect nothing but great things out of what Pierre can do as a crew chief. But now maybe both sides can see greener grass all around.

On Tuesday it was announced that Drew Blickensderfer will assume crew chief duties with the No. 60 Nationwide entry with driver Carl Edwards. Pierre Kuettel assumes crew chief duties with the No. 17 Nationwide entry to be driven by Matt Kenseth and Jamie McMurray.

The announcement came as a shocker to many people as P.K. had been the leader of the No. 60 Roush Fenway group since January of 2006. But Edwards questioned the two’s chemistry and when a driver does that, there is definetly signs that are showing a need for the change. But the big question out of this deal comes not this weekend, or the next. Because the team has not struggled on the smaller one-mile tracks like Milwaukee and New Hampshire, as a matter of fact they have had their two best finishes on two-one mile venues in Dover and Phoenix.

The question comes at Daytona and Chicagoland three weeks down the road. The team has struggled to find the right setup on the intermediate tracks, as the team struggled at Kentucky and Nashville where their season’s worst finish without wrecking or engine trouble came.

Drew Blickensderfer has been crew chief of the No. 17 since January of 2007, and has scored three victories with Matt Kenseth as his driver. All three coming on intermediate tracks, California, Texas and Atlanta.

So don’t pay attention to the performance these next two weeks, if things change at Chicagoland after the restrictor plate race in Daytona in four weeks, it might be one of the best possible moves to make. But if it doesn’t change how the performance of the car goes, some might question the driver for wanting to make this change to the team that won the 2007 championship.

In last weekend’s Nationwide Series race at Nashville Superspeedway, Carl Edwards struggles continued in the series as he finished 14th in the Federated Auto Parts 300 at a track where he had never finished lower than fifth. Edwards said that the car’s balance and handling was better than any car he had took to victory lane at the last three races at the track.

So that leaves one issue open for discussion. The engine department is struggling to find the power to compete with the Toyota and Chevrolet. When a dyno was done after Atlanta in March, it was found that Toyota had 30 more horse power than the Ford teams and it is showing on the track. In the light of things there is a major embarressment for the driver and the fans that see this happening every weekend.

There are many people that can see the issue that keeps coming up week after week. And through the grapevine, there was a meeting that discussed these issues involving the engine package on the No. 60 Ford’s. Edwards really went all out and told them that it was time to do some research and find some power off of the corners.

There are not many times when Doug Yates’ engines are over-powered anywhere. But right now it appears that the Toyota’s have their number in the Nationwide Series. Edwards doesn’t go and make remarks too often about his team or equipment, however; this is a situation where the driver shouldn’t have to. The engine department needs to find more power in these engines, more testing, and number one, there has to be power to get a driver around cars that are never should be able to pass Edwards to begin with.

Office Depot had a 60 day negotiating period to sign a new deal with Carl Edwards No. 99 Ford for the future. After 60 days, many people were expecting a fiesty battle between UPS and Office Depot over the driver; in the end it was an unexpected signee. Aflac Inc.

that signed as the sponsor for Carl Edwards.

Aflac has been with Roush Fenway Racing since last July at Daytona, when Carl Edwards carried the Aflac colors in the Winn Dixie 250. Then in the preseason of 2008, it was announced that Aflac would be on the No. 99 Ford Fusion for 8 races. In the first for the deal it was looking as if Carl Edwards was going to win his third race of 2008 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, until his engine expired on lap 274 while leading the Kobalt Tools 500. It was in the second race for the driver/sponsorship deal that the duck prevailed in Fort Worth. Edwards piloted the No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion to victory over Jimmie Johnson after leading 123 laps.

Edwards and the flipping duck have been seen by millions of people already in their commercial for this season. As the duck takes the glory from the driver in the ad commercial for Aflac. Edwards tells everyone “I taught him that.”

As reported by SportsBusiness Journal said the deal at $78 million over three years. That resulting in an average of 26 million a year. This probably doesn’t even have in place Edwards pay for the endorsements that will come from the contract and that could be a heavy amount considering Edwards is a big money maker when it comes to advertisements on the screen of millions of fans television sets.

Edwards is a very popular driver that will bring a lot to the table for Aflac.

Edwards is very comfortable in front of the camera, he has been on many magazine covers and he is a poseable figure in the sport. So in the end, Aflac is going to get their money’s worth out of the driver.

While the combination of Office Depot and Carl Edwards have become a household name in NASCAR it is now time for a change for the No. 99 Roush Fenway group. Edwards has been with the Office Supply company for almost four years now, and Office Depot did not do that much ad campaigning with Edwards, with the exception of the Small Business contest.

Now with Aflac it will change. Edwards the Aflac Duck will make a solid combo and it might get to be just like the commercial, a scene other drivers see differently.

It’s been over a week since Carl Edwards signed his new contract with Roush Fenway Racing and the elevation of the deal may have already started to show.

Carl Edwards has shown that the stress is gone. There is no worry on when and where he will sign his contract anymore and the shining point of his contract might be in the light of being Roush Fenway’s top-star. While he isn’t the veteran driver of the operation, he has clearly shown that he has propelled himself to being Roush’s big man on campus. While Edwards’ contract is a private measure, it has been noted as a “Dream Contract,” by the driver.

There were fans that wanted to see Edwards sign with another team, siting that he wasn’t getting the best possible equipment at Roush. Then there were teams that would have loved to have gotten their hands on Edwards. He was considered the hottest commodity in the sport as a free agent, yet; he still felt that he had his best chance to win at Roush.

There are a lot of people that know how Edwards career has gone. But very few know how he landed at Roush, and since the day he signed his contract with Roush; he has been thankful to the owner that gave him his chance. Roush has given him all the things possible in a team to win races, compete at the highest level for championships, and give him the most up-to-date resources possible to do so.

Late last season there were a lot of fans who thought Edwards was on the wrong end of the deal. After he had two engines expire during the Chase last season while leading races at Richmond and Phoenix and looking to be on the way to wins at the two tracks. Now it has all been decided and Edwards will be returning to Roush, and people will have to live with it for three years.

Then there is another unsightly topic that has been discussed among Edwards’ fans. Crew Chief Bob Osborne, who has been Edwards’ head mechanic for much of his Sprint Cup Series career, with the exception for much of the 2006 season. Edwards has had great success with the Pennsylvania native, and he knows that Osborne is a propelling factor in his success as he said on Sunday night while talking to Dave Despain on Speed’s Wind Tunnel.

Osborne is another one that appears here to say, so it is time that fans learn to live with it.

That is my two cents on the topic.

Sure Carl Edwards’ contract is up at the end of the 2008 Sprint Cup Series season and so is his sponsor Office Depot’s, however, there are enough people that know that Edwards is at the right team in NASCAR.

Edwards has been the hottest driver on the track in 2008, he has won three of the first eight events of the season, and he has led 306 laps, only 200 less than he led the entire season in 2007. Yet for some reason there are still critics of his car owner and team that feel that he needs to be within a different organization next season to compete for the highest prize in NASCAR.

But let’s all be honest with ourselves here folks, it’s not always better on the other side; most especially in NASCAR.

Edwards has been an incredible success where he is at. He has won ten Sprint Cup Series races, 13 Nationwide Series races, and 6 Craftsman Truck Series events, along with a Nationwide Series championship to boot. So does the grass actually appear greener on the other side or not?

Right now you have Hendrick who has too many roosters in the hen house as it is, he has stars Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and overall favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr driving for them, and Childress has three drivers already that are of star potential. Gibbs has one driver wanting out, and two youngsters that could present a rivalry within the team without a veteran there.

At Roush there will be a cut of one team at the end of the 2009 season and as of now it appears like it will be Jamie McMurray that will be leaving the organization. Yes, Carl is going to be a hot item this season, but what is the likely hood of him leaving RFR? Not very high. Edwards has a full committment attitude and if he knows that he can perform the same as he is right now at Roush, I am sure that he will be returning to the team. He and Bob Osborne are a very solid combination in this sport, and two finally were able to stick together after their departure during the 2006 season; when Jack Roush seperated the two.

While some people think Osborne isn’t a solid crew chief, Edwards has faith in the man on top of the box, and he has even said that since Osborne was suspended after Las Vegas and next weekend, Osborne will return to the box. But the people that have bashed Osborne in the past don’t really understand the meaning of the word, ‘Chemistry.’ In racing that is one word that makes or breaks you, no matter if you are the most talented driver, or the most talented crew chief. If the trust is not there, it won’t work. So that is another reason on why Edwards should stay where he is, because if he departs to another team, there is no guarantee that he will have the crew chief of his choice.

And then there are points. Richard Childress will have a fourth team opening up next season, however, there will not be any owner points backing them next season in the first 5 events. And if Hendrick Motorsports lets Casey Mears go, there is no guarantee that they will be inside the top-35.

So clearly, Roush is the best possible place for the driver to be in my book.