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.

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.

Carl Edwards has been carrying the Office Depot sponsorship since his rookie season in the Sprint Cup Series and has put them in victory lane five times in his career. While there has been no word on a battling between the two sponsors, many expect that there will be a bidding war in the next two months, and as expected Jack Roush is going to want to have a sponsor that is able to carry a 24-25 million dollar range of backing for a driver that is in Carl Edwards league. It was said earlier this season that UPS wanted a driver with a “Rock Star” personality.

And another reason might be to compete with the likes of their rival company Fed EX and driver Denny Hamlin’s ads on television and Carl Edwards might be the right person for the job. Edwards is a very cool driver that many people have grown to notice in commercials and as a winning driver, much like FedEX’s driver Hamlin. And this season, with Carl Edwards winning three races on the Sprint Cup Series schedule, it shows that his value has risen, and there is no doubt that car owner Jack Roush is going to try and find the sponsor that is able to back him with the most money.

When Office Depot sold off more ten races this season to Aflac and Clariton, it started a lot of rumors that they would not be renewing their contract with Roush.

On Sunday, those people got a glimpse of what this team could do even no illegal advantages on the car was they dominated at Texas. Edwards led 123 laps on the track, and could probably have led more laps in the race, had he pushed the car harder. The win was Edwards’ third win of the season and clearly showed that his No. 99 Ford Fusion was going to be the one to deal with on the intermediate ovals.

What is an even bigger mark on the win was it was without his crew chief Bob Osborne who remains suspended until the race at Talladega is complete. However, car owner Jack Roush complimented his young drivers talents on the intermediate ovals and his talent to communicate with his engineering staff.

“He’s brave beyond reason at fast race tracks like this, and he communicates as well as anybody has in my time with the engineering people that we’ve got,” Roush said. “Chris Andrews, of course, is our engineering manager. Bob Osborne is a mechanical engineer as well as a crew chief. So anyway, we’ve got a lot of engineering content that’s in the cars, where we have very specific information, and Carl doesn’t stand on principle for what he might think, necessarily, and listens and interacts with the engineers to come to the best decision on many things that affect the setup.

“Carl has done just a great job, working with the tools that we’ve given him, and, of course, closing the deal today.”

Many people wonder now, what will happen when crew chief Bob Osborne returns from the 6 race suspension, how much more dominant could this team be? They won California and Las Vegas and now with the win in Texas, it appears that the leadership away from the track has helped build Edwards and his teams momentum even more.

What is even more impressive is, Edwards has an incredible record at some of the tracks coming up on the schedule. He has been running very well at Phoenix, Darlington, Charlotte, Richmond and Dover, along with his owners home track in Brooklyn, Michigan.

Only time will tell now.

The two being long-time Roush Fenway crew chief Jimmy Fennig on the No. 6 AAA Ford Fusion, and Larry Carter who is the head man on the No. 26 Crown Royal/Irwin Tools Ford. Struggling marks have came off of McMurray this season and the rest of the team seems to be moving forward in the standings. But this doesn’t exactly point at the crew chief. Many people know that there is more than a crew chief that keeps these teams going, but it is usually the crew chief that takes the first hit with the problems.

Then there is what appears to be the odd man out at Roush. Long-time employee and leader of the No. 60 Roush Fenway team, Pierre Kuettel may never get his chance to be a crew chief at the highest level because he doesn’t have a piece of paper to fall back onto. Kuettel who came to Roush at the end of the 1998 season, has probably seen more changes that anyone could have asked to have seen, and been through quite a few himself. Kuettel has the smarts of the engineering team and setup the No. 99 Fords for years before moving over to the No. 60 to be the crew chief.

However, when you have a crew chief system like many of the organizations do these days, very few are crew chiefs without a little piece of paper saying you are an engineer. P.K. is a very knowledgeable crew chief and his talents are right there with Bob Osborne and Greg Erwin. So where does this leave guys like P.K. in the future?

So here it all gets put out in the eyes of the public and Waltrip says it was taken, but not stolen from the box of one of the Roush Fenway cars. There was something of similar circumstances come about last year in F1 when teams were stealing other teams valuable information. So what is it to say it is any different from what Waltrips’ operation did, and take the swaybar that RFR had in their box and copy it. And this comes from a team that was caught using a jet fuel in their car last spring in Daytona when the Toyota’s first came into NASCAR, so we know that Waltrip’s operation is very well capable of cheating and stealing.

Edwards won two of the first four races of the series and he appeared headed for his third had an engine problem not evolved from no where on Sunday afternoon. But one thing is clear, Jack Roush and his teams have made a clear statement in these four races of the season, as Edwards has scored 2 wins, led 183 laps, and been right in the thick of things every lap since California came around.

On Friday afternoon, Toyota general manager Lee White made the statement that TRD did testing and found that the oil tank lid being off of the car provided 21 percent more downforce to the car, which he says would have been a huge advantage for Edwards, however, it also lit a fire underneath car owner Jack Roush’s hat.

The reason I’m here this morning is because I’m mad,” he said Friday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. “I got woken up this morning to the news that Lee White, on behalf of Toyota, had made some disparaging remarks in the USA Today.”

“In 22 years of being involved with this thing, I’ve never gotten any relief and we’ve appealed several times,” he said. “I think enlightenment is not one of the tools that would be useful for them. I think, for the most part, they’re predisposed for one reason or the other and it’s a rubber stamp thing.”

In all the years that I have been following racing, I have been a RFR fan, I have seen Mark Martin be penalized 46 points for a carburetor spacer at Richmond in 1990, a coil spring that was missing half a coil, and seen Edwards docked points for a fender last season, along with this penalty in 2008. And not once have I ever heard of an appeal coming out the right way for Roush Fenway Racing. Jack Roush has been in a way, the black sheep of NASCAR. It has been clear in the past that some teams have been able to get by with the samethings with no penalties at all, and now with this rule infraction over a silly cover on the oil tank.

But one thing has been made clear to other teams this season, RFR is ready for everyone. While Edwards has been the only team to find the winners circle, Greg Biffle has shown signs of bringing back his winning, and Kenseth as usual is running near the front of the field. While last season, many people questioned whether or not RFR had the team capable of competing with Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing. As of now, signs are showing that the tide has turned the opposite direction and the question is now, can they compete with RFR?

It was on March 20, 2005 that Carl Edwards did the unthinkable and passed Jimmie Johnson on the final turn of the final lap. Edwards was able to get a power run off of turn 2 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, that pulled him up to the back bumper of Jimmie Johnson’s Lowe’s Chevrolet Monte Carlo. On that final turn, Edwards took the momentum and was able to get a high side run and beat Jimmie Johnson to the finish line by a margin of 0.028 seconds, less than half a car length.

The win that day proved that Carl Edwards was the “Real Deal.” Edwards only led only nine laps of the race, but when he crossed the line he had led the most important one of his career. For almost 3 1/2 years, the No. 99 Roush Racing team had gone without winning a race, and team members such as car chief Pierre Kuettel, who is now Edwards’ crew chief on the No. 60 Nationwide Series team, stuck by the team and was able to witness one of the most thrilling victories by a young driver ever.

Edwards, who scored his first top-five at Atlanta only months before he scored his win at the track. The victory’s special meaning came to both the driver and his team. It was crew chief Bob Osborne’s first win as well as a crew chief, after being the head engineer for Roush. And ending the winless steak meant even more.

1990 - Mark Martin is docked 46 points at Richmond International Raceway for a carburetor spacer that had been used before, NASCAR deemed that the carburetor was illegal. It cost car owner Jack Roush $40,000 in fines as well. Martin lost the title to Dale Earnhardt in 1990 by 26 points, had the points not been taken, he would have won by 20.
2002 - Mark Martin is docked 25 points at North Carolina Speedway in the 34th race of the season. Martin’s team is found to have a coil spring that is 4 3/8 coils, and the mininum for the spring at the time was 4 1/2 coils.
2007 - Carl Edwards and the No. 99 Office Depot Racing Team were docked 25 points for the car being too low at the quarterpanel, the crew felt it was damage from teammate Greg Biffle hitting them under the cool down lap. At the time Edwards went from being 2nd in the points, two points behind the leader, to being 28 back.

Now this past weekend the team is docked points for an oil-lid being off of the tank of the No. 99 Dish Network Ford Fusion. On Wednesday NASCAR announced that the penalty would be 100 driver & owner points, $100,000 fine had been issued to crew chief Bob Osborne and the team would lose the ten bonus points that would go with the victory if they were to make the Chase for the Championship. Edwards went from leading the points standings to being 79 points behind now leader Kyle Busch in the standings. And there is no telling how important that those ten points could be if Edwards does make the Chase.

While rules are rules, it seems that as of late, NASCAR has found a way to ruin Roush’s reign at the top of the series. Edwards won back to back races, and had they not done something, it might have given other fans and teams the idea that NASCAR had given Edwards the new golden boy title. However, they didn’t and as usual, the penalty is much harsh for Roush Fenway Racing.

So is there a shock to many that Carl Edwards and Bob Osborne’s combination have won two of the first three races of the season. Not in one of Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet’s or Gibbs’ Toyotas, but Roush Fenway Racing’s Ford Fusions. During the off-season, Jack Roush had his teams do their homework, and it has shown in these first three races. Edwards has won two races at Las Vegas and California, and he has led 150 laps of the 717 laps this season. So when the off-season came to an end and the season really started, people seen that the No. 99 Roush Fenway Racing team has proved that the late run the team had in 2007 wasn’t a fluke.

Edwards and crew chief Bob Osborne are shaping up to have one of the best driver/crew chief combinations in the series, and with the help of car owner Jack Roush; they might have the right combination to win it all in 2008.

“The hard work that Bob has put in and everything that Jack has put into it … the idea that I think we are close to the form that we were in 2005, where it just seemed like a Roush Fenway car would win every week, that’s what I’m really excited about,” Edwards said after Sunday’s win.