Today Carl Edwards once again offered himself up as “Exhibit A” for the will to win for a second consecutive day. NASCAR is not football, where pushing a little quicker and a little harder off the line will carry a smaller opponent to a win over a superior rival. You’ve got to employ a little finesse to keep yourself out of trouble. Let’s face it, if hard racing were all it took to win, Kyle Busch and A.J. Allmendinger would be unstoppable. Starting from 4th, Edwards quickly rushed to the front and exchanged the lead with teammate Matt Kenseth for much of the race.
“Cousin Carl” did all he had to do. He led the most laps and took the checkered flag with fuel strategy at race’s end, earning Roush- Fenway’s “99″ a season-high 9 wins- outdistancing 8 victories by Kyle Busch and 7 trips to victory lane by Jimmie Johnson. Edwards once again teamed with crew chief Bob Osborne for clever race management to fend off Kenseth, David Ragan, Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick and a late charge by Tony Stewart.
Though Johnson’s championship coronation seemed a forgone conclusion, there were plenty of racers motivated to win. Gordon, Kenseth and Harvick were all pursuing an elusive 2008 victory. Tony Stewart wanted to end his 10-year association with Joe Gibbs on a victorious note. Feeling his oats after claiming the Pole, David Reutimann sought a victory in a quest to tie up sponsorship loose ends for 2009.
While Edwards grabbed the checkered, his win was overshadowed by a little Jimmie Johnson history-making. While he may lack flamboyance: Earnhardt had his steely visage, Richard Petty had his hat and toothy grin, D.W. had his victory dance (I use the word dance in a very liberal sense), he has certainly earned his place in history among these and the likes of Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, Bobby Allison, David Pearson and Johnson’ mentor Jeff Gordon. say what you want about the advantages of racing for Hendrick Motorsports, but I’ll remind you that the organization only one race other the Johnson’s victories- and that was Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Michigan. If not for Johnson’s exploits this year, we’d be talking about what a failure HMS was this year: Jeff Gordon going winless for the first time since 1994 and how Junior’s one win and 12th place finish in the points fell well short of the expectations of some. That is to say- Jimmie Johnson carried Rick Hendricks’ water this year.
As for today’s race winner, 2008 established Edwards as a force to be reckoned with NASCAR. Until now, he was in that class of racers who have won some races here and there, but would perhaps not quite reach that elite level. Edwards’ 9 wins gives him a career total of 16- which puts Edwards even with Matt Kenseth and just a pair of wins behind Kurt Busch and Lil “E” at 18.
One thing I’ll never forget about today’s festivities is seeing Alan Beswick’s interview with Gary Johnson- Jimmie’s dad. To see his pride and also to hail Edwards as a “class act” are just some of the reasons I myself love the sport- that rivals can race like the devil and then hail each other with class at race’s end. Some may call the friendly exchange between Edwards and Johnson politically correct.
I call it sportsmanship. It was a cool, tranquil ending to a 2008 season that certainly had its outrageous moments.
Congratulations to Jimmie Johnson, Cark Edwards and everyone else in NASCAR, who treated fans to a fine season.
