Carl Edwards Going in Circles - But Not Winning Races
Nearly a year ago, Carl Edwards had the world by the tail.
Even though he didn’t win the Sprint Cup championship, he won the most races of anyone – nine (one-fourth of the 36 events), finished second in the final standings to three-peat champ Jimmie Johnson, got married in the off-season to not only a beautiful woman but a doctor to boot (that had to make mom proud), and after a brief honeymoon, his new bride allowed Cousin Carl and his buddies to go play for a week across Thailand.
But 2009 has been a completely different story. Although he’s got three wins in the Nationwide Series, Edwards has not been able to find victory lane on the Cup side even once in the first 24 races.
And to top that all off, he winds up breaking his right foot – his driving foot – on Wednesday, not while practicing his famous victory backflip, but while playing a game most people would consider a rather mundane sport: Frisbee.
Somehow, leave it to Cousin Carl to turn Frisbee into as much a contact sport as playing tackle football.
Edwards was supposed to have a doctor examine his foot on Thursday, but he assured his loyal fans in a statement that he will race unimpeded in Sunday night’s race at Atlanta.
Which begs to ask the question: what, if after his season-long victory drought, does Edwards do if he wins Sunday night’s race? It’s certainly possible since he’s won there three times in his career already.
In fact, the 1.5-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway, the fastest non-restrictor plate track on the circuit, is arguably Edwards’ best track. Not only does he have the three Cup wins there, he also has three other top-5 and two additional top-10 finishes – in 10 career starts there.
So, given his luck this season, how much do you want to bet that Edwards winds up winning Sunday night? What does he do then, a one-legged backflip?
Or does he simply just get out of his car, limp up the track and take the checkered flag from the flagman at the finish line? It may not be colorful as a backflip, but given his season to date, it probably would be par for the course, don’t you think?
Heck, don’t be surprised if his little Frisbee mishap winds up being the motivating force that leads Edwards to become a major factor in the upcoming Chase for the Sprint Cup. Even if he’s in pain, it’ll be worth it if things start improving, don’t you think?
I won’t be surprised if team owner Jack Roush adds a provision to Edwards’ next contract that forbids playing Frisbee.
You know, every now and then I’ll joke with a driver who hasn’t won in quite a while that I’ll give him the traditional good luck well-wishes of Broadway: go break a leg.
But in Edwards’ case, I may want to rethink that a bit – that would be the last thing he needs right now, especially if it came while doing a celebratory backflip.
Have a good and safe holiday weekend, everyone.
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