Nobody knows better that every point counts in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series than Carl Edwards.
The Kansas native lost his best shot at a championship to Tony Stewart as the result of a tie breaker after the Homestead finale last year. While victories count the most and pay the most points; no driver can afford to leave anything points on the playing field (i.e. the track). When Edwards’ #99 Cheez-It Ford was suffered severely damaged in a multi-car wreck on a on lap 24 during last Sunday’s race at Bristol there was no question about retiring. His team, led by crew chief Bob Osborne there was one thing to do. They knew they had to get his car repaired and running to pick up as many points, even if it was only one extra point, as possible. Repairing a severely damaged stock car, in the middle of a race looks like a controlled explosion, but the team was prepared like an expert surgeons; working fast, working hard, but not getting in each other’s way. “We figured out last year that every point counts so when we wrecked at Bristol last weekend we were determined to get back on the race track to gain as many points as possible and not get a DNF,” said crew chief Bob Osborne.
“To be prepared for that we have mechanics assigned to certain parts of the cars so if it is damaged they know where to go, what to do and how to do it right away, and there is no question of what needs to be done,” Osborne continued. “If it’s damaged a particular mechanic is assigned to it to fix it and get it ready to go back on the race track. “We pretty much rebuilt the race car in Bristol to get it back on the track. We put a new rear end in it, new truck arms and a new front suspension. We had to cut the clip and bend it back into position, and then weld it back together. It was quite an extensive repair and the guys did a great job.” When Edwards returned to the track with his Sprint Cup car pruned like a Bonsai tree he was running 41st, in the 43-car field some 251-laps behind the leader. Staying the course he finished 39th. While the Chase has its’ own separate points scoring system those two points could make the difference in making the Chase. And the experience gained by at Bristol last Sunday could prove invaluable in case the worst happens in the ten-race Chase and Edwards needs a repair.
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