NASCAR Sprint Cup

New perspective

Edwards feels like an outsider with Toyota

After spending more than a decade driving a Ford for Jack Roush, Carl Edwards is adjusting to driving a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. Edwards has won twice at Michigan International Speedway, but not since 2008.
After spending more than a decade driving a Ford for Jack Roush, Carl Edwards is adjusting to driving a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. Edwards has won twice at Michigan International Speedway, but not since 2008.

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Carl Edwards acknowledges this trip to Michigan feels a bit different to him.

Edwards spent more than a decade driving for Roush Fenway, but now he is driving for Toyota going into today's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Michigan International Speedway.

"It is a little strange to come here to this race and not be driving for Jack Roush, because we put so much emphasis on this event for so many years," Edwards said. "To win this race would be really special for me now, just because I know from the other side how much everyone prepares -- Jack and the other teams -- because for the domestic car manufacturers, this is their back yard."

Edwards also could be considered a bit of an outsider for today's race considering Toyota hasn't won a Sprint Cup race at Michigan International Speedway since 2011, with Chevrolet and Ford winning three each since then.

Edwards has won twice at this track, but not since 2008. He was out of the top 20 in his two attempts last year for Roush Fenway and Ford.

"For me to win in a Toyota would be really special here," Edwards said.

Edwards is 16th in the points standings this year, but he already has a victory so he's in good shape to reach the Chase for the Sprint Cup. While no one has clinched a spot yet in the Chase -- drivers have to be in the top 30 in points to make it -- the 10 drivers who already have victories have little reason to worry about their postseason chances.

That could work to Edwards' advantage today.

"You can really kind of let it hang out and have a little more fun," said Edwards, who won at Charlotte three races ago. "It takes a little bit of the anxiety away and little bit of the pressure, and everybody is just a little bit more loose."

The same can't be said for Edwards' old team, which has been struggling. Greg Biffle is 18th in the standings, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is 28th and Trevor Bayne is 30th. None of those three Roush drivers has won a race.

"You take that whole group at Roush Fenway Racing, they don't quit," said Edwards, who is starting from in the second row for today's race. "They're the toughest guys in the world. They will keep working, and I always expect them each week to come back and be faster and faster.

"They're great competitors."

Kasey Kahne took the pole Friday and was followed in qualifying by Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. will start 14th after a so-so qualifying effort, but he didn't seem too concerned. Earnhardt has always fared well at Michigan, picking up victories here in 2008 and 2012 to snap long losing streaks.

"I think we will race good," said Earnhardt, who won in May at Talladega. "This place is a lot of fun, a wide racetrack. We will have a good, competitive car.

"We haven't qualified well all year. I don't get too worried about it when we don't do well there."

Martin Truex Jr. will try for a second consecutive victory after winning at Pocono last weekend. Truex is second in the standings, 39 points behind Harvick.

"Certainly the last four weeks have been great," Truex said. "I feel like we have shown and proved that we can battle with them week in and week out."

Michigan is home to some of the highest speeds in NASCAR. Jeff Gordon won the pole last August at a track-record 206.558 mph. Kahne's speed of 201.992 on Friday was well short of that, but the track's reputation remains the same.

"All of us love going fast. That's why we started racing," Edwards said. "When you don't slow down for the corners, there's really not a lot of opportunity to get an advantage on someone. It really doesn't matter to any of us if we're going 200 mph down the straightaway as long as we have to get in that corner and slide the car and brake and use our skill set to get through the corner.

"Those are the kind of things that NASCAR and everybody is working on."

Sports on 06/14/2015

Upcoming Events