CONCORD, N.C. – Even though Kevin Harvick showed exceptional speed at New Hampshire and Dover in the second and third races of the Chase’s Challenger Round, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Carl Edwards fully expects his organization to be a major player in the Championship Round at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
“The great thing about our teams right now, focusing on that, is that we just seem to have all the parts together,” Edwards said on Thursday after opening NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “We work well as a group, we’ve got fast pit stops, we’re able to overcome things throughout the race and—knock on wood—so far we haven’t had any big mistakes or failures of parts or anything like that.
All four JGR drivers—Edwards, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin—advanced to the Contender Round when the Chase field was cut from 16 to 12 at Dover.
“I feel like we have a real strong group and that’s why you see all four of the cars in the position they’re in points,” Edwards said. “If we keep adding a little bit of speed and working, I really believe whoever wins the championship, if it’s not a JGR Toyota, they’re going to have to beat at least one or two of us at Homestead.
“I really believe that. It just feels real strong right now.”
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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