RICHMOND, Va.—With everything that will be on the line in Saturday night’s Sprint Cup race at Richmond, don’t be surprised if drivers amp up the level of aggression in the closing laps, says Carl Edwards, a two-time winner in the Sprint Cup Series this year.
“I expect some pretty ruthless racing if a guy has an opportunity,” Edwards said Friday after final Cup practice. “I think you are going to see that not just (Saturday night) but at the third race of the Chase, sixth race and ninth race—and definitely in Homestead.
“NASCAR has done a good job of putting us in a position where a lot can depend on one pass, one lap, one restart. Everything can depend on that, and I think, for us as drivers, sometimes that’s frustrating, but it will definitely create some excitement.”
And just because Edwards is already qualified for the Chase, he doesn’t plan to take it easy in the final regular-season Cup race. After all, the three-point bonus for a victory entering the Challenger (first) round of the Chase could prove important.
If anyone knows how valuable a point can be, it’s Edwards, who lost the 2011 Sprint Cup championship to Tony Stewart on a tiebreaker.
“If we have a shot to win, we have to go win the race,” Edwards said. “I know how tough Chicago, Loudon and Dover (the first three Chase races) will be, and if we miss the cut by two points and had an opportunity to win this race, it would be hard to sleep on that.
“I think we’ve got a car that could potentially win. I love this place and if we have a shot at it I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t race as hard as humanly possible to get it.”
Short strokes
Brian Vickers cut a tire in the final Sprint Cup practice session and tagged the wall with his No. 55 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota. The accident forced Vickers to a backup car…
Hendrick Motorsports announced an expanded sponsorship role for Nationwide Insurance, which will be the primary on Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s No. 88 Chevrolet for 21 races next year, up from the 12 previously announced…
In the wake of an announced date changed to Labor Day weekend next year—the traditional position on the schedule for the Bojangles’ Southern 500—Darlington Raceway announced that Bojangles’ has extended its entitlement agreement for the race through 2019. Track officials told the NASCAR Wire Service on Friday that ticket sales have been brisk since the announcement of the race’s return to the Labor Day date.
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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