CE DIEHARDS – April 23, 2008 – Race Previews
After a fourth place finish in Phoenix two weeks ago, Carl Edwards made another gain in the standings and hopes to show more muscle this weekend in the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway.
This weekend’s chassis for Talladega: Crew chief Chris Andrews will be taking a brand new car to the track this weekend. After a struggling week in February at Daytona, the team has brought a new, Chassis No. RK-581.
Gaining on the leaders: Carl Edwards didn’t move up any positions in the standings two weeks ago in Phoenix, however, he did make some gains in the points margin that seperates himself from leader Jeff Burton in the standings. Edwards now sits ninth in the standings, and now has 174 points to make up on the leader, however, he is only 71 points behind Kevin Harvick for fifth.
Back in Red & Black: After a two race stint with Aflac on the hood of the No. 99 Ford Fusion, Edwards’ No. 99 Ford will return to the more traditional look with Office Depot returning to the car this weekend.
Newly-paved Talladega: After many years, ISC has repaved the 2.66 superspeedway, and it has many drivers wondering what will happen this weekend in Talladega.
Carl Edwards on racing at Talladega Superspeedway:
“We’ve had some great runs at Talladega over the past few races there. Believe it or not, I love racing there because it’s a really fast track that definitely keeps you on your toes. Hopefully we can stay out of the wrecks or, the ‘big one,’ as some call it and we should be fine. If we can just go out there and do our job and have a little bit of good luck, it could be a place we can gain some points.”
Crew Chief Chris Andrews on racing at Talladega Superspeedway:
“Although Talladega is always exciting for the fans a lot of the teams view it as a game of chance. The finish teams bring home from Fontana, Vegas, Atlanta, Bristol, Martinsville, Texas and Phoenix are usually a direct result of that team's preparation and execution ... but often times the finishing order at Talladega is a result of someone's big wreck. The 99 team had a competitive car at Daytona and I expect we will this weekend as well.”