Posts tagged CarlEdwards at FanHouse

Note to all the No. 48 fans still drunk on three-peat (hey, I'd be too if my guy was the dominant force) -- hold off on the "Miller, you're out of your mind, Jimmie Johnson is 'da best, man!" quips until we get through this, alright?

Because, really, Carl Edwards is the best driver in the entire racing world.

The best, that is, according to a panel "racing jurors" -- let's hope they stick to racing awards and aren't involved in the O.J. Simpson appeal because I have a feeling they'd complement Juice's white Ford Bronco driving abilities -- who named Columbia, Missouri's finest figure* the top wheel man in, like, all of the world this week.

Edwards received the award -- the TAG Heuer Racing Award -- during the opening of the Race of Champions in England this week after those judges "analyzed the weekly performance of more than 150 drivers from Formula One, GP2, NASCAR and the World Rally Championship."

Friday night, FanHouse hosted a marathon live blog of what was likely the least entertaining awards show ever televised as NASCAR officially crowned Jimmie Johnson as its first three-time consecutive Sprint Cup champ in 30 years.

I'll give 'em credit, though, because its virtually impossible to make a banquet entertaining for fans who aren't eating the $300-plate (my guess) meals at an event that we already know the award winners of. The most thrilling award given was a the "Sprint Monster moment" and even that one had its winner (Carl Edwards) unsure if he was even supposed to give a "I'd like to thank the Academy"-type speech.

If you missed the show, don't worry too much because it wasn't the next incarnation of the Daytona 500 and the best line of the night really wasn't even that great. Funny, but not great. (More on that in a coming post)

It is, however, fun to see some of the usually firesuit-clad drivers dressed in black tie formality and to see some other events from what NASCAR has dubbed "Champions Week". So if you're in to that, here's your cup of tea as we enjoy a nice photo gallery from the fine folks at Getty Images:

With NASCAR's awards banquet on Friday, Dec. 5 (stop by for the live blog!), here's a look at 10 from '08 -- 10 of the NASCAR season's best moments.

As it turned out after the race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, two critical problems -- one a driving mistake at Talladega and the other an electrical problem at Lowe's -- kept a momentum-filled Carl Edwards and his No. 99 from stealing the championship from Jimmie Johnson.

But that didn't mean the driver from Columbia, Mo., didn't put up an incredible fight to secure his first title.

Sure, there were two late-season wins at Texas Motor Speedway and Homestead that took an incredible strategy of stretching fuel mileage to find victory lane, but one his near-wins made what was one of the NASCAR season's best moments.

Edwards was trailing that pesky Jimmie Johnson in the final laps of the Chase for the Sprint Cup's third race at Kansas Speedway in what looked like it was going to be another easy win for the No. 48. Edwards would close marginally for some laps, but the distance he trailed appeared to be too large for an upset victory.

That assumption, though, was thrown out the window in the final turn of the final lap.

With NASCAR's awards banquet on Friday, Dec. 5 (stop by for the live blog!), here's a look at 10 from '08 -- ten of the NASCAR season's best moments.

Thanks to rain, it took the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series well over 24 hours to finish the Auto Club 500 at the newly-named Auto Club Speedway (enough Auto Club for one sitting? I think so) back in February.

And of course, like only NASCAR could, the way it handled the rain situation got some fans more than fired up.

NASCAR attempted to get the race going for its Sunday start as planned, but only 21 laps went by before a wreck that somehow saw Casey Mears get flipped over thanks to the nose of a slowing Sam Hornish Jr. It was an interesting wreck (see the photo to the right and the video later in the post) after flames shot from Hornish's No. 77 while Mears was basically trapped in his No. 5.

Mears and Hornish were able to get out without injury.

The wreck included Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Reed Sorenson, and a previous wreck saw Denny Hamlin smack the wall. After the lap 21 incident, the red flag came out for water seeping from the track and later more rain, leaving Dale Earnhardt Jr. slightly ticked at NASCAR's attempt to get the race underway.

As we celebrate pilgrims and Native Americans coming together for a gigantic feast by filling our stomachs with turkey, deviled eggs and a vast array of not-so-healthy foods, it's high time to remember back on the 2008 NASCAR season that was.

Here at FanHouse, we're most thankful for these five parts of the 2008 season:

5) Kyle Busch is not a winning robot - For a few months before the '08 Sprint Cup season finally started to mean something in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, it looked like Kyle Busch in his first year at Joe Gibbs Racing was going to systematically win everything possible in all three of NASCAR's top divisions. Altogether, Busch took home 21 trophies in 2008, but fell off when it really mattered.

I'm not thankful for Busch's failure to win the title, but rather, just thankful that he didn't turn the entire season into his personal playground.

4) Tony Stewart found his barber - We talked early in the season about how Tony Stewart was a different person with his demeanor (except for allegedly punching Kurt Busch prior to the Budweiser Shootout) and his awful haircut that just kept getting worse. Thankfully, Ol' Smoke finally got the locks of not so much love cut down to a manageable, and stomach-able, length.

As this oh-so-creative writer from the St. Petersburg Times put it, Carl Edwards is "bringing out his inner-Allen Iverson" with talk of a self-imposed testing ban and a limit for practice on Sprint Cup race weekends.

[Edwards] said a contract is circulating among teams that would impose a self-ban on testing. The deal would go beyond NASCAR's one-year moratorium at venues that host races in the top three series.

"I've seen a contract that was written that (owner Jack Roush) said he's willing to sign, I'm willing to sign, that says if everyone will agree to this, then we won't test at all," Edwards said. "I think that's fine. That's great."

Edwards' approval of this total test ban isn't exactly walking far out on a limb because, come on, who's going to disagree with the guy who is writing your paychecks?

I do find it interesting, though, that Edwards said later in the article that NASCAR could be well-served with an elimination of Friday and potentially Saturday practice during a race weekend. In his mind, it would save significantly on team costs associated with staying at a track for another day.

Matt Kenseth's contract at Roush Fenway Racing got extended Thursday afternoon and that was seemingly bad news for his teammate Jamie McMurray.

Kenseth got a new "multi-year dear" from RFR to keep him as the driver of the No. 17 Ford for well past 2010, when his current contract was set to expire. Terms weren't disclosed by the team, but I'd imagine the contract puts Kenseth in a position to make RFR his final place of stock car employment with either a heavily extended contract from his current one or one loaded with options.

Kenseth, a native of Cambridge, Wisc., turns 37 in March.

For teammate McMurray -- who's been nothing short of a disappointment during his time at RFR but showed some flashes of brilliance towards the end of the 2008 -- Kenseth's re-signing might be a nail in the coffin for his future at RFR.

Dominance and dynasty were the two words most thrown around in post-race celebrations at Homestead-Miami Speedway after Sunday's Ford 400.

And most of those words were aimed at NASCAR's second driver in history to win three-straight NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championships -- Hendrick Motorsports' Jimmie Johnson.

One race to go, one champion to crown.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series ends its lengthy 36-race schedule Sunday afternoon with the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Friday night, Johnny Benson secured the Craftsman Truck Series title, Clint Bowyer won the Nationwide Series trophy Saturday night, and we're expecting to see Jimmie Johnson motor onto a third-straight championship in NASCAR's top series this afternoon.

I know, I know, if you're not a Johnson fan you're more than tired of hearing about the exploits of the No. 48 team, and if your name is Carl Edwards (Johnson's nearest competitor in the point standings for the newbies joining us today), you're hoping you can stage the biggest upset in NASCAR history.

Will it happen? Can Edwards overcome Johnson? If I'm placing a bet, I'm not leaning that way, but hey, 400 miles is a long way and a lot can happen. Join us below in the final live blog event of the NASCAR season (sad face) here at FanHouse and tell us what you think. We'll kick it off right about 3:30 PM EST.

Carl Edwards literally did all he could do in the Nationwide Series' final race Saturday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway to win the 2009 series title, but Clint Bowyer's 5th-place finish kept it out of the Ford driver's hands.

As a result, Bowyer, a native of Emporia, Kan., scored his first-career championship in NASCAR's second-tier series by a mere 21 points over the race-winning Edwards after beginning the Ford 300 with a 56-point advantage in the series standings.

Together with Johnny Benson's Craftsman Truck Series championship drive on Friday night, a grand total of 28 points have separated NASCAR's two champions in 2008 from their closest rivals in second place -- Edwards on Saturday night at Ron Hornaday Jr. on Friday night.

That small point difference trend isn't expected to continue with Sunday's Ford 400 Sprint Cup season-finale race as Jimmie Johnson has a 141-point lead over Edwards in the top level series. Johnson, however, doesn't have the championship quite in the bag yet because he does have to finish 36th or higher to guarantee the title -- but certainly the drawstring is closing.

Back to Bowyer's title, however, and you're certainly looking at a driver who has had a stressful go of it as he attempted to finish out a virtually impeccable season of Nationwide competition.