Welcome to the Carl Edwards Sprint Cup Crazy Train, the newest attraction at Roush-land Amusement Park. Before boarding, realize that this ride is not for the faint of heart. Be sure to keep the lap bar down at all times, and enjoy your ride on the Carl Edwards Sprint Cup Crazy Train.
It's been an interesting couple of race weekends for Carl Edwards in the Sprint Cup Series. Winning races, cheating accusations, penalties, and a blown engine don't generally run together for a driver, so let's rewind:
Monday, Feb. 25, 2008-Auto Club 500: Edwards takes his No. 99 to victory lane on rain-delayed Monday. The No. 99 led 64 of 250 laps for Edwards 8th-career victory at the Auto Club Speedway of Southern California.
Sunday, March 2, 2008 - UAW-Dodge 400: For the second week in-a-row, Edwards carries his Roush team to victory, backflip and all. It's his 9th-career victory and is a sign that Roush-Fenway Racing has made significant strides in 2008.
All of the fines and penalties come directly from Edwards' No. 99 failing post-race inspection due to a oil tank cover not in its correct position. Edwards' Penalties Include:
100 driver points
100 owner points
10-point Chase bonus for winning a race
Six week suspension for crew chief Bob Osbourne
$100,000 fine for Osbourne
Probation until Dec. 31 for Osbourne
The penalties given are quite similar to those the Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson, and Jeff Gordon faced for Car of Tomorrow violations in 2007.
The penalty drops Edwards from first in the point standings to seventh, taking him out of first points lead in his Sprint Cup career.
A.J. Allmendinger hasn't made a Sprint Cup series race yet in 2008 and announcement Monday by the team will make that impossible to change in the time being.
Mike Skinner, a Toyota driver from the Craftsman Truck Series, will instead take over temporary duties in the No. 84 Toyota.
"We're at a crossroads where we need to make a change that will elevate the No. 84 team to success," said VP and General Manager Jay Frye.
"AJ's our guy and he's a talented driver, but there's a lot being asked of him. In order for him to be successful, we have to get this team pointed in the right direction. We hope we can do that with the help of a veteran driver."
Skinner got a start last weekend at Las Vegas in another Sprint Cup Toyota, Bill Davis Racing's No. 27. Hew qualified the car 5th and wound up 30th, 2 laps down.
Skinner's role in the car will be to help the team make some races to battle for an owner points position inside the Top-35 to help guarantee the Toyota makes race. Additionally, he'll try to help the team evaluate their program from a veteran's prospective.
Allmendinger's teammate Brian Vickers has qualified for each race this season, and after a miserable campaign in 2007, the team simply cannot afford to miss races in a regular fashion.
Carl Edwards may have won his second race in a row in the Sprint Cup Series, but his crew chief might be sitting out three times that many after the Dish Network No. 99 failed post-race inspection Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
LAS VEGAS – Carl Edwards and the Las Vegas-winning No. 99 Roush Fenway Racing team face possible penalties after NASCAR discovered the lid from the oil tank was off after the race.
That is a violation of NASCAR rules similar to infractions found after Nationwide Series qualifying at Daytona last month. Five teams were caught with oil tank covers that were loose after qualifying at Daytona and all were fined, docked points and had their crew chiefs suspended.
The Nationwide Series teams were all assessed penalties involving six-race crew chief suspensions and $15,000 fines for their Daytona infractions, and I'd expect that ante to rise for Carl Edwards' team.
The infraction -- which I'll be the first to admit I'm no genius at understanding -- happens when teams have a loose or missing oil tank lid, which would allow a possible advantage due to air venting of some sort.
NASCAR frowns on it so much because the oil can create a safety hazard to the driver in the cockpit.
Edwards' race win will stand at Vegas, but the points, suspensions, and monetary fines could be large.
If Aerosmith was in town, they'd be belting out "Same Old Song and Dance" right about now.
Carl Edwards took his second Sprint Cup Series victory in a row Sunday afternoon at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. His win -- the ninth of the Missouri-driver's career -- at the UAW-Dodge 400 put Edwards into the points lead of the Sprint Cup Series for the first time.
Saturday's Nationwide Series event had a track record 13 cautions while Sunday's Sprint Cup event won by Edwards had 11 cautions -- one over the track record.
A few of the cautions saw NASCAR's biggest names involved in some of the day's biggest hits.
Kasey Kahne ran the fastest lap in Saturday afternoon's final practice at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but that doesn't mean he's up to running 267 of those on Sunday afternoon.
The Enumclaw, Wash.-driver has been battling sinus infection symptoms all weekend, and as a result, longtime Nationwide Series veteran Jason Keller will stand by on pit road for the UAW-Dodge 400 to get in the No. 9 Budweiser Dodge if need be.
LAS VEGAS -- Kasey Kahne was suffering through a sinus infection Saturday, but the illness didn't stop him from posting the fastest lap in Happy Hour.
[...]
"After the first [Cup] practice, we knew we might do something to allow Kasey the time to get better for Sunday's race," said Mark McArdle, vice president of competition for GEM. "He's been taking fluids and getting plenty of rest."
Kahne opted not run in Saturday's Nationwide Series Sam's Town 300 in the No. 9 Gillett Evernham Motorsports car due to his condition, and instead, GEM teammate Patrick Carpentier took the wheel.
That may have been a good move considering the incredible amount of sheet metal torn up in the Nationwide race. Carpentier brought the Dodge home 8th.
Kahne, if he starts the race (which I imagine he will for points), will roll off the grid in 37th-place.
What: UAW-Dodge 400 Where: Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, NV When: Sunday, March 2, 3:30pm on FOX (Green Flag 4:30pm/ET) Distance: 267 laps, 400 miles Weather: Sunny, with a high near 65. Breezy, with a north northwest wind between 20 and 28 mph, with gusts as high as 38 mph. (Source: National Weather Service) 2007 Winner: Jimmie Johnson (going for four-in-a-row at LVMS) Predictions: Keep Reading
In a race marred by cautions -- it was a new race record of 13 -- even one of NASCAR's most-respected drivers caused a race-changing incident in Saturday's Nationwide Series Sam's Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Mark Martin, driving for JR Motorsports in the No. 5 Delphi Chevrolet, was closing on 2007 Nationwide champ Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski (Martin's teammate) coming to the line on lap 196 of the 200 lap race. Edwards and Keselowski were side-by-side for the lead and Martin got a great run off of turn 4 and tapped Edwards gently, spinning the No. 60 into Keselowski's No. 88, ending both drivers' chance at victory.
Martin then won easily in a green-white-checkered finish.
Martin, who won his 48th-career Nationwide Series race and led 81 laps, was very apologetic for the incident in victory lane. From the ESPN2 telecast:
From preparation for Sunday's UAW-Dodge 400 for the Sprint Cup Series to Saturday's qualifying and race for the Nationwide Series, plenty of drivers have found themselves spun out, in the wall, or both.
During Saturday's Nationwide Series Sam's Town 300, as of lap 78 there had been 7 cautions for 32 laps due to multiple wrecks. Steven Wallace, Brian Vickers, Bobby Labonte and a plenty of others had made hard contact with the wall.
Kyle Busch was running second on lap 103 and slammed the turn 3 wall after cutting a tire -- his second crashed car of the day.
Earlier in the day, Busch was trying to earn the pole for the Nationwide Series race in qualifying and spun on his second lap, sending him to the rear of the field for the race.
It's one thing to ask your bride-to-be for her hand in marriage after a spectacular win in a college football win. It's another to have the ceremonies take place in victory lane at your favorite race track.
It's another, still, to have that proposal happen on the rear of a NASCAR race car.
In another one of those "only in NASCAR" stories, Office Depot and book publisher Harlequin are giving NASCAR fans who are on the verge of tying the knot the ultimate experience.
No, not a proposal on a scoreboard or written in the sky, but rather, ask your bride or groom-to-be the ultimate question on the back of Carl Edwards' No. 99 during May's Sprint Showdown all-star race for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
Yes, flippin' Carl Edwards himself will race for a win in front of millions while two people deeply in love try to figure out how their taxes will change for the coming year. Or maybe they'll just be really happy for one night.
Let's just hope that Carl doesn't end up wrecking during the event, or at the very least, doesn't back into the wall.
That can't be a good omen for the relationship. Anyways, keep reading to figure out how to enter. Sorry, No Photos
Welcome to the Carl Edwards Sprint Cup Crazy Train, the newest attraction at Roush-land Amusement Park. Before boarding, realize that this ride is not for the faint of heart. Be sure to keep the lap bar down at all times, and enjoy your ride on the Carl Edwards Sprint Cup Crazy Train.
A.J. Allmendinger hasn't made a Sprint Cup series race yet in 2008 and announcement Monday by the team will make that impossible to change in the time being.
Carl Edwards may have won his second race in a row in the Sprint Cup Series, but his crew chief might be sitting out three times that many after the Dish Network No. 99 failed post-race inspection Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Kasey Kahne ran the fastest lap in Saturday afternoon's final practice at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but that doesn't mean he's up to running 267 of those on Sunday afternoon.
It's been a rough weekend to be a race car at 
It's one thing to ask your bride-to-be for her hand in marriage after a spectacular win in a college football win. It's another to have the ceremonies take place in victory lane at your favorite race track. 
