Friday, March 25, 2005
Last week he pulled off a first by winning both series races.
HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) -- When Carl Edwards was trying to break into racing, he had to find a real job to pay the bills.
He dabbled in construction. He worked as a substitute teacher.
"One day, I showed up late at a high school," Edwards recalled. "I had not taught there before, and when I walked in I had to go to the bathroom real bad. I started saying 'Where's the bathroom?' to anybody I could find."
A youngster pointed toward a door.
"I go in and go to the bathroom, and all of a sudden this girl walks in," Edwards continued. "I'm like 'Whoa, what are you doing in here?' And she says, 'You're in the girls' bathroom.'
"That kid really got me on that one. I wish I remember what he looked like. I need to get him back."
That student -- wherever he is -- wouldn't have any problem now recognizing Edwards. These days, he's a backflipping NASCAR phenomenon who's already pulled off a first-of-its kind feat.
Weekend sweep
Last Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Edwards won his first Busch Series race. A day later, he captured his first Nextel Cup victory. No other driver has won for the first time in NASCAR's top two series on the same weekend.
"This guy is our next superstar," Jimmie Johnson said.
The 25-year-old Missouri driver got his first big break when he was hired to drive trucks for the powerhouse Roush Racing team.
Late last season, owner Jack Roush promoted Edwards straight to Nextel Cup, hoping he could revive the struggling No. 99 car. Jeff Burton had managed only one top-five finish in 22 races. Sponsors were walking away. Roush, who had four stronger cars in his operation, was faced with the very real prospect of having to shut down the 99.
Initially, Roush was grooming Edwards to step in as Mark Martin's successor, knowing the latter planned to retire after the 2005 season. But those plans changed when Burton struggled.
Stepped in last year
After Burton moved on to another team, Edwards stepped in for 13 of the last 14 races -- he skipped one that conflicted with a truck commitment. During that brief tryout, he showed plenty of promise, finishing third at Atlanta and getting his car in the top 10 four other times.
Clearly, Edwards was deserving of a Nextel Cup ride for 2005, but Roush also was aware that his young driver had skipped a stage in his development when he bypassed the Busch series.
So, Roush decided to put Edwards into both series full-time this year. In fact, he's considered a rookie of the year candidate in the Busch series, but he can't win the award in Nextel Cup because he ran too many races last season.
Nevertheless, Edwards was thrilled to get a ride in two cars.
"It's a perfect situation for me," he said. "I'm loving every lap of it. The more laps I can get, the better -- especially with a lot of Cup guys running the Busch cars."
Edwards might not have as much experience as most of the drivers he's competing against, but it sure doesn't show. In the Busch race at Atlanta, he beat out Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson for the victory, surging to the lead by passing three cars at one time.
"He's definitely got a lot of skill and a lot of talent," Stewart said. "That's not going to be his only trip to Victory Lane this year, I can tell you that. I wouldn't be surprised to see him win one or two Cup races."
Pulled daring move
Stewart had no idea how prophetic those words would be. On Sunday, Edwards pulled off a daring move on Johnson as they came to the finish line, beating Johnson by about half a car length.
Edwards drove the waning laps like he's been around for years. He moved in and out. He moved up and down. Roush wondered if it was the act of a desperate man, even raising the possibility of Edwards moving aside to let another Roush driver, Biffle, make a run at Johnson. But Edwards was merely searching for the best groove to overtake the leader.
Edwards found what he was looking for at the top of the track.
On the final lap, Johnson drifted up the track and lost a bit of momentum. Edwards, running right along the outside wall, got a surge coming off turn two, hugged Johnson's bumper as they came through three and four, and pulled even as they barreled toward the finish line.
The cars actually touched just a few feet from the finish, causing Johnson's car to wobble. Edwards held his line and won by 0.028 seconds.
"When Carl was moving around the race track, he was trying to find traction and see where he could make his move," Roush said. "I thought he was done, but he was just getting started."
As Edwards was getting his start in racing, competing on dirt tracks in the Midwest, his mother persuaded him to print up business cards. He got a deal at a local printer -- 2,000 cards for $100, with his picture on the front and his resume on the back.
"I started handing them out to everyone," he said. "Everywhere I went, I had a business card. I figured someone would eventually know that I wanted to drive race cars and would give me a chance to do it."
Edwards also developed a move that would become his signature.
Celebration backflip
At a World of Outlaws race, he spotted one of the drivers doing a backflip off his car to celebrate a victory. Edwards thought that "was the coolest thing I've ever seen," so he talked one of his friends into getting a trampoline and began practicing the maneuver.
"I knew my parents wouldn't get me one because they thought I would hurt myself," he quipped.
In no time, Edwards was doing backflips of his own. As he moved through the ranks, he always raised plenty of eyebrows with his high-flying acrobatics.
"I thought it was luck," Roush said. "The first time he won a race and did a backflip, I told him we're going to be doing this a lot and he wasn't always going to be lucky. But he said, 'Don't worry. I'm not going to fall down. I can do it.' I guess it's not luck if you can do it."
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