NOTEBOOK | Nascar news and notes

Impressed: Count former champion and series points leader Tony Stewart among those impressed by the job 26-year-old Carl Edwards is doing in his first full season in NASCAR's Nextel Cup series. Heading into Sunday's Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, Edwards is third in the standings, trailing Stewart by 77 points, and 39 behind runner-up Jimmie Johnson. More important, Edwards is the hottest driver in the 10-race Chase for the championship with only the race at Phoenix and next week's finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway remaining. He goes into Sunday's race with a two-race winning streak. But Stewart is just as impressed with the youngster's attitude as with his driving ability. "He's such a breath of fresh air to the sport because I don't think that kid has a care in the world about anything," Stewart said. "And I wish I could be a lot like him. It's nice to see a guy that absolutely is enjoying every aspect of his life right now." Edwards, who drove 13 Cup races in 2004, is the least experienced, by far, of the five Roush Racing drivers in the Chase. But he is the closest of the quintet to Stewart. "There's no better position to be in in competition than the guy that doesn't have any pressure and has everything to gain and nothing to lose," Edwards said. "We're just thinking, 'Every time we're on the racetrack, what can we do to be the best we can be at the end of the race.' That's really helped."
Rookie exception: NASCAR chairman Brian France says there will be at least one additional exception to the new rule limiting Cup teams to no more than four cars. Roush Racing, the only team currently racing five cars in Cup, is grandfathered through the 2009 season to run them all. France said that other teams will also be allowed a fifth car under very specific circumstances. "Once we reach that cap, as it applies to everybody else beginning in '06, there will still be a feature that will allow a four-car team to run a fifth car in a program that is getting a rookie ready for the following season with a limited number of races attached to it." New drivers are allowed to run up to seven races in a season without losing their rookie status. Denny Hamlin, who won the pole for Sunday's race in only his sixth Cup event, will also run next week but will still be eligible to run for Rookie of the Year in 2006.
Winless in the desert: Phoenix International Raceway is one of only four current Cup tracks at which four-time series champion Jeff Gordon has not won. He does have nine top-10 finishes in 13 tries on the 1-mile oval, but his best finishes are a pair of thirds in 2002 and 2004, when Phoenix had only a fall race. NASCAR added a spring race at the track to this year's schedule and Gordon won the pole, but finished 12th. "This is a tough racetrack," Gordon said. "It's fast enough to where you're carrying a lot of speed in the corners, but it's flat and there is not a lot of grip here. So, it makes it really tricky to get the car to hook up right."
Associated Press
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