Carl Edwards Post Race News Conference
Following the Silver Crown race Thursday night at ORP, Carl Edwards spoke to the media. The following is my transcription of the news conference. Race winner Brian Tyler also spoke to the media following the race but I was unable to record and transcribe that portion of the news conference. A full story and images will be posted later today. We will also have updates from Terre Haute Saturday.
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Carl Edwards finished second Thursday at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis in the J.D. ByRider 100. Edwards second place finish driving the No. 199 Carl Edwards/ R.E. Technologies Racing Ford C&R Silver Crown car was his career best finish in the USAC Silver Crown Series. His previous best finish was third in 2003 at ORP. The following night, he won his second NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Race driving for Roush Racing. Edwards started fifth but had moved up to third by the halfway point. For the first half of the race, Carl Edwards battled with reigning Silver Crown champion Dave Steele for second. On lap 57, Edwards passed Steele and set his sights on race leader Brian Tyler. With ominous storm clouds looming overhead the Missouri native was on Tyler’s tail. Going into turn three Edwards’ arm restraint got caught on the steering wheel causing the No. 199 C&R Ford to slide sideways but the NEXTEL Cup driver quickly gathered up the car driving through the grass and back out onto the track never loosing a position. The Carl Edwards/ R.E. Technologies Racing team recorded their second podium finish of the season. Brian Tyler won the event.
The following is a transcript of the post race news conference from the ORP Media Center:
Carl: “I had a blast. It was really fun racing Brian (Tyler). He is such a good driver. I was just having fun and trying to race him. I got underneath him in three and got loose and I turned right to correct and my arm restraint was all hung up down around my wrists. It got hung up on the steering wheel so I couldn’t turn the wheel not as far as I wanted and I got sideways. It all worked out though as I ended up going the same direction. It is just a little frustrating. I knew that thing slid down my arm and I should have fixed it down the straightaway before that. Anyway it was fun racing. I am glad I got to race with Brian that much at a place like this. He is so good. I had a good time”
Q: You moved into second place down there looked like when you were going for the lead. Were you running a bit harder?
Carl: “Yea Brian was really fast. It was fun. I just couldn’t turn right far enough. We would have been all right. That’s all there is to it.”
Q: So it was your arm restraint that caused you to spin?
Carl: “It just kept me from turning was far right as I wanted. I have spun out a lot by myself without any excuses. This one I do have an excuse.”
Q: Carl that is not your first run through the grass. Do you ever think you are going to wreck or you are going to save it?
Carl: “I knew as soon as I hit the grass I would keep going the direction I was going at that time and it was going to work out. I felt pretty good about that. You can always lock it up and keep going the same direction that you are going currently. I saw the grass so I figured it would be all right.”
Q: Early in the race you seemed to have no problem getting low in the corners and getting bound down. Everyone else seemed to have a hard time early in the race trying to go down low and not being able to.
Carl: “The track is pretty neat with those cars. You could run about the same speed around the bottom but you had to... the high line off was better for my car. I was so loose. Mine was loose off so I had to, on the bottom it wouldn’t go forward. I was trying to come up with ways to pass people and still not be on the bottom coming off. I had to get them right in the middle. That’s fun. This is one of those tracks where you can think. It is like a chess game and you can work out where in the corners you can make up a little more ground and how you are going to set a guy up and that is fun man”
Q: The pass for second seemed it was a matter of getting underneath earlier.
Carl: “Right I had to wait for him to; he (Dave Steele) slipped up just a little. I had to wait. It was like I had a run on him and he had to slip up and it worked out you know what I mean. It was fun. Yea it worked out. I was trying to do the same thing over and over just waiting for that opportunity. It was kind of fun I mean. That is really the neat part of racing when you race against people like that.”
Q: Carl you took an opportunity to thank the fans for coming out here and at the same time acknowledge them. The field was a little thin tonight perhaps and you hope that more cars would show up in the future. What do you think about this division those cars and the future?
Carl: “Well I have raced both of those types of cars here. It seems like they are both really great racing. I think the idea that the series and what they are doing with it is really awesome. Running these cars in front of the NASCAR crowds at these bigger racetracks so what I guess I am saying is that I really hope more car owners get involved and I hope the fans enjoy it as much as we enjoy it. I look to this series to grow. That is why I am part of it. I really believe that it will grow. These types of cars, there will be thirty or forty of them each race. That is what I think will happen I hope.”
Q: Where do these cars rank on the fun meter?
Carl: “Oh these cars are a lot of fun. To be able to come to ORP and race cars like this and race against guys like Brian Tyler and Dave Steele and guys like that man it is spectacular. It is a lot of fun.”
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Carl Edwards finished second Thursday at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis in the J.D. ByRider 100. Edwards second place finish driving the No. 199 Carl Edwards/ R.E. Technologies Racing Ford C&R Silver Crown car was his career best finish in the USAC Silver Crown Series. His previous best finish was third in 2003 at ORP. The following night, he won his second NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Race driving for Roush Racing. Edwards started fifth but had moved up to third by the halfway point. For the first half of the race, Carl Edwards battled with reigning Silver Crown champion Dave Steele for second. On lap 57, Edwards passed Steele and set his sights on race leader Brian Tyler. With ominous storm clouds looming overhead the Missouri native was on Tyler’s tail. Going into turn three Edwards’ arm restraint got caught on the steering wheel causing the No. 199 C&R Ford to slide sideways but the NEXTEL Cup driver quickly gathered up the car driving through the grass and back out onto the track never loosing a position. The Carl Edwards/ R.E. Technologies Racing team recorded their second podium finish of the season. Brian Tyler won the event.
The following is a transcript of the post race news conference from the ORP Media Center:
Carl: “I had a blast. It was really fun racing Brian (Tyler). He is such a good driver. I was just having fun and trying to race him. I got underneath him in three and got loose and I turned right to correct and my arm restraint was all hung up down around my wrists. It got hung up on the steering wheel so I couldn’t turn the wheel not as far as I wanted and I got sideways. It all worked out though as I ended up going the same direction. It is just a little frustrating. I knew that thing slid down my arm and I should have fixed it down the straightaway before that. Anyway it was fun racing. I am glad I got to race with Brian that much at a place like this. He is so good. I had a good time”
Q: You moved into second place down there looked like when you were going for the lead. Were you running a bit harder?
Carl: “Yea Brian was really fast. It was fun. I just couldn’t turn right far enough. We would have been all right. That’s all there is to it.”
Q: So it was your arm restraint that caused you to spin?
Carl: “It just kept me from turning was far right as I wanted. I have spun out a lot by myself without any excuses. This one I do have an excuse.”
Q: Carl that is not your first run through the grass. Do you ever think you are going to wreck or you are going to save it?
Carl: “I knew as soon as I hit the grass I would keep going the direction I was going at that time and it was going to work out. I felt pretty good about that. You can always lock it up and keep going the same direction that you are going currently. I saw the grass so I figured it would be all right.”
Q: Early in the race you seemed to have no problem getting low in the corners and getting bound down. Everyone else seemed to have a hard time early in the race trying to go down low and not being able to.
Carl: “The track is pretty neat with those cars. You could run about the same speed around the bottom but you had to... the high line off was better for my car. I was so loose. Mine was loose off so I had to, on the bottom it wouldn’t go forward. I was trying to come up with ways to pass people and still not be on the bottom coming off. I had to get them right in the middle. That’s fun. This is one of those tracks where you can think. It is like a chess game and you can work out where in the corners you can make up a little more ground and how you are going to set a guy up and that is fun man”
Q: The pass for second seemed it was a matter of getting underneath earlier.
Carl: “Right I had to wait for him to; he (Dave Steele) slipped up just a little. I had to wait. It was like I had a run on him and he had to slip up and it worked out you know what I mean. It was fun. Yea it worked out. I was trying to do the same thing over and over just waiting for that opportunity. It was kind of fun I mean. That is really the neat part of racing when you race against people like that.”
Q: Carl you took an opportunity to thank the fans for coming out here and at the same time acknowledge them. The field was a little thin tonight perhaps and you hope that more cars would show up in the future. What do you think about this division those cars and the future?
Carl: “Well I have raced both of those types of cars here. It seems like they are both really great racing. I think the idea that the series and what they are doing with it is really awesome. Running these cars in front of the NASCAR crowds at these bigger racetracks so what I guess I am saying is that I really hope more car owners get involved and I hope the fans enjoy it as much as we enjoy it. I look to this series to grow. That is why I am part of it. I really believe that it will grow. These types of cars, there will be thirty or forty of them each race. That is what I think will happen I hope.”
Q: Where do these cars rank on the fun meter?
Carl: “Oh these cars are a lot of fun. To be able to come to ORP and race cars like this and race against guys like Brian Tyler and Dave Steele and guys like that man it is spectacular. It is a lot of fun.”
posted by Blake Johnson at 8:38 AM
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