Carl Edwards Texas Preview: Looking for Fourth Texas Win

Edwards has won 3 times at Texas; top-5's in both 2013 downforce tracks

Carl Edwards – NRA 500
Team: No. 99 Fastenal Ford Fusion
Crew Chief: Jimmy Fennig
Chassis: Primary: RK- 826 last ran in Homestead; Backup: RK – 831

ADVANCE NOTES
· Edwards at Texas: Edwards has accumulated three wins at the 1.5-mile Texas track, the most of any active Sprint Cup driver. Edwards’ average start at Texas is 14.4 and his average finish is 15.1. He is one of only two drivers to win both the spring & fall events in the same year at Texas.

· In the Loop: According to NASCAR’s Loop Statistics, Edwards ranks fifth in laps led with 493 in the past 16 races. He has also turned 342 of the track’s fastest laps, which is fourth best. He has a driver rating of 98.3, sixth best among active drivers, and spent 4,043 laps in the top 15 (75.5%) which is third best.

· The Car: The No. 99 Fastenal Blue Team will unload RK-826 for the weekend, which last ran in Homestead 2012. 

· Primary Sponsor Note: Fastenal returns to the spotlight again featuring supplier brands JET, Norton, Milwaukee and Port-a-Cool.

QUOTE WORTHY
Edwards quotes on the NRA 500: “I love racing at Texas because everything about the race track is fun; the crowd is amazing every time we go, Eddie Gossage and all the Texas Motor Speedway staff always put on an exciting prerace event. It’s one of the fastest race tracks we go to and our No. 99 team has had huge successes there. It’s one of the most fun victory lanes in NASCAR. It just seems like everybody’s having a blast at Texas. We’re hoping for our second win of the season and fourth at Texas Motor Speedway. It’s going to be an awesome 500 laps under the lights of Texas. It’s an awesome race, it’s a dynamic race. It’s going to be a tough one on the crew chiefs and engineers to get these cars perfect in the nighttime conditions because we don’t get to practice like that. It’s going to be a tough race from start to finish but I’ve got a great crew and crew chief so hopefully we can perform the way we want to.”

- Roush Fenway Racing