Carl Edwards says the way you start the season will set the pace for the rest of the season. Team owner Jack Roush (left) says the details-like getting cars light-make all the difference. (Photo: John Clark/NASCAR This Week)

CONCORD - Carl Edwards hopes to set things right in 2010.

After finishing second to Jimmie Johnson in the 2008 Chase for the Sprint Cup, and winning more races (9) than any other driver, Edwards went winless in 2009, though he did make the Chase.

What could bring him back to title contention? A fast start.

"When the Chase was getting near, all three of us (referring to himself and Roush Fenway teammates Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth) had to concentrate on just getting in," Edwards said. "It dictates how you go about racing during the races leading up to the Chase. If we can get off to a fast start - win some races early and work our way up near the front in the point standings - it will relieve the need to worry about making the Chase.

"I really think the way you start out the season has a lot to do with the way you race the rest of the way."

The biggest frustration of last year for Edwards was feeling he had improved but being unable to show it by his performance.

"That’s hard," he said. "When you go out there and feel like you’re driving better than ever before, that you’ve learned a lot and matured beyond where you were the previous season, it becomes really tough to cope with the fact that you aren’t showing it with the way you perform every race."

* * *

THE BOSS’S VIEW–Jack Roush, who owns the Fords driven by Edwards, Kenseth, Biffle and David Ragan, is still trying to analyze the reasons behind his team’s below-par 2009.

"The only difference between winners and losers is what you do with your time," said Roush. "We spent our time trying to find that edge we had in 2008. We spent a lot of time looking for that next breakthrough. We didn’t find it.

"In the meantime, we didn’t spend as much time as we should getting the cars as light as they needed to be and attending to other chores that would have made a difference."

Roush said his team now has 36 engineers on the payroll.

After chalking up his team’s failures, at least in part, to "my ineptitude," Roush said, "I couldn’t be more excited about our prospects in 2010."

* * *

BIG MO–Richard Childress pins his hopes for a resurgence on building on improved performance in the final races of ‘09.

"I feel really good about the coming season," said Childress, who will field Cup cars for Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick. "We’re not just starting over because we’ve laid a foundation with the improvement we showed near the end of last year."

"We made a transition," added Harvick. "Last year our bad days were really bad."

"We’re certainly not shying away from the work we’ve got ahead of us," said Burton. "We’re so far ahead going into this year than where we were going into last year."

* * *

A BETTER IDEA–Richard Petty Motorsports president Foster Gillett explained his team’s shift to Ford this way:

"We’re joining a company with great momentum. Ford has come through a challenging time in our economy. … They’ve also come through the first year of growth since 1995 in terms of market share for all four quarters (of 2009). We think better things are ahead."

* * *

MINOR ALLIANCE- Robby Gordon is forming an alliance between his team and BAM Racing, which is putting its No. 49 Toyota back on the Sprint Cup circuit with driver David Gilliland.

Robby Gordon Motorsports will provide technical support, cars and personnel to BAM.

"This alliance puts RGM in a great position to basically have a teammate on the track that we can work with throughout the weekend to improve our car, as well as to help BAM Racing improve their car."

* * *

RESTRUCTURING– Though no announcement will be made until Thursday, John Darby is in the process of vacating the role as Sprint Cup Series Director he has occupied since taking over from Gary Nelson in 2001.

Darby will apparently be reassigned to an oversight role in NASCAR’s Research and Development Center, though he will remain on board until a replacement can be found.

Go to the original story

No TweetBacks yet. (Be the first to Tweet this post)

Also See