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- Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Fusion, won the NASCAR Sprint Cup race in Atlanta. Edwards moved up two spots in the standings to second place, 183 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson.
- Team owner Jack Roush had all five of his Ford Fusions finish in the top 10 in the Sprint Cup race.
- Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 60 Ford Fusion, won the NASCAR Nationwide Series race in Memphis, Tenn., after starting the race from the 34th position. Edwards remains second in the standings, 116 points behind leader Clint Bowyer.
- Erik Darnell was the top Ford driver in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race in Atlanta, finishing sixth in the No. 99 Ford F-150. Darnell moved up two spots in the standings to fourth place.
DEARBORN, Mich., Oct. 26, 2008 – Two races. Two cities. Two wins for Carl Edwards.
Edwards, battling for championships in two different NASCAR series, took his Ford Fusions into Victory Lane twice on a busy weekend for the double-duty driver.
Edwards’ victory in Atlanta was his 14th Cup win overall and seventh of this season.
He led six times for a total of 98 laps and has now finished in the top five 16 times in 33 races this season. Since the Chase started, he has finished in the top three a total five times in seven races. After this win, he has moved up two spots in the standings to second place, 183 points behind points leader Jimmie Johnson with three races remaining.
“If we win 10 races and the championship, it’s going to be a spectacular season and that’s what we’re focusing on doing right now,” said Edwards. “So, I don’t know, we’ll just have to see what happens. The one thing I’ve learned in this sport, and it’s really hard to come to grips with, is you don’t always get the result you want. You just have to perform the best you can and, if you do that, the result doesn’t matter, you can lay your head down at night and feel okay. So I guess we’ll see after Homestead.”
In addition to Edwards, team owner Jack Roush was able to get the other four teams that he fields into the top 10 in Atlanta. Matt Kenseth led the most laps of the race, 128, and finished in fourth place. Jamie McMurray and David Ragan were seventh and eighth, respectively, while Greg Biffle rounded out the top 10 in his No. 16 Ford Fusion.
Kenseth’s strong performance moved him up one spot in the standings to ninth place, while Biffle dropped one spot to third, two points behind Edwards and 185 behind Johnson for the lead. Ragan remains 13th, the top spot for drivers outside of the Chase.
The day before the Cup race, Edwards also started his weekend with another victory, this time in the Nationwide Series race in Memphis, Tenn. He took the lead on lap 69 and led the final 185 laps of the race to earn his fifth Nationwide win of the season and 18th overall.
The win was a tremendous help to Edwards in his quest to repeat as Nationwide Series champion, gaining nearly 80 points on leader Clint Bowyer. Edwards remains second in the standings, 116 points behind Bowyer with three races to go.
Ragan joined Edwards in the top 10, finishing eighth in the No. 6 Ford Fusion and remains fifth in the standings.
“Our Discount Tire Ford Fusion had good speed,” said Ragan. “It was just a matter of fine-tuning it a little bit. Track conditions and the amount of cars on track changed things. The car was fast. We did what everybody else did and got caught two laps down and had our hands tied the rest of the day. We had a car that could have won, if we would have been in the right position.”
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series was also in action at Atlanta. Erik Darnell was the top Ford driver in the race, finishing sixth in the No. 99 Ford F-150 and moving up two spots in the standings to fourth place. Rick Crawford moved up one spot to sixth place in the standings after finishing 12th.
“I can’t say enough about everybody on this whole Northern Tool + Equipment pit crew,” said Darnell. “The guys did an awesome job on pit road today. We gained spots every time we came down. I feel like I kind of let them down a little bit on the race track, but I was just trying to drive my butt off and keep it up there.”
Next weekend, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the NASCAR Nationwide Series and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will head to Fort Worth, Texas, while the NHRA will be in Las Vegas.
Ford Racing Technology
Ford Racing Technology, based in Dearborn, Mich., is responsible for major racing operations in North America, including NASCAR (Sprint Cup, Nationwide Series, Craftsman Truck), Grand American sports car racing, NHRA drag racing, USAC midget car racing and the Ford Racing Mustang Challenge for the Miller Cup. Ford Racing also oversees the development and marketing of Ford Racing Engines and Performance Parts, the outreach programs with all Ford Clubs and Ford enthusiasts, and the marketing of the Ford Racing brand through initiatives such as Team Ford Racing. For more information regarding Ford Racing’s activities, please visit www.fordracing.com.