Sunday, Nov. 08, 2009

Zero Cup wins for Edwards after nine last year

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Carl Edwards has found a way to try to mask the frustration of his winless NASCAR Sprint Cup season.

"I've kind of tried to think of it differently," Edwards said. "It's not that we haven't had no wins this season, it's just that we've had nine wins over the last two. That sounds a lot better."

That still doesn't erase that very noticeable zero in 2009.

After winning a series-high nine races last season - "That was an amazing year," Edwards said, almost smiling at the memory - he was considered by many as the preseason favorite this year to unseat three-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson.

When Edwards got to Texas Motor Speedway last November, he already had seven wins. He made it eight when he drove his No. 99 Ford to Victory Lane by a comfortable margin after gambling on fuel to complete the first two-race season sweep in Texas - and become the first three-time winner there. He won again in the finale two weeks later at Homestead to finish 69 points behind Johnson.

"We were at the top of our game last year and didn't manage to make the improvements and didn't manage to find the next new thing that we needed this year and that left us with a disappointing year," owner Jack Roush said. "It's just a cycle of things. ... Hopefully next year we'll be back on top."