Carl Edwards' last visit to Talladega Superspeedway ended in a violent crash that nearly sent his car flying into the grandstands and the Roush Fenway Racing driver is looking for much better things in this weekend's AMP Energy 500.
Edwards and Brad Keselowski made contact on the final lap of last April's race at the 2.66-mile track with Edwards sailing into the air before being hit by an oncoming Ryan Newman. That impact sent Edwards into the main straightaway catchfence that thankfully stopped him from flying into the grandstands.
Debris went into the stands and injured several spectators, one of which Edwards looks forward to meeting this weekend.
"I'm also really excited to meet Blake Bobbitt, the young girl who was injured in the wreck in April," Edwards said. "She's coming back to the track which is a great example of how passionate our fans are. She's pumped about the race too so that's cool."
Edwards will make his 11th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start at Talladega this weekend. In his previous 10 starts, Edwards has one top-five and three top-10 finishes. Edwards' average start at Talladega is 16.2, his average finish is 24.5.
"We're going back to Talladega and we really have nothing to lose at this point in the Chase so we'll just go for it and try to get a win," said Edwards, who starts the weekend tenth in the standings. "I've heard they raised the fences so that is good. You never like to come back and see a new fence because of you. Our team has worked hard on our restrictor-plate package and it's pretty good. Maybe we'll partner up with somebody like we did last time and make it to the finish line this time to finally get a win at one of these places. That would be a blast.
Edwards' crew chief Bob Osborne knows Sunday's race will as always be a tough task for all teams.
"Talladega is challenging for a crew chief because so much of it is out of our control," he said of the restrictor plate race. "We do the best we can to get the car handling well and create a smart pit strategy, but most of this race depends on the driver and the spotter."
"We had a shot to win in the spring, but that race certainly didn't end the way we wanted it to. We're taking the same car that finished fourth at Daytona in July so we know it's a good car and it runs well in the draft. Now we just need some luck to stay out of trouble and cross the finish line with all four wheels on the ground."
