FORT WORTH, Texas — As his interim crew chief headed toward inspection, Carl Edwards offered to lend him cash to bribe NASCAR’s officials.
Of course, Edwards was joking. But in making light of the severe penalties his team drew when its race-winning car failed inspection last month, Edwards showed his Roush Fenway Racing team has solidly bounced back from the Las Vegas disaster.
Edwards raced to his series-best third Sprint Cup victory of the season Sunday, holding off Jimmie Johnson on a two-lap overtime sprint to the finish at Texas Motor Speedway.
It backed Edwards’ declaration four weeks ago that his team would survive the 100- point deduction and six-race suspension to crew chief Bob Osborne that stemmed from a missing lid on the oil tank after the Vegas victory.
“It doesn’t matter if we get penalized. We might get a 100-point penalty for something today,” Edwards said. “It’s not going to change what I do. I’m just going to do the best I can and our cars are really good. It does feel good to look in there and see the oil tank cover on the car, that’s good. But this is what we do. We go out and try to win. The other stuff doesn’t matter.”
That was evident as Edwards dominated Sunday, leading a race-high 123 laps while continuing to be the driver to beat at NASCAR’s intermediate tracks. He won at California and Vegas, and might have won in Atlanta if his motor didn’t fail while he was leading.
“He probably could have led however many laps there were today,” third-place finisher Kyle Busch said. “He just didn’t show his full hand. We knew he was pretty good.”
Busch, winner of the Nationwide Series race Saturday, was strong early but had nothing for Edwards in the end.
