Photo Credit: Justin McFarland
TOYOTA NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS)
Carl Edwards – Notes & Quotes
Phoenix International Raceway – March 11, 2016
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Carl Edwards was made available to the media at Phoenix International Raceway:
CARL EDWARDS, No. 19 Stanley Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
How did the first practice go today at Phoenix?
“It actually started out a little rough. I was really struggling and the guys dialed it in pretty well so I’ve got a fast car for qualifying. To me, I don’t know how the other drivers feel but it feels like that Goodyear tire is much different. It feels like as it lays down the rubber and you drive through it I can kind of feel the rubber having a bigger effect on the race car so I think that will be a lot of fun to race that way.”
Did you think at all about the way things ended here in November when you drove in today?
“Appreciate you bringing that up. I had a dog that died when I was a kid that really stuck with me too – that was wonderful (laughter). No, yeah I thought about that but that’s just the way racing goes. That’s the way things go. I was also last year really proud of how we finished the year and if it weren’t for that rain I’d like to think that we’d have had a shot at competing for the championship there at Homestead. So, yeah, as bad as it was it also reminded me that hey, we were that close to getting a championship. But, yeah, that’s just the way it is. I love coming here. This place has been so great to me. I’ve had some super races here. I’ve had a lot of fun. The first pavement race I ever ran was here. It’s just a cool place for me. It’s good to get to talk about that though, I appreciate it (laughter).”
How do you face Kevin Harvick who is so dominant at Phoenix and what do you think makes him so successful here?
“I don’t know. That is tough when someone figures a track out that well. And, this place is such a fine edge. Your car has to be perfect all the way around. You have to drive perfectly. But, I think really at this time in the sport for anyone to be that dominant at a track it really must have something special. But yeah, I think the whole field is chasing those guys and chasing Kevin (Harvick) and that 4 car at this race track. We’ll learn everything we can. We’d like to end that. I love winning here. This place is just great. It’s such a neat race track. Hopefully we can be fast.”
Does the downforce change that or is there a line on the track?
“Nah, I think any change is going to shake things up, but this track is pretty specific. The things you need to go fast here probably stay the same regardless of the downforce change. But, we’ll see. That’s one thing I’ve earned especially lately in this sport is it’s so amazing how people move forward so quickly and it’s hard to say who will be the fastest car. We’ll probably know after race practice tomorrow who is the car to beat.”
What happened after Phoenix last spring that changed the direction of the team?
“Everyone worked really hard and I think you saw from the, I guess it must have been from this point on, it was a lot of forward momentum. A lot of improvement at Joe Gibbs Racing. I think we won with basically every package that NASCAR presented last year. We won at all sorts of types of tracks – all different types of tracks. But, overall I just think it’s just the team effort. This place, when I came over to JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) kind of shocked me how I didn’t realize how much JGR had struggled at Phoenix and they’ve made it a point to work hard on it so we’ll see what a year has gotten us here. Hopefully it’s good.”
Did you notice the Firestone rubber from the Indy Car test making the track feel different than usual?
“I did – like I said at the beginning I noticed that that rubber felt different to me. I don’t know what it is that’s different but it just seemed like the rubber, it just seemed like there was more of it and had a bigger effect on the car. So, you’re saying that there was rubber here before we showed up from a test? It looked different to me and it felt different so I hope it was Goodyear rubber because I hope in the race that rubber has as big of an impact as it did in practice. This place for a long time coming here it was really neat because you could run a bunch of different grooves and I think if the rubber is like it is now, if this is Goodyear rubber that we’re seeing then you’re going to see that in the race. You’re going to see the second groove down there and different things down here in (turns) three and four.”
What is it about Phoenix that drivers like it so much?
“I think there are a couple things about this place. First of all, it’s a neat place to come. Phoenix is neat. The desert is pretty cool, but overall the race track I think this place lets the driver do more things. There are two completely different corners and really it’s like two different race tracks at each end. It gives the drivers more opportunity to showcase their skills, communicate what the car is doing. It’s a tougher more complicated puzzle than a lot of the race tracks that we go to, so really it’s more fun. Also, if you go back to all of the racing that’s happened here – I go back to the Copper World Classic. That was a race that I always watched here. It was so neat to watch the Midgets and the Silver Crown cars and all of that stuff here. To me, it’s always just been a really special place. It’s just that right size too. If you’re going fast, you can still race really close. It’s fun.”
Did you watch the astronaut come back down from a year in space and what did it mean to you?
“I didn’t get to see it yet, but I did get the chance to go to the Kennedy Space Center before we came to Daytona and that was really a neat experience. That was one of the coolest things I’ve seen and actually I read The Martian last year and Andy Weir’s parents actually came out here to the track – the author of that book and hung out and we got them in and that was a really cool – I think it’s a cool time right now with everything going on with the space program and all of the possibilities over the next 20 years or so. I’m kind of into that stuff. I think it’s pretty neat.”
What was your first lap like here after coming from dirt racing?
“Yeah, I remember the first lap here. Petrifying really is probably the simplest way to describe it. Drove down there in turn one and the Crown car that some idiot had setup – mainly me – had no clue what was going to happen and went screaming down the back straightaway. That’s I think the fastest that I’ve ever gone in anything and I had to come in and take a little break and think about it and get going again. It was such a new experience. For anybody that’s driven a Silver Crown car here they know what I’m talking about. It just feels like you’re sitting in a chair with a rocket strapped to you and screaming down the back straightaway and everything is shaking and your head is buffing in the wind. It was a whole new experience for me. It’s really cool. This place stands out in my racing career. That was one of the neatest weekends and really a turning point in my career. That was cool.”
Do you have any plans on the west coast over the next week or so?
“My guys are out here so they’ve been doing a lot of fun stuff but I’ve been going back and forth. It is cool, this west coast swing is pretty neat. I know it’s hard on a lot of the guys because it is a lot of time from their family but the teams get to hang out and get a little more time off. I think the guys went to a baseball game yesterday and had a good time with that. I don’t know how you guys are enjoying it or if you are going back and forth or not but it seems like everybody is having a good time with it.”
