Ford Kentucky Busch Advance -- Edwards

FORD RACING NOTES AND QUOTES                   Meijer 300 Advance, Page 1        


June 17, 2006                        Kentucky Speedway        


 

            Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 60 Ford Fusion in the Busch Series, took special interest in Friday night's USAC Silver Crown race at Kentucky Speedway.  Edwards, who delayed his flight plans back to Michigan to view the 67-lap race, is a part owner in Carl Edwards/R.E. Technologies Racing with Canadian-born driver Peter Shepherd.   Shepherd, a Roush Racing development driver who appeared in the Discovery Channel's "Roush Racing: Driver X", finished eighth last night in his second career Silver Crown start.   Edwards discussed his ownership role in No. 99 Silver Crown team and his impressions of the redesigned series.

 

CARL EDWARDS-60-Henkel Ford Fusion - WHILE MOST OF THE CUP DRIVERS DEPARTED FOR MICHIGAN FOLLOWING FINAL PRACTICE HERE LAST NIGHT, YOU STAYED FOR THE SILVER CROWN RACE.  DISCUSS YOUR INTEREST IN THE NEW GENERATION SLIVER CROWN PAVEMENT CHASSIS.  "I've partnered with R.E. Technologies as an owner of the No. 99 Silver Crown team.  I just kinda wanted to hang out for the race.  Peter Shepherd was driving it, so I wanted to see how it went and be around a little bit."

 

YOU DIDN'T HAVE ANY CONCERNS DEPRIVING YOURSELF OF A COUPLE OF HOURS OF REST TO WATCH THE EVENT?  "It's not a big deal.  It was only an extra hour, and, to me, it was real important to see how that deal is going.  I'm good on sleep.  I can go a lot time if I had to.  The only reason I'm going to take a nap before Busch qualifying is to try to be as fresh as I can be.  If I had to it, I wouldn't have to sleep at all all weekend, but I just don't think I'd be perfect."

 

HOW MANY SLIVER CROWN RACES HAVE YOU ATTENDED SINCE BECOMING A TEAM OWNER?  "That's the first race."

 

WITH THAT BEING THE FIRST TIME THOSE CARS HAVE RACED ON THE 1.5-MILE KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY OVAL, WHAT DID YOU THINK OF WHAT YOU SAW?  "That series is just starting that format, and it's just going to take a little bit of time for them to get the car count up, first of all, and then the television package will help a little bit.  I thought it was pretty cool to see those cars go around this race track.  I think if you had 30 of them instead of 13, it'd be a lot better show.  It's just going to take guys believing in the series and coming out and racing with them.  The cool thing that it does, it gives guys like Peter Shepherd an opportunity to go race.  You don't have to have a pit crew.  All of the cars are basically the same, and really it's the driver that makes them go fast.  As long as you have an engine and a set of tires, they can race and they get experience on these big tracks.  They're neat.  I drove one at Homestead. They were pretty wild to drive; that's a real race car."

 

IS THIS YOUR WAY OF TESTING THE OWNERSHIP WATERS LIKE SOME OF THE OTHER NASCAR DRIVERS?  "I don't know if I have any extra time or energy right now to do anything extra.  I do look at what Harvick does, and he's done an amazing job at setting himself up to have a presence in the sport for a long time.  I think that's pretty neat."

 

WITH THE SILVER CROWN SERIES BEING A COMPANION EVENT TO SOME NASCAR RACES, IS IT REALISTIC THAT THIS MIGHT BE THE CHANCE TO GET SOME OF THE DRIVERS NOTICED BY THE OWNERS OF NASCAR TEAMS?  "The way I look at it is, I spent one afternoon driving that 99 car at Homestead, and I'm telling you, if a guy can wheel one of those things around one of these race tracks, a Nextel Cup car would be a breeze.  They're tough to drive, really tough.  I think if you had a healthy field full of drivers and you had people that were standing out as guys that were winning, they would definitely be candidates for rides in NASCAR stuff, for sure."

 

   

 

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