Edwards Victorious In The Busch Series And NASCAR's Car Of Tomorrow Becomes The Car Of Today

Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 60 Fusion in the NASCAR Busch Series won Saturday’s Sharpie Mini 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

NASCAR’s Car of Tomorrow made its competition debut in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series in Sunday’s Food City 500 in Bristol.

DEARBORN, Mich., March 25 – Fusion teammates Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth finished first and second in Saturday’s NASCAR Busch Series race and on Sunday, the NASCAR Car of Tomorrow (COT) made its debut in Nextel Cup competition.

Edwards’ trademark celebratory back flip returned after he took the checkered flag in the Sharpie Mini 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Edwards and Kenseth battled until the very end with Edwards increasing his lead in the series to 197 points. “ To be able to hold off somebody as great as Matt Kenseth at a place like this means a lot to me,” said Edwards. “That made the win very special.”

Kenseth was on Edwards’ back bumper during the closing laps, but Edwards felt like he had an edge on speed. “I think my car was just a little bit faster, but it was starting to get extremely loose on corner entry,” he said. “There’s a lot of nerves in that car with like five to go and he’s a car length off the bumper. That’s exciting. That feeling and that amount of anxiety and anticipation and excitement when you win, that’s what makes this so much fun for me.”

There were a few times when Kenseth was able to get right under Edwards’ car, but he had a bent fender of his own after Ryan Newman made contact with him earlier in the race. “This place is tough,” said Kenseth. “It’s kind of a give-and-take race track and sometimes I struggle when to give and when to take.”

Many Cup regulars compete in the Busch Series to gather data to transfer over to the Cup race on Sunday, but that was not the case this weekend in Bristol. With the debut of the COT in the Cup race, teams and drivers alike were not able to carry much, if anything from Saturday into Sunday.

While Edwards agrees there isn’t much he carried from Saturday to Sunday, he is just glad to be racing any kind of car and hopes for a lot of success this season. “ The competition and the fun and getting to win races is why I race in the Busch Series,” said Edwards. “It really wouldn’t matter to me if we raced on a dirt track outside on Saturdays, I’d still be doing it. My mission this year is to win the championship and that’s what I’m focused on in the Busch Series.”

NASCAR’s COT was created to be safer for competitors and the most noticeable difference is that the COT has an adjustable splitter across the bottom front of the car and an adjustable wing replaces the regular fixed spoiler on the back deck lid.

Even though the cars will eventually be different for entire seasons, Ford team owner Jack Roush recognizes the benefit of fielding cars in series other than Cup. “First of all, being involved in the Busch Series and, for that matter, the Craftsman Truck Series gives us a chance to develop sponsors that have got a growing appetite,” said Roush. “As interesting and as much fun as it is to develop young drivers, it’s been great to bring sponsors that have got growing needs as well.”

Sunday’s COT Nextel Cup race had multiple Fusion drivers enjoy time towards the front of the field. Greg Biffle, Jamie McMurray, Edwards and Kenseth were among those battling for the top spot in the race.

Biffle was the top Ford driver in fifth place and Kenseth’s 11 th place finish helped him move up to fourth in the Cup standings.

“We had great pit stops today, I had a great, great race car,” said Biffle. “This is what this team is made of. We’ve had about four of these runs now, but this is the first one we’ve finished. I feel really good about it.”

The NASCAR Busch Series has the weekend off next week, but the Nextel Cup and Craftsman Truck Series both head to Martinsville and the NHRA POWERade drivers are back in action in Houston for the O’Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals.