During boxy season

Carl Edwards accomplished aboriginal in the NASCAR Sprint Cup point standings endure year and was not the champion.

By advantage of acceptable the final race, Tony Stewart accomplished angry with Edwards and was crowned the best for a third time because he had added victories.

Edwards has struggled to carbon the success of a year ago. He has not won this division and has accomplished in the top 5 just twice. He is 11th in the point standings with seven contest to go afore the Chase for the Cup 10-race playoff format.

“My mindset traveling forward, our accomplished 99 team’s mindset is to go through these next seven contest and accomplish every chase as absolute as we can accomplish it,” Edwards said. “If that’s a win, we’re traveling to get the win. If that’s 12th, we’re traveling to get 12th.

“We are in position appropriate now area we accept to be perfect. And if at the end of the day, that gets us area we wish to go, that’s great.”

Edwards enters today’s Brickyard 400 with a new aggregation chief. Chad Norris replaces Bob Osborne, who accommodated this week, citation bloom issues.

Edwards, a Missouri native, hopes a win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway can jumpstart the team. Other than a runner-up accomplishment in 2008, Edwards has never accomplished bigger than seventh in seven contest at IMS.

He got off to a acceptable alpha to the weekend, condoning second. Edwards’ antecedent best alpha at Indianapolis was ninth in 2008.

Edwards was a admired to win his aboriginal championship this season. Meanwhile,’ teammates Matt Kenseth (first) and Greg Biffle (third) are accepting arch seasons.

“I just didn’t see Carl Edwards and aggregation accepting the declivity achievement that they’ve had this year. I’m actual afraid by it,” ESPN analyst Allen Bestwick said.

Last season, Stewart able for the Chase with no wins afore acceptable 5 of the final 10 contest to affirmation the title.

“We all apperceive what’s on the line. We saw what the 14 aggregation did endure year,” Edwards said. “If we can accomplish the Chase, we can about-face this affair around. We can go win the championship.”

Bayne, the 2011 Daytona 500 winner, is active a accolade car anniversary aggregation buyer Leonard Wood. Wood is one of 5 2012 inductees into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Wood aswell fabricated a appropriate cruise to the 1965 Indianapolis 500 to be allotment of the pit aggregation for Jim Clark, who concluded up acceptable the race.

“My nephews, Eddie and Len, and niece, Kim, absitively forth with the Hall of Fame cadre that they capital to bless my traveling into the Hall of Fame at this chase clue because we won in 1964,” Wood said. “They capital to acrylic the acrylic arrangement the aforementioned as we acclimated on the Cup cars in 1965, which was bonbon angel red.

“It has absolutely been a actual appropriate anniversary for me to appear aback actuality 47 years after with my face on the foreground of the awning advancing down the track.