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From Team Press Release
July 2, 2003
10:20 AM EDT (1420 GMT)
KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Carl Edwards is optimistic about this weekend's race at Kansas Speedway. Before joining Roush Racing, Kansas was the site of Edwards' best finish in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. He finished eighth in 2002 driving for Mike Mittler and believes he can improve this year's results significantly.
"I feel like we're going to run really well there," Edwards said. "We're taking a new truck this weekend that should be good. We haven't tested it, but it sure looks nice. Kansas is a really fun track. It's the kind of track I like because like Charlotte and Texas, it is big and fast. Having raced dirt tracks growing up, people assume I would like short tracks better, but actually I prefer the 1.5 to two-mile tracks. I almost won at Texas so maybe we can repeat that performance at Kansas.
"I'm also looking forward to racing in front of my 'hometown crowd.' Where I grew up in Columbia, Mo., is only about 130 miles from Kansas City so about half the people in the grandstands will be my friends and family. It is pretty cool to go somewhere that the fans know who I am and cheer for me. Nothing motivates you like when you know the people in the stands are cheering for you."
Edwards remains 10th in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series point standings and actually gained 41 points on the leaders despite a 15th place finish at Milwaukee. Edwards was running in the top 10 when he lost a cylinder with 75 laps to go. As if that weren't enough, he also had a flat tire with 37 laps to go which cost him three laps.
"Milwaukee was a tough day for us, but the team made the most of a real bad day," Edwards said. "We lost a cylinder, we lost a tire under green and we had a terrible push all day, but we finished ahead of the point leader so given those circumstances I don't think we could have done much better. It wasn't a great day, but it could have been a lot worse. The team did a great job and everybody kept their heads on straight.
"This weekend should be a lot better and hopefully we can gain on the point leaders again, but this time because we won the race."
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