Carl Edwards was never in contention Sunday, finishing 19th. Credit: Autostock

Edwards unimpressive in first Chase race

Finishes 19th at what he admits is his 'worst track'

LOUDON, N.H. -- Carl Edwards predicted New Hampshire might be one of his worst races in the Chase for the Nextel Cup, and Sunday's result proved it.

Edwards, who qualified eighth for the Chase in his first full Nextel Cup season, fulfilled his Friday prophesy when his No. 99 Office Depot Ford -- one of five Roush Racing cars in the Chase -- was never listed better than 17th in any rundown before finishing 19th in the Sylvania 300.

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"This is one of my worst tracks," Edwards said Friday. "I mean, it's not bad -- we finished 12th here in the spring, but we need to have a good run here and at Dover.

"Those are two that we have struggled with historically, and if we can have runs at these two -- man, it's going to be awesome."

Edwards talks like a seasoned veteran, and in some ways, with two career victories already on his resume, he acts the part. But the fact is, he has only 40 career starts over two seasons.

Edwards particularly has a decent grasp on the short history of the Chase, whose inaugural run was won in 2004 by Roush Racing teammate Kurt Busch.

"You need to have a good points run the first race," Edwards said. "Kurt Busch did it last year and it got him going."

Ironically, Busch Sunday was involved in an accident on the race's second lap, finished 35th after a hustling rebuild job by his crew and is the only Chaser behind Edwards in the standings.

Edwards, at some points in the race, was as high as seventh in the standings, but when the race ended, he was ninth, 109 behind leader Tony Stewart.

Edwards thinks both he, and Busch can rebound.

"You can, obviously, but I think you're allowed only about one bad race for (the Chase), so I'd rather save that for the end," Edwards said. "I'd rather not use that up right now."

Short term, Edwards needs to pick up now, since Chase contenders took the top-four positions behind winner Ryan Newman and seven of the top-10.