Carl Edwards is looking for his second consecutive win. Credit: Autostock

Edwards' goal: Work way from far back to front

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Carl Edwards finds himself with the unenviable task of starting 30th in Sunday's Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, but he can console himself with one thought: If Greg Biffle could do it, so can he.

Biffle was forced to a backup car before the Samsung/RadioShack 500 in April but was able to work his way from 41st place to the front by Lap 87 on his way to the victory.

Inside the Chase Point standings entering Texas Pos. Driver Points Behind 1. T. Stewart 6,100 -- 2. J. Johnson 6,057 -43 3. G. Biffle 6,025 -75 4. C. Edwards 5,993 -107 5. R. Newman 5,993 -107 6. M. Martin 5,957 -143 7. M. Kenseth 5,945 -155 8. R. Wallace 5,843 -257 9. Ku. Busch 5,840 -260 10. J. Mayfield 5,790 -310 Dickies 500 Carl Edwards' practice results Practice Rank Speed Time 1st 8 189.647 28.474 2nd 2 187.123 28.858 3rd 11 184.269 29.305 • 1st Practice Speeds, click here • 2nd Practice Speeds, click here • 3rd Practice Speeds, click here Qualifying Results Pos. Driver Speed Time 1. R. Newman 192.947 27.987 2. J. Gordon 192.397 28.067 3. M. Kenseth 191.966 28.130 4. J. Nemechek 191.652 28.176 5. J. Mayfield 191.408 28.212 30. C. Edwards 189.089 28.558 • Race Lineup, click here Ready to rollEdwards looks to build on Chase momentum in Texas Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

""I watched the tape and I watched how he did it and we'll just have to do it like that," Edwards said. "He had an awesome car and he was relentless. He just drove up under everybody's bumper until they got out of the way. That's what he did. He got to the front."

If Saturday's two practice sessions are any indication, it sure looks like Edwards is following Biffle's plan to the letter. His lap of 187.123 mph in the No. 99 Ford in the first 45-minute practice was eclipsed by only one other car -- the No. 38 Ford of Elliott Sadler. As the track warmed up for Happy Hour, speeds fell off significantly, with Edwards turning a best of 184.269 mph in 32 laps, good enough for 11th quickest.

So can Edwards repeat Biffle's performance Sunday?

"I hope so," he said. "I think it's fast enough, the car seems awesome. We just messed up in qualifying, got it way too tight."

One thing that's not tight is Edwards. Despite being smack dab in the middle of the Chase for the Nextel Cup standings with three races remaining, 107 points behind leader Tony Stewart, Edwards doesn't appear to be fazed by the pressure.

"We've accomplished every goal we wanted to accomplish already this season," he said. "So I don't see any reason to put extra pressure on ourselves.

"If we just go out, have a good time, give it an 100 percent effort, try to win these races, never look back, that's all we can do."

Edwards knows he's a long-shot to win the championship, but after his victory at Atlanta one week ago, there's still hope.

"If we go out here and run last this weekend, we're still going to go to Phoenix and think we can win it," Edwards said. "We don't really have anything to lose. We've got everything to gain, and we just have to maintain that attitude for three more weeks and we'll be fine."

Edwards may have company on his way to the front. Pole-sitter Ryan Newman crashed his primary car on his second qualifying lap and will go to the back. Edwards said he expects to see the No. 12 Dodge filling up his mirrors in the early stages of the race.

"Hopefully, it'll be nose-to-tail and Ryan's behind me," Edwards said.

Newman's backup Charger was nearly as fast as his primary. He was solidly in the top 10 in both sessions, with a best of 186.961 mph.

"The last time we raced [this car] was in Phoenix in 2001," crew chief Matt Borland said. "I think Rusty ran it last in 1997.

"It's not bad, but we'll see how it is in traffic [Sunday]. That'll be the big question. It's probably not going to be real easy coming from the back of the pack to the front."

There were no significant incidents to report in either session.