Osborne, Edwards back together and back in Chase

Batman won't fight evil doers without Robin.

Starsky can't solve a case without Hutch.

Jon Bon Jovi just wouldn't sound the same without Richie Sambora.

And if history is any indicator, Roush Fenway Racing's Carl Edwards doesn't make NASCAR's playoffs without crew chief Bob Osborne.

A class act

Carl Edwards may be talented, but during the race weekend at Dover, Beau Estes says it's Edwards' heart that took center stage both on and off the track.

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In 2005, duo makes Chase and finishes third. In 2006 duo separates, Edwards misses Chase and finishes 12th. In 2007, Edwards is currently third in the Chase.

In or out, Osborne, a modest and soft spoken 34-year-old from Pennsylvania doesn't take credit for the pair's success, which includes five wins, 17 top-fives and 27 top-10s since 2005.

The crew chief said unfortunately a lot of success is left to "racing luck."

So whether Edwards and Osborne will join a list of sports pairs like Stockton and Malone, Marvin and Peyton or Venus and Serena is yet to be seen.

The knockout performance at Dover International Speedway, despite looming penalties for failing post-race inspection, has the Edwards-Osborne pair in the groove.

Q: Can you tell us about the race strategy at Dover?

Osborne: We made a decision there, second-to-last stop to stay out, and a lot of guys chose to come in and that kind of put a big scare into us, having to stop under a green flag, and a lot of the guys got to run 15 to 20 laps longer, so that was pretty shaky for us, I felt. But we got the cautions to go our way, and at the end of the race I had no intentions of asking Carl to pit even though we had conversations about it, I was trying to mislead there. I think Carl did a great job and it was just a little tense at the end with all the red flags and cautions.

Q: Why so few cars on the lead lap at the end of the race?

Osborne: I believe the fact that we had a lot of long [well a couple] runs and right now there's a lot of disparity in performance from one car to the next. So, when there's a handful of cars that are really quick, it shows up a great deal.

Q: Coming off your third victory of the season and fourth top-10 finish in seven races, how do you feel heading to Kansas this weekend?

Osborne: I'm really looking forward to racing Kansas. I like intermediate tracks a whole lot and feel like our Office Depot team has what it takes to be really successful there this weekend. The Chase is shaping up to be very exciting, hopefully the No. 99 team can continue to build on the momentum from our Dover win and make strides towards the Championship.