Todd Warshaw/Getty Images
Carl Edwards is looking for his second Gibson guitar trophy.By the Numbers: Nashville
type size: + -
Nashville has been both good and bad for Carl Edwards.
The good: He's currently riding a streak of 34 consecutive races in which he has been ranked inside the top 10 in points, dating back to this race one year ago. Before it, he was 11th. After it -- and a fifth-place finish -- he was fifth.
The bad: It's Nashville that most point to as costing Edwards the 2005 Busch Series championship.
Running his first full season in the Cup Series, Edwards was pulling double-duty that season by running both schedules. He entered the July 11 Busch race in Nashville as the standings leader by 74 points ahead of Reed Sorenson. Problem was, the Busch race was rained out and ran the following day -- July 12, the same day as the Cup race in Pocono.
Edwards skipped the Busch race, fell to fourth in the standings and never recovered as Martin Truex Jr. went on to win the championship that year.
The winner of the Cup race that day in Pocono: Carl Edwards.
Interesting Fact
61Consecutive Busch Series starts for Carl Edwards, the longest in the series. He has not missed a start since he was forced to skip the Nashville race on June 12, 2005.
Fun Fact
13Age in which Les Paul was playing semi-professionally as a country music guitarist. Paul went on to play a prominent role in the design and development of the solid-body electric guitar made by Gibson in the early 1950s. Today, the winner of the Nashville Busch Series race receives a Gibson Les Paul guitar as the trophy. Carl Edwards won his last June from the 13th starting position.
All the Facts
2Former Nashville winners who are entered in Saturday's race: Jason Leffler (2004) and Carl Edwards (2006).
2.5Average starting position for Danny O'Quinn Jr. in his two races last year at Nashville, the best among drivers entered in Saturday's race. O'Quinn will be racing in his second event this season.
3Drivers in the top five in the standings who have only raced in five of the six events this season: Kevin Harvick (second), Kyle Busch (third) and Matt Kenseth (fifth).
3.976Average running position of Kevin Harvick in the last two Nashville races. Harvick won this race a year ago and finished third last June. Harvick is not entered in Saturday's race.
4Top-10 finishes for Nashville native Bobby Hamilton Jr. in seven starts at Nashville Superspeedway. Hamilton's average finish there is 13.7 and he has three top-fives.
6.213Average running position for Carl Edwards in the last three Nashville races, tops among drivers entered in Saturday's race. Edwards ranks sixth in that category, according to NASCAR's Loop Data, although the top five drivers are not racing.
6.55Average starting position for Nashville winners. In 11 races, only two winners have started worse than seventh: Michael Waltrip (22nd in 2004) and Carl Edwards (13th in 2006).
7Full-time Cup Series drivers who are entered in Saturday's Busch Series race, the fewest amount since seven ran in last year's Memphis race on Oct. 28.
10Consecutive top-10 finishes for Carl Edwards in the Busch Series, the longest current streak which began last fall at Memphis with a third-place finish.
11.6Average number of lead changes per race at Nashville Superspeedway.
15Lowest running position for Carl Edwards in last year's June race at Nashville. He led 124 laps and won the race.
30.38Percent of passes made on the frontstretch during the last four races at Nashville, the most popular place on the track. Turn 3 sees the least amount of passing at 9.80 percent.
99Career starts for Dave Blaney in the Busch Series. His first start came at Daytona on Feb. 14, 1998. Blaney is fourth in the Busch standings, 291 points behind.
100A driver has led 100 or more laps in eight of the 11 races held at Nashville Superspeedway. In the March 2005 race, Reed Sorenson led 197 of 225 laps.
118.0Driver Rating for Carl Edwards at Nashville Superspeedway, the highest among drivers entered in Saturday's race. Edwards' average finish in three races there is 3.3.
128Green-flag passes made by Regan Smith in the last three Nashville races, tied for the most with Reed Sorenson, who has raced the last four Nashville events. Sorenson is not entered in Saturday's race.
233Laps led by Bobby Hamilton Jr. at Nashville Superspeedway, the most by a driver who has not won there.
Busch Series
Official Standings
| Pos. | +/- | Driver | Points | Behind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | -- | Carl Edwards | 1005 | Leader |
| 2. | -- | Kevin Harvick | 808 | -197 |
| 3. | +1 | Kyle Busch | 757 | -248 |
| 4. | -1 | Dave Blaney | 714 | -291 |
| 5. | +7 | Matt Kenseth | 683 | -322 |
| 6. | +4 | Juan Montoya | 655 | -350 |
| 7. | -- | Marcos Ambrose | 642 | -363 |
| 8. | +8 | Greg Biffle | 635 | -370 |
| 9. | -1 | Mike Wallace | 623 | -382 |
| 10. | +5 | Bobby Hamilton Jr. | 600 | -405 |
• Complete Standings click here
Nationwide News
- Edwards crash at MIS gave Busch insurmountable lead
- No title would mean a lost season for Busch, 18 team
- Busch wins first title in style by taking the finale
- Successful JRM run ends Saturday for Keselowski
- Rusty Wallace Racing switching to Toyota in '10
- Bires to make first start in No. 5 car at Homestead
Remember To Check Out
|
All External sites will open in a new browser window. NASCAR.COM does not endorse external sites. |
|
© 2001-2009 NASCAR | Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
|
Turner Entertainment Digital Network NASCAR.COM is part of the Turner Sports and Entertainment Digital Network. |
