BROOKLYN, Mich. -- The Yeti is dead.

It died the instant Carl Edwards crossed the start-finish line Sunday at Michigan International Speedway, and Tom Giacchi took scissors to the scraggly beast that's lived on his chin for the past 19 months. Soon he'll be able to walk through a grocery store without scaring children, camp in the woods without attracting ticks, and rub a face that hasn't seen a razor blade in almost two years.

"I'm very happy," said Giacchi, Edwards' motor-coach driver and best friend. "I wish I could do backflips. I would have done a double or a triple or something."

The Yeti was born in a moment of bravado after Edwards won two consecutive races near the end of the 2005 season, and dared the 32-year-old Giacchi to not shave until the No. 99 driver won again. So all throughout last season it grew, getting longer and scruffier until Giacchi began to resemble a guitarist from ZZ Top.

Edwards went 52 race weekends without a victory, and the Yeti developed into a monster, spilling down the front of Giacchi's Office Depot jersey like a bunch of Spanish moss. It got so bad that a few weeks ago, while Giacchi was camping, he reached into its grubby maw and pulled out a tick.

"It's changed his life a little bit. People grab their children in Wal-Mart and pull them aside, lock their doors when he walks by on the street. Nobody will recognize him next week," Edwards said.

"It is a nice face. You should see him. He's a good-looking guy. He used to get dates. Women loved him. It's going to be a new day for you, Tom." (Continued)