1on1: Carl Edwards

Even as he lines himself up for possibly his best shot to date at a Cup championship, while also making a renewed run to repeat as champion of what's now the Nationwide Series, Carl Edwards in many ways remains "just Carl."

In the midst of racing full-time in NASCAR's two primary national series, Edwards also has found some time for some two-wheeled relaxation, a little dirt racing and even some things he didn't quite know he had in him.

Edwards, who begins the Chase in second place, talked about some of what's been keeping him busy, both at and away from the racetrack.

Edwards education

Date of Birth: Aug. 15, 1979, in Columbia, Mo.

Cup Debut: Michigan International Speedway on Aug. 22, 2004; started 23rd, finished 10th

Cup Wins: 13 in 147 starts; six in 2008

Nationwide Debut: Gateway International Raceway on July 20, 2002; started 36th, finished 38th

Nationwide Wins: 17 in 134 starts; four in 2008

Titles: 1999 Capital Speedway Modifieds, Jefferson City, Mo.; 2000 Capital Speedway Pro Modified; 2002 Baby Grand National Stock Car Association; 2003 Craftsman Truck Series Rookie of the Year; 2005 Busch Series Rookie of the Year; 2007 Busch Series

Q: What did Sunday's race at Richmond tell you, going into the Chase?

Edwards: I think [Sunday] was a good example of how our team could work with a little bit of adversity and under pressure. We did a really good job of coming back from a flat tire and a little wreck there. I thought my guys did a really good job, so I'm real excited about starting the Chase.

Q: People had been talking about this being a three-man Chase, so what's your take on whether anyone else can get into the mix?

Edwards: When everybody started talking about that [just a Kyle Busch, Edwards and Johnson battle for the title], I did get a little bit of a chuckle out of it because that would be the best case if you just had to race one other guy, but [Sunday] was a good example: A flat tire for me, Kyle getting caught up in the wreck, Jimmie going out and dominating and winning. Anything can happen. ... Look at how Tony [Stewart] ran [Sunday] and Kevin [Harvick]. A couple of races like that and it could be a whole new field of people that weren't predicted to be up front, so, yeah, I think it's gonna be a lot of guys. I think it's gonna be defined by your bad days just like it usually is.

Q: You had a chance to win three in a row if you'd won at California. Your car seemed to fall off a bit at the end, so how do you assess that race?

Edwards: We ran all right. It's great to be disappointed as hell with sixth place. That's wonderful, but we really wanted three in a row -- but we can go win the next three in a row, too. Sixth place is definitely not a win, but it's not running terrible.

I think when the track changed we weren't quite on top of how our car was gonna handle in the dark. Sometimes you hit it and sometimes you miss it. We just missed it.

Q: You and your crew chief, Bob Osborne, have moments where you, shall we say, debate about things. But how do you really feel about working with him this season?

Edwards: Bob is the smartest guy in the world. He's a smart guy, very intelligent and I hope we can be together for a long, long time. I'm just really happy.

Q: You've got a new primary sponsor for next season. What's it been like so far working with "the duck," Aflac's signature "spokesman?"

Edwards: That's a real duck [gesturing to a nearby poster] that I'm petting in that poster over there. I was telling everybody that when I went to do that [television] commercial, the duck had more people there than I did. But we just had a really good time, and everybody with Aflac's been really cool.

Cue the duck

• Store: Carl Edwards Flex Cap
• Store: No. 99 Holiday Die-Cast

I can't tell all the secrets, but it's amazing how they make the duck do all that stuff. It's hard to get a duck to talk, and scream and look at Jamie [McMurray, who's featured in one commercial] when we go by in the car. You know, the driving part was tough for him, because he doesn't have thumbs. But it really was pretty neat, and we had a good time.

The shot with the girls at the end -- that took a long time [laughing] and it was really hard to do. But everybody was very cool. There's a lot of potential for some other Carl and the duck commercials.

Q: You actually had a lot to do with designing the paint scheme on your primary Aflac Ford for 2009; so where did this artistic creativity come from?

Edwards: It's not creativity, it's just that I've been around racetracks my whole life and I think black racecars look cool. So that was really my input, was hey, let's make this thing black, and they were cool with that.

When we started coming up with this new paint scheme, we looked at a bunch of different stuff and it was really neat because they let me be a big part of it. I hope everybody likes it. We went back and forth on stuff. I got renderings, and I'd give my comments and they'd change it and they'd do it again and finally we exchanged a couple e-mails and we decided that the checkered flag was what makes it look best.

Q: Where did that start? Who had some of the coolest cars that you can remember, and that really stood out for you?

Edwards: What ends up happening in racing, to me, is the car that wins, looks cool. You know what I mean? And that's even at the local dirt track. There was a guy named Jeff Leka, who was the fastest Modified racer in the country when I got started running, in 1999. He had a like, paper-bag brown racecar, and it looked awesome. You were like, 'man, that's a good-looking racecar!' It was because he won, you know? So that's the No. 1 thing.

Aside from that, there are certain cars that just look cool. Bill Elliott's Coors car -- the red one with the white and gold -- that looked cool. I really liked when [Ken] Schrader drove the Folgers car -- that one really was cool. Black racecars, I think, really look neat. Dale Earnhardt's car was really neat and right now, I think there's cars out there that are really, really pretty.

If you look at Marcos Ambrose's STP car, the one they've been running this year, I think that's the best-looking car on the [Nationwide] circuit. I don't know, but I think it means a lot for the guys to have a car that they think looks neat.

Q: For the second year in a row, you rode your bike from home in Columbia, Mo., to Gateway International Raceway for the Nationwide Series race in July. How was it?

Edwards: The bike trip was awesome. It was three days, and the highlight was probably the second day, when we rode 94 miles. We got to Washington, Mo., which was kinda hard to get to, because you had to go over a little two-lane bridge over the Missouri River, which was like a half-mile long. There were no bike paths and we were like those bicyclists that everybody hates on the road because you're like in the damned way.

I hate that. I hate it when bicyclists do that -- but we were those guys, because there's just some roads where you can't get out of the way. But we made it to Washington and we were really hot and really tired and there was a public pool there that was four bucks [admission], with a diving board and a big slide and we just took over the pool.

Everybody walked in, took their shirts off and their shoes and socks -- and we just jumped in the pool in our shorts. That was cool and we really had a good time because nobody really knew who we were.

One guy, he said "I know you're Carl Edwards," and I just shook his hand -- but other than that we just hung out at the pool and goofed around and then went and got something to eat. It was just neat because it was like summer, when you were a kid.

Q: You had some time after that race, so did you ride back home, too?

Edwards: I thought about it a little bit, but man, I hurt really bad! My legs hurt and they still felt a little funny a week later. Actually, after a few days they were pretty good, but my butt hurt real bad from that seat -- I mean, you can't make a bicycle seat that you can just sit on for three days and not hurt.

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Q: What was your take on what NASCAR's done in the Nationwide Series, when it appeared Toyota had a significant horsepower advantage?

Edwards: I'm just grateful that NASCAR would be proactive, take action and try to level the playing field a little bit. It was something that was very frustrating for everyone to have to compete against an advantage -- and I know that that's their job and they're supposed to build the most horsepower that they can -- but it takes a little bit of the sport out of it when you have an advantage like that.

Q: Since the change, Toyota's won twice, you've won twice and Ford's won three times and Chevy, twice; but before the change, what was it like?

Edwards: Oh, man. It was just like if you were sitting at a stop light in downtown wherever you live in, and you're in your car and the light turns green and you hold [the gas] to the floor and the guy next to you does the same, and by the time you get to the next stop light, he's two car lengths in front of you.

There's no amount of effort you can make to change that. There's nothing you can do -- and that's what we were up against, and hopefully it's been evened out a little bit.

Q: Earlier this summer, you got to visit Fenway Park for a Red Sox game. Are you a baseball fan?

Edwards: I respect what those players do, but I don't really keep up with anything, that's the problem. Years ago, I got to go to the Cardinals' opening day or media day -- I don't remember what they called it -- when I was driving [in the Craftsman Truck Series] for Mike Mittler. Everybody was real excited and they were telling me, 'We're going to introduce you to Albert Pujols.' I thought that he must own the team, or something. I figured he was a real important guy, but I was working on my dirt car, 24/7 [and I just didn't know].

He turns out to be the coolest guy ever. He gives me his cell phone number and tells me to come hang out at the field any time -- and I'm guessing he's a player, because he's a pretty big guy. Then I see him on the cover of Sports Illustrated a couple months later -- 'the greatest player that ever lived.' So I call him up and say, 'Dude, so you're pretty good at what you do, eh?'

He came to watch my brother [Kenny] race, a couple times at I-70 [a Missouri short track] and he's a nice guy. That was my first entry into baseball and now I get to be [at Fenway] with the Red Sox, and it's cool.

Q: Did you ever take Pujols up on his offer?

Edwards: No. He doesn't call me, either. I haven't talked to him since because I don't want to bother him. And my brother, the last time he saw [Pujols] he told him, 'You ought to call [Carl]' and [Pujols] said, 'Nah, I don't want to bother him.' But we'll run into each other, someday. He's got a job, you know? But I'll see him around.

Q: What was your take on being in such a classic place like Fenway Park, whether you were a fan or not?

Edwards: It's a real cool place. I like old stuff, a lot better than new stuff. I like old racetracks and I don't know a lot about baseball, but what I understood from being [at Fenway] is that it's just a really cool place.

Q: Going to that park was a chance to take a break, so is that something you get to do much of -- like taking the bike trip?

Edwards: Never. But I get a couple days, here and there. We all get, like, a Monday or something. When I was in New Hampshire last time I had Thursday off. I brought my bicycle there, to ride it around and see some stuff and just take it easy.

Q: What would be the ideal break for you?

Edwards: The ideal break? I do it almost every week, when I get to go back to Columbia and just goof around outside, get a bunch of exercise and get ready for the next race. I mean, right now that's my ideal break. I got a plane -- I can go wherever I want -- and [home] is where I go.

Q: What kind of motorbike is sitting in your garage these days?

Edwards: I've got a Victory Vision. The Ducati was very cool, but this Victory is pretty neat. It's a touring bike and my girlfriend likes it a lot more, so we have fun with that. We actually have a You Tube video of me doing a burnout on it that's pretty funny. I've also got a GT 500 KR from Ford. It's got 540 horsepower and that is bad a--. It's fun. We have fun with that on the street and my girlfriend likes that more than the motorcycle.