Drivers respect Edwards' last-lap effort at Kansas

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Racing is all about moves -- dive bombs to the inside, the bump and run and the ever popular sling shot. Memorable and stylized moves have become racing lore and define the legends that execute them.

Countless examples abound -- the unforgettable punt to Terry Labonte from Dale Earnhardt in 1999 for the win at Bristol and Richard Petty's attempted slingshot on David Pearson at Daytona in 1976.

And after his attempted "banzai" or slide job move on Jimmie Johnson last week in Kansas (watch video), Carl Edwards has drivers recalling some of their own slick moves on the track -- successful and unsuccessful.

Tony Stewart shared his insights and experiences with the slide job, a move that can make or break your race but is always exciting for the fans.

"There are a lot of dirt races where we have had to pull a [slide job]," he said. "Sometimes you made it and sometimes you didn't; that's what fun. The real racers understand what that slide job is all about. That is one of the things that has made Eldora so famous is being up by the wall and the slide job."

Stewart's best move: "Probably in 1994 in Calistoga, Calif. at a USAC Western States race. I pulled a slide job on Johnny Cofer on the last corner of the last lap and cleared him. He had to turn down to get underneath us and we ended up winning the race. It was one of those nights where you were like a cat with nine lives and we probably should have crashed eight or 10 times before that had happened. We somehow made it to the end."

Greg Biffle recalled a similar move racing Late Models at Tucson Raceway Park. He said it was a "had-to-try kind of move."

"It was sort of like Darlington, where you could run way down on the racetrack, way down on the flat and I kind of did that famous slide job, I guess," Biffle said. "I got my car to get grip way down on the white line where nobody ran the last four laps at Tucson Raceway Park. I just turned it all the way to the bottom and slid across the bottom and got back to the gas and ended up being able to clear the guy coming off the corner.

"I'm sure there are little things where you just squeak through and you're like, 'that was pretty [gutsy] and it worked out for me'."

Kyle Busch contends the slide job in the Cup Series doesn't work. He tried it on Johnny Benson in the Truck Series last season for the win but finished second.

"I knew it didn't work. [Carl] probably could have came and asked me about it, but he had to try it for himself. It was cool to see and something somebody was trying so more power to him."

On his attempt, Busch said, "I drove it into Turn 3 and 4, I was behind [Benson] trying to win and just drove it up to the fence and tried to get it to where you could ride the wall all the way through the corner and build speed and it slows you down.

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"I guess anybody is going to try something once to see how it plays out. Now the rest of us know that we don't have to do it because it won't work."

Denny Hamlin said he can rough up drivers with the best of them but hasn't had the opportunity to try a slide job; at least not on a real track.

"I definitely know what [Edwards] was doing because I've done it in that same racing game before where you are able to bounce it off the wall and actually make up a little time if you don't have to run another lap because obviously your car's damaged," Hamlin said. "It's in NASCAR 2003. You could do it kind of as a cheat in qualifying you could always run through [Turns] 1 and 2 normal and then when you get to 3 and 4 you could hold it wide open and hit the wall. Even though your momentum slowed down by the time you get to the start-finish line you actually went through the corner faster than what you would have normally."

Jeff Burton recalls a gutsy move on Busch in the Nationwide Series in Vegas two years ago (watch video).

"I made a conscious decision that I am willing to do whatever it takes to win this race within the limits of having respect for Kyle. It worked out for me that day," he said.

It may have not worked out for Edwards last week, but it won't stop drivers from attempting the moves that win races.