Roush teams need better pit stops for track position

AVONDALE, Ariz. -- As the competition on the track has become more balanced, track position has become more critical. And the fastest way to gain -- or lose -- is on pit road.

Like having a dominant closer in baseball, a football place-kicker who can split the uprights with seconds left on the clock, or a basketball star who can coolly sink free throws under pressure, having a pit crew with perfect synchronization has become imperative for the top teams in NASCAR's premier series.

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That's never been more obvious than in recent weeks, particularly at Jack Roush's operation. Brandon Hopkins was hired this week to handle tire changing for Carl Edwards' No. 99 Ford, following a frustrating late-race stop at Texas that might have cost Edwards any chance at victory.

It's something that the driver said has been happening with increasing frequency.

"The fact is that we can all say woulda, shoulda, coulda or whatever, but there are like five to eight races over my career in Cup that I feel like we would have won if it weren't for trouble that we had on pit road," Edwards said Friday at Phoenix International Raceway. "That's a lot of races. I can only imagine that guys just love it when we have yellow flags because they know they can pass me on pit road, so it's just very frustrating.

"The crazy thing is I talk to [Roush Fenway Racing general manager] Robbie Reiser about it and he's doing everything he can. He threw up his hands and said, 'Carl, I've never seen a situation like this where if it's not one thing it's another.' If it's not someone having a bad day, it's an injury. It's not like there's just one thing we can say, 'Alright, we're gonna change this and now we'll be great. It's just one of those circumstances and I hope that we can get all of this out of the way and be good in the Chase and be good in the future because this sport is becoming so competitive you have to have all parts of it working well." (Continued)