Roush drivers looking for team's first Chicago victory

JOLIET, Ill. -- This season seems to be primed for first-time winners and oddly enough Roush Fenway Racing could earn that title this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway.

The team has yet to bring home a Sprint Cup Series win from the Windy City track since it began hosting NASCAR racing in 2001. If that statistic is going to change, Carl Edwards could be the driver in position to do so.

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Practice 3 Speeds

Pos.	Driver	Speed
1.	Mark Martin	175.861
2.	Clint Bowyer	175.547
3.	Brian Vickers	174.899
4.	Jeff Gordon	173.824
5.	Jeff Burton	173.796
6.	Carl Edwards	173.762
7.	Kyle Busch	173.717
8.	David Reutimann	173.578
9.	Denny Hamlin	173.527
10.	Jamie McMurray	173.410

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He was second-fastest in Friday's first practice session with a lap time of 176.881 mph behind Jimmie Johnson (177.200 mph). Denny Hamlin (176.725), David Reutimann (176.091 mph) and Greg Biffle (176.039 mph) rounded out the top five on the speed chart.

The final session painted a slightly different picture with Edwards sixth-quickest at 173.762 mph. Mark Martin led the session at 175.861 mph, followed by Clint Bowyer (175.547 mph) Brian Vickers (174.899 mph) Jeff Gordon (173.823) and Jeff Burton (173.796).

Edwards, who won the pole for Friday night's Nationwide Series race, is starting 25th in Saturday night's Cup race. But he said there is plenty of time to get to the front.

"Yeah, if you've got a fast car it should be simple enough to pass because it's got so many grooves," he said of the 1.5-mile track. "Hopefully that's the case. I hope we're good enough to get up there, but you never know until it starts."

The No. 99 Ford team tuned up in their race trim on Friday.

"We were real fast in race trim," Edwards said. "This is a track you can pass on and, hopefully, we'll be able to make it up in the race. It's nothing to worry about. We've just been focusing on race trim."

Track conditions will change from day to night Saturday in the early portion of the race but not drastically, and Edwards said Chicagoland is a track he enjoys racing on for many reasons despite his 32nd-place finish last year after mechanical troubles.

"It's got some character," Edwards said. "It's got some bumps and different grooves, and I really enjoyed the race last year."

Fellow Roush driver Matt Kenseth has performed well (two top-fives and four top-10s), but despite finishing second twice the driver still he has never won.

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Kenseth has led in six of the eight races at Chicagoland Speedway for 300 laps -- second only to Tony Stewart.

"I'm looking forward to Chicagoland. It's the closest track to home for me. We'll have more family and friends at Chicagoland than anywhere we go," said Kenseth, who finished seventh last season. "I also look forward to going there because we always perform well there. We've been close, so it would be great to get a win."

David Ragan said winning at Chicagoland is not an easy task.

"It takes a fast car and good pit stops all night to win at Chicago," he said. "Being only a 400-mile race you have to be good from the start to be in contention for the win at the end. I don't know why the Roush Fenway teams haven't won a race at Chicago. Maybe this weekend will be the weekend."

Biffle said you just have to be at the right place at the right time.

"I think we definitely can win at Chicago," he said. "I don't see any reason at all why we wouldn't win there this year. I think it's just circumstance. I don't think the track is any harder than any of the others. It's not real new to the series but it's one of the newest ones on the schedule."

In its eight-year history, Chicagoland Speedway has seen a wide variety of winners. Kevin Harvick, Stewart, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon and Ryan Newman all have wins. Stewart and Harvick both have two victories each.