2009 not a complete loss: Edwards gains perspective (cont'd)

There has been a fundamental flaw for Edwards and his No. 99 team in the equation this season.

"So far this season we just haven't had a lot of races where we were fast enough to win," he said.

There were times when he thought they were -- like at Texas in the spring or the first Martinsville race, when "troubles on pit road" ruined his chances late. But he said the real problem is that the car just hasn't been fast enough most races.

"The difference between this season and last season is instead of one out of 10 races where we're fast enough to win as we are this season, last season I felt it was like eight out of 10 races we were fast enough to win," Edwards said. "So, we just have to be better. And that's what we've been working on."

Edwards also has had the Nationwide Series on which to fall back. Although that series title was all but sewn up by Kyle Busch by Saturday's race in Phoenix, Edwards, the defending Nationwide champion, was second in points in a season that has included a series-high six poles and four victories.

Unlike most of his Cup contemporaries, who find the grind of running both a full-time schedule in Cup and Nationwide too much for their liking, Edwards said Friday that he enjoys it so much that he plans to do it for at least another two years. The only other driver who has announced plans to run both series full time next season is Brad Keselowski, who entered Saturday's Phoenix race third in Nationwide points behind only Busch and Edwards.

"That's my plan right now. That could change, but I enjoy it," Edwards said. "It seems like a grind when you're not running well. When I watch that 18 car [of Busch] just motor by, those days aren't any fun -- but Montreal was a blast, ORP [O'Reilly Raceway Park just outside Indianapolis] was a blast, this [Phoenix] race in the spring.

"That's why I do it. When we're running really well, racing hard ... and especially the times I'm leading, that's the most enjoyable part of the job, and that's good. So as long as we're winning races and able to compete for the championship, I'd like to keep doing this [on the Nationwide side]. It doesn't seem like too much of a grind.

"On Friday, sometimes, there's a lot of running back and forth. If I could just show up for 30 minutes and then race on Saturday, then it would be the perfect situation. That is an idea I had for the Cup drivers -- that we should be allotted only a small bit of [Nationwide] practice. I think that would help the series and it would save us some time."

If there is one thing Edwards has learned this season, he admitted, it's that past success doesn't guarantee a bright future. So while he hopes next season to be racing for championships late into the season in both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide series, he knows nothing is certain.

"You can't rely on your past performances," Edwards said. "You have to keep building and going forward. I think that's what took a real shift in thinking [for us] to get back on track like that. Now we are, and I feel like we are gaining, but we've got to keep working like this throughout the winter."

Meanwhile, life is good for Edwards. No, check that. Life is great.

"It really is. I've come to realize that," a smiling Edwards said.

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