Edwards supports shortest spoiler, reduced downforce (cont'd)

"The bottom line of that meeting was that we're all in this together," Edwards said. "That's cool, to have [NASCAR chairman and CEO] Brian France and [president] Mike Helton and [senior vice president] Steve O'Donnell and all these guys sitting there and saying, 'Look, we're in this together. What do you guys think? How can we do this the right way? How can we deliver the best product to fans?' That's what that meeting was about, and that means a lot.

"I have a lot of respect for folks when they say, 'Hey, look, we need some ideas here. We don't know everything. What do you guys think?' That's pretty cool for someone like NASCAR to step back and say that. I've only been doing this for a little while, but I haven't had very many of those meetings. It's pretty cool. It's like they said at the meeting -- and we got a little chuckle out of this -- they said they're always going to be the government, they're always going to be the police in the sport ... but at the same time, I think it's very smart of them, very big of them to ask our opinions."

Edwards, whose car became airborne after contact and slammed into the catchfence on the final lap at Talladega this past April, also favors a contemplated change that would allow drivers to race below the yellow line within sight of the flagstand on the final lap at Talladega and Daytona.

"We talked a lot about that with Mike Helton the other day," Edwards said. "I think Matt Kenseth said it the best in the meeting. He said he thinks that yellow-line rule is a good rule for most of the race, because it keeps people above that slowdown area. It gives people a lane to slow down if they have a problem. Also you can't see through the cars. So I have a feeling that, if we didn't have that yellow-line rule, we'd be down in the grass an awful lot, even if we didn't mean to be.

"What we told NASCAR -- I think what we all kind of told them from Roush Fenway's driver side -- is the yellow-line deal is good, but I personally like, and I think my teammates like, when you can see the checkered flag, anything goes. That's kind of fun. We're already wrecking every time. We might as well get to shoot for the grass, go for it.

"I hope they'll go back to that. I think coming to the checkered flag needs to just be a race, no holds barred."

Related
• NASCAR exploring idea of returning to rear spoiler