HAMPTON, Ga. -- Unless he's been practicing at home, the trademark Carl Edwards backflip could be a little ugly these days. The Roush Fenway Racing driver went winless in 2009 and has yet to visit Victory Lane in 2010.

“

... there isn't a better place that we could come than Atlanta to keep trying some things and hopefully have a good run ...

”

-- CARL EDWARDS

At the Track

Carl Edwards says getting his first Cup Series win at AMS brings back special memories when he returns to the track.

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But he's 10th in the point standings and looking to recreate the magic from five years ago when Edwards won his first Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway and exploded on the scene as the next big thing.

"I remember right after I passed the start/finish line, the thing I remember the most is it took a second to sink in because I was racing so hard with [Jimmie Johnson]," he said. "I thought, 'Man, the race is over. There's nobody in front of me. I just won the race. That means I won!'"

Edwards used Atlanta's high line exiting Turn 4 to slingshot past Johnson for the victory. To commemorate the moment, his sponsor on the winning car, Scotts, created a retro paint scheme for Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500.

"Five years ago was a career-changing weekend for me," said Edwards, who two seasons ago was the only driver positioned to dethrone Johnson. "It's really neat to walk back in the garage and see that Scotts Ford Fusion sitting there. I've had a lot of really great things happen in my life and in my career."

Edwards also won the Nationwide Series race the day before so finding Victory Lane the following day for the Cup celebration was no problem. The signature backflip? That was another story.

"I almost didn't make the backflip," said Edwards who nearly fell but landed on his feet. "I didn't even care. That was just a neat moment."

Memories are nice to have but in NASCAR -- a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately sport -- that's all they are, and Edwards is looking to make a new one Sunday.

"Right now, as a team we ran really well for a period of the race last week, so I felt we've got that little glimmer of hope that we're turning things around, and there isn't a better place that we could come than Atlanta to keep trying some things and hopefully have a good run to build our confidence and possibly get back to Victory Lane," he said.

Before he can return to Victory Lane, the Roush Fenway stable needs to correct its performance issues from last season. The organization spent too much time trying to unearth the next big breakthrough with the new generation car and not enough time perfecting what it already knew.

Three races into the season Edwards, who has a total of three Cup victories at AMS, said his No. 99 team is not running as well as it needs to be.

"The good thing is though, about 75 laps in at Vegas I thought, 'Alright, this is it, we've got a car that can win here.' And then we kind of messed it up and didn't run so well at the end," he said.

Edwards finished in 12th place.

Richard Childress Racing has set the benchmark for team-wide performance thus far this season. The fact RCR is another team who struggled last season is not lost on Edwards.

"That definitely gives me hope that, hey, if those guys can figure it out, we can figure it out. We can compete with these guys. We just have to keep working," Edwards said.

"There is still a little bit of time and I think we're closer than we were, so we'll find out here [at Atlanta] and Texas. These next few mile-and-a-half races are going to be the ones that really tell us where we stand."

And hopefully for Edwards, that will be after landing on two feet in Victory Lane on Sunday.

Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta:
• Race Lineup | Practice 2 | Practice 3