Carl Edwards on whether Nationwide series needs All-Star race
Quote selected text Published May 14th, 2008 in NASCAR News
Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Office Depot Ford Fusion, will be competing in this weekend’s Sprint All-Star race and recently spoke about whether or not it would be a good idea if the Nationwide Series had a similar event.
CARL EDWARDS – No. 99 Office Depot Ford Fusion – YOU HAVE A TV GIG DURING THE ALL-STAR EVENT DON’T YOU? “Yeah, I’m gonna be a pit road reporter for the Open, which is way more fun that being in the Open, I can guarantee you that. I had a little bit of fun with it last year. I was a reporter for the all-star race and I learned that some of those guys are really hard to get an interview from after they wreck. I know how you feel. It’s very tough. You kind of have to chase them down and be as nice as you can and hope they don’t push you over.”
ANY SYMPATHY FOR US? “I had a little sympathy toward you. I’m getting my dose of sympathy once a year if I can do this pit road reporting.”
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT AN ALL-STAR RACE FOR THE NATIONWIDE SERIES? “That would be a lot of fun. It would be fun if once a month they had a race that wasn’t points. They could start with Talladega. It’s fun to race when you don’t have any points on the line, when it’s really just a race. I think that’s what so much fun about going and doing races like the Eldora race or the all-star race or the Bud Shootout. Everybody knows that once that checkered flag falls it’s over. There are no repercussions competitively after that.”
WOULD A NATIONWIDE ALL-STAR RACE PLAY OUT DIFFERENTLY THAN A CUP RACE BECAUSE OF THE INEXPERIENCE FACTOR? “It depends. I think that everybody races as hard as they can every week anyways, so an all-star race isn’t gonna be much different, but because of the points thing you might see people gamble a little bit more on pit strategy or do all the things that you always see at all-star races. There have been a lot of people wreck at that place just because it’s kind of a no-holds-barred race, so I don’t know if the Nationwide Series would be any different. It would be exciting though.”
WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE CHARLOTTE TEST? “I think if the reason was to make sure the tires weren’t gonna blow out, but I don’t think we all need to go test there at all. We shouldn’t test at all. The guys work hard enough. If everyone tests, then everyone is in the same boat as if no one tests. Competitively, it’s the same. I don’t seen any reason to go do all this testing, other than making sure that this new car is gonna work with the tire and things like that. That’s important, but you can handpick a couple teams to go do that or NASCAR could have a test team to go do that. I’d gladly go drive something like that. I know any of these guys would on a rotating basis to save everyone from having to go do that. It’s a huge burden on the teams and it’s huge on the guys.”
DO YOU FEEL DAMNED IF YOU DO AND DAMNED IF YOU DON’T BECAUSE EVERYONE IS SHOWING UP ANYWAY? “Listen, if they said we were gonna test 24 hours a day, every day of the year, we’d just be there. We’d be there in shifts and we’d test because it opens the door for someone to get ahead. What I’m saying is the less we can go test, the better. It’s not going to affect what the fans see, it’s just gonna make it easier on all the teams.”
YOU WERE FAST AT THE TEST, SO DOES THAT GIVE YOU PIECE OF MIND? “Yeah. It’s good. I was happy with our test at Lowe’s, but I don’t think that test is gonna make the race any different. I think everybody might be a tick better, but I think the best teams are still gonna be good. I was really excited with how fast we were, but we really just kind of went there and went through the motions and tried a couple of things. It was just a lot of effort for not a lot of gain.”
SO YOU WOULDN’T WANT TO SEE A SECOND TEST THERE? “We’re gonna have another test there? That’s unnecessary – definitely.”
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IF there was an allstar race for nationwide, And I think that woulbe great, But If that happend it would HAVE to be the regulars ONLY, none of the cup drivers.
ganjadude wrote:
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Yea I agree, if they did, No cup drivers.
jeez, they would be crazy, they have not been able to get enough fans to come to watch the cup drivers. there would not be anyone there to watch the nationwide drivers. what a joke.
Howie whats the Speed difference between the Nationwide cars and the Craftsman Trucks on a short track? Would they be able to have a combined All-Star race at say a track like North Wilkes borough ?
Fisha695 wrote:
no they have to race at an active track, that is why Rockingham is not getting a truck or nationwide race. Andy does not have the money for safer barriers and no one will give him a race . the only race he can get is the ARCA series. it still does not matter no one would come to watch just nationwide drivers
Bad Idea!!!!
I too think it wouldn’t be a great turnout if that did happen, but Fisha you have a really good point, what if say maybe Daytona and Talledega they combine the Truck and Nationwide for an All Star Event. But also, that’s just propostorous to say NO CUP drivers, because David Reutimann, Clint Bowyer, Carl Edwards are all competeing in the series full time. I also think that past Nationwide champs should be allowed in, that could be fun, you’d get Earnhardt Jr, Truex Jr, Harvick, Vickers all in there. That could draw some fans.
ok maybe i was a little to harsh
the reason i said no cup drivers is because if there was a nationwide all star race, than it would be just another cup allstar race, perhaps like someone said abouve past champions are in, people running more than 1/2 a season are in, or have it a duel, meaning 1 segment cup 1 segment nationwide and 1 segment trucks, than take the top 10 from each of the 3 races and have trucks COTs and the old car all run together!
They could have been smart and bought the IROC cars when they were up for sale, and then had an All-Star event that combined the top lets say 8 - 10 drivers in points (If a driver is already in for Cup, Nationwide or CTS points, then their spot from that other series goes to another driver).
The Cup drivers cars would be painted yellow, the Nationwide drivers cars would be blue, and the CTS drivers car would be Red (or whatever the main color of the next sponsor is).
The race would be some weird format like it always is, but the main race will have a different aspect to it, and that is the Team aspect. Whatever series team has more of their drivers up front at half way get some kind of reward, and also at the end of the race (could be something like A Million dollars donated to a Charity of that teams choosing, or something like that)
Fisha695 wrote:
this sounds like a more thought out version of my idea, good job