Submitted by NASCAR Ranting and Raving Blog
Carl “Eddie Haskel” Edwards clinched the very last Busch Series title this weekend even though there are still two races remaining. So what. Really, so what? Did we expect anything less? With Roush/Fenway behind him during his full-time run at the Championship it is no wonder he won. It is the same as Kevin Harvick in the Richard Childress car last year. Big Frickin’ Deal.
What I think is more impressive is that David Reutimann is currently in second - in a Toyota prepared by Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) no less. That is impressive, considering the difficulties this start-up team has faced all year at the Cup level.
What is even more impressive than that is the fact that the car owners, Roush/Fenway, of Carl Edwards are not leading in Car Owner Points. In fact, they are third behind second place Joe Gibbs and first place Richard Childress. Why are these owners leading in the points but not in the driver category? Because they have had more than one driver drive their cars throughout the season.
That is impressive, to be leading in the Owner Points with a myriad of drivers for one car. That says a lot about their Busch programs. To me, if either Gibbs or Childress win the Owner’s Championship ahead of Roush/Fenway then that is a far better victory than Carl’s Championship, because they were able to do it with different drivers. To get a team set up so that it can handle different driver styles, whims, etc. is a great accomplishment.
Now granted, you may say that Gibbs and Childress may have brought in ‘ringers’ to field these cars, but to be honest with you isn’t Carl a ‘ringer’ as well? Besides, if you take a look at who has driven the #29 Childress car that is currently in 1st you’ll see it has been either Jeff Burton or Scott Wimmer in the driver’s seat. No real ringers here - no more than Carl anyway.
As a side note, look at the roaring crowd behind Edwards in the picture. The kid in the red shirt (lower right side) says it all - Big Frickin’ Deal.
Photo Credit: AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez
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