Eco-Warrior

In a daring game of Texas Hold ‘Em with his fuel gauge, Carl Edwards defied the odds and ran sixty-nine laps on his final tank of fuel on his way to victory lane.

Edwards was an unstoppable force at a track where Roush Fenway cars have won six times previously. After making his way through the field, he set a blistering pace that at one point, with the aid of a limited number of yellow flags, saw only a dozen cars on the lead lap.

The #99 found himself out of position late on when a number of cars took only two ties. But, Edwards surprised everyone with a fuel mileage run to victory lane. He completed the clean sweep with five additional bonus points for leading a lap and for most laps lead.

Edwards was followed home once again by a Hendricks Chevy, but this time it was Jeff Gordon, who also played the fuel game. Title rival Jimmie Johnson suffered another difficult start to the day and again found himself one lap down. Unlike last week at Atlanta, the #48 struggled to make the same rebound. The searing pace of Edwards kept him from the coveted Lucky Dog position. In the end, Johnson came home in 15th position.

The result moves Edwards to within 106 points with only two races remaining in the Chase. Greg Biffle remains within striking distance, only 143 back after a strong run to fifth. It was a great day for Roush Fenway as a whole. All five cars spent practically the entire day in the top-15.

With two to go, that foregone conclusion that many considered to be Johnson’s three-peat doesn’t seem so certain. There is still allot of work to do for Cousin Carl to haul the #48 in, but perhaps the last few weeks are the springboard Edwards needs to dethrone Johnson.

Why You Shouldn't Leave Before The Chequered Flag

While this blog is about Formula One, this one piece of international motorsport news couldn't escape me.

At a recent race in Texas in the NASCAR series there was an accident which involved Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Junior. Both cars limped back to the pits to be repaired. Here is where the similarities end however. Bush went home, with his team later citing a 'miscommunication' for the mix-up. His team stayed on and worked hard to get the car race worthy for the last few laps. They succeeded but found out they were lacking a driver.
Enter Busch's crew chief, a friend of Junior, who asked him if he would be interested in driving the car for the last few laps. Now remember, this is for a different team, a different crew and it would not earn Junior any more points, in fact he would earn Busch's car more points. (NASCAR has a complicated points system I won't go into now!)

Junior said yes. Without hesitation. That's class. He recognized that the crew had worked hard to get the car going and he did them the service of putting it back out on track. Where else in the world of motorsport would we such such sportsmanship? Shame on Busch for his early exit. One must ask why was he in such a hurry to leave? Given the amount of money these drivers earn he could've stayed around. If I was a driver that's what I would've done. Junior stayed and look at the impact he was able to make. It even ties in with the example set by Michael Schumacher in his time where he spent day and night in the Ferrari garage with the mechanics.

The publicity of the lesson is sure to not be lost on Busch though. He won't make the same mistake twice. As for Junior, his actions will only enhance his reputation as a class act and a top bloke in the NASCAR paddock.