It had been nineteen months since "Mr. Back Flip" won a race, and in dominating fashion Carl Edwards took the 400 miler at Michigan International yesterday. He finally did it while overcoming an early speeding penalty and holding off Martin Truex Jr. to win and snap his 52-race Nextel Cup winless streak. It was his fifth career Cup win and ended a dry spell that he never envisioned would have happened. With a four win season in 2005 many thought that Edwards was on his way to several wins per season, but as he now knows winning races is never guaranteed in NASCAR.
With the competition so tough in Nextel Cup, not only from other teams but within your own, you can never count on past success to take you to the winners circle on a consistent basis. Just ask Casey Kane, Ryan Newman or Dale Jr if they ever thought they would hit dry spells such as they are experiencing now. Not only was this a much needed win for Carl, but more so for Ford as they have felt the wrath of the Chevy dominance this year. After he crossed the finish line there were six Chevrolet's lined up behind him before the next Ford scored some points. Also, a moral victory for Michael Waltrip and his struggling Toyota team as he cruised across in 10th place.
But is the start of a series of wins for Edwards and Rouch Racing? Can they put a string of victories together and put a damper on the Chevy dominance that is evident this year? Will Dodge and Toyota make it towards the front of the pack and steal a win? My guess is that this year belongs to Chevrolet as they have too many strong teams, and as in most things in life it's a numbers game, and Chevy has the highest number in NASCAR. So let's wait and see who will or will not step up to make this season a little more competitive and a little more memorable on the race track.
With the competition so tough in Nextel Cup, not only from other teams but within your own, you can never count on past success to take you to the winners circle on a consistent basis. Just ask Casey Kane, Ryan Newman or Dale Jr if they ever thought they would hit dry spells such as they are experiencing now. Not only was this a much needed win for Carl, but more so for Ford as they have felt the wrath of the Chevy dominance this year. After he crossed the finish line there were six Chevrolet's lined up behind him before the next Ford scored some points. Also, a moral victory for Michael Waltrip and his struggling Toyota team as he cruised across in 10th place.
But is the start of a series of wins for Edwards and Rouch Racing? Can they put a string of victories together and put a damper on the Chevy dominance that is evident this year? Will Dodge and Toyota make it towards the front of the pack and steal a win? My guess is that this year belongs to Chevrolet as they have too many strong teams, and as in most things in life it's a numbers game, and Chevy has the highest number in NASCAR. So let's wait and see who will or will not step up to make this season a little more competitive and a little more memorable on the race track.
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