Carl Edwards gets some new pit guys......and hopes the new crew works

  

  
Carl Edwards will have his eyes on his new crewmen (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)

  

   By Mike Mulhern
   mikemulhern.net

   PHOENIX
   After losing the Texas 500 because of a slow late pit stop, Carl Edwards has some men over-the-wall here for Saturday night's Subway 500K.
   He's not sure exactly their names, but he's cautiously optimistic: "I hope our new (rear) tire changer does well. 
   "I wish we were going to Talladega first, and not here…because it's going to be imperative to have great pit stops. And it could be pivotal if you have a bad one. 
    "I wish we weren't starting him right here at Phoenix. But you never know -- he might perform very, very well."
    And the rest over the wall?
    "There's no constant here," Edwards frets. "Even the tire changer that we just replaced as the front tire changer….
    "They put him on the rears, and put our rear tire changer, who has been filling in for Kyle Lewis, who is injured, on the front.
    "So now there are two guys with two new jobs on our race car this week. 
    "That's fine if they end up being good at those jobs, and getting comfortable with them by the time the chase starts. 
    "The problem is if we can't hit that stride and do well, we're going to be in deep trouble when the chase comes. So we've got to work hard at this.
      "I spoke with Les Ebert and some of the trainers at the shop, and they explained to me what they're doing to fix it.  I believe in them.
    "But my job is to drive that race car…and when I pull onto pit road, it's in their hands.
    "And I can just hope we get it fixed and can have a strong crew that we can have for years to come, because this has been something that's hurt our performance. 
    "Nobody is pointing fingers, but it has hurt our performance for years now, and we've got to fix it."