Carl Edwards has been practicing those backflips, and now may be the time....

  
Carl Edwards, long a star at the wheel, has become one of this sport's best spokesmen too (Photo: Autostock)
  
  

   By Mike Mulhern
   mikemulhern.net

   BROOKLYN, Mich.
   Carl Edwards has finally come alive.
   And just in time….because this is Jack Roush country.
   Or at least it has been. Roush's men have won more races here at Michigan International Speedway, 11, than at any other NASCAR tour track.
   So what does Sunday's Michigan 400 hold in store?
   Well, if Edwards and teammates Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth are finally back on their game, it could be a big afternoon ahead.
   And it's been a while since Roush made it to victory lane to celebrate.
   Kenseth won Daytona and California to open the strong with a Wow! But Roush's arch-rival, Rick Hendrick, has won seven of the last eight Sprint Cup tour events, with either his own teams or his satellite-engineering operations run by James Finch and Tony Stewart.
   In fact the only Hendrick men who haven't won are Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Ryan Newman, and Newman could easily have two wins already this season….while Earnhardt – after that splash at Dover with his new crew chief – seems back stuck in the dumps, if Pocono is any indication.
  

  

But the story here looks like Roush. And Edwards-versus-Biffle, who have had their moments of disagreement, which makes this rivalry all the more interesting, as intense as these two wild men are.
   After spending many of the opening weeks of the season defending his 'big picture' view of the year ahead, as defined by making the championship chase and peaking at just the right time, Edwards, who was 2008's biggest winner on the NASCAR tour, dominated Sunday's Pocono 500….though he lost in a fuel-mileage finish to Stewart.
   So Edwards heads toward summer, next week, still winless since last season's finale at Homestead.
   Of course it's not that Edwards and crew chief Bob Osborne are running bad, rather that after nine wins last season they were expected to blow into this year just as hot.
   However, they may be taking a page from Chad Knaus' playbook – using the first half of the season to test things and prepare for the key 10-race title stretch. That was Knaus' game plan for Jimmie Johnson's third straight title.
  

  

  
Crew chief Bob Osborne (upper right) oversees Carl Edwards' pit crew in action at Pocono (Photo: Autostock)

  

  

While the media have been questioning Edwards' apparent slow start, Edwards himself hasn't been a bit worried.
   "We haven't won a race yet, but our team has grown a lot over the last month or so," Edwards says.
   "Our pit stops have been a lot better; our cars have been faster. 
    "And Sunday was exactly almost what we needed -- We led the most laps, we had good pit stops, we almost won the race. 
    "The most important thing was jumping up in the points…because the reality of this series is that you can win all the races you want, but it really matters what you do in those last 10 races.
    "If we can keep this going through the summer and be really strong at the end of the year, we're going to be in great shape."
   Edwards' key runs have been the seventh at California, third at Atlanta, a pair of 10ths back to back at Texas and Phoenix, then – after a dry spell – a fourth at rain-shortened Charlotte, a seventh at Dover, and last weekend's second.
   "Even though we haven't gotten off to a blazing start, I have this inner confidence right now that our teams -- on the Nationwide side and the Cup side -- are really going in the right direction, and I feel pretty good about it," Edwards says. 
   "I'm just having fun.  This summer stretch, this is the best part of the year, it's the one I enjoy the most.  Michigan to Kentucky, Sonoma to Milwaukee…having fast race cars, that's what this is all about.
    "There's the adventure of it.  This is the most fun part of the season really.
    "This sport's tough. Look at the guy that won Sunday – Tony is leading the points, he's had great runs.  But look how long it took them to win a race.
    "Trust me, I want to win so badly. Even though it's only been 13 or 14 races (since his last tour victory), it feels like forever." 
    And this weekend, Edwards says, could offer some surprises: "Michigan has this ability…there's the chance there could be a real surprise, because the track is so big and so fast that if a driver and a crew chief can hit on something that really works they could go out and dominate. 
   "Look at some guys who have been real fast at these big tracks and haven't got a win -- guys like Brian Vickers, Juan Montoya, guys that have been right there at all these big tracks.
    "So it wouldn't surprise me if we saw a first-time winner, or someone who hasn't won yet this year."
   
   

   
Hmmmm, now who ran into whom this time.....Greg Biffle (L) and teammate Carl Edwards (Photo: Autostock)