NASCAR Cup Series

Carl Edwards says he'd expect same bump if roles reversed

Published Apr. 24, 2016 6:11 p.m. ET

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When you get right down to it, the math involved in owning a four-car NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team is pretty daunting. Even if one of your drivers wins a given race, three of your four drivers didn't win and are unhappy as a result.

And when a driver doesn't win because a teammate shoves him out of the way on the last lap to win, well, it gets downright uncomfortable.

Which is exactly the situation that was facing team owner Joe Gibbs after Carl Edwards put the bumper to Kyle Busch to win the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway. 

Busch was understandably miffed; Edwards was understandably trying to make nice and Gibbs and his management team at Joe Gibbs Racing will have to smooth any ruffled feathers and make sure all of the drivers, crew chiefs and team members stay on the same page and pulling in the right direction. 

"Kind of my fear is always at the end when you got cars as good as we have, and drivers as good as we have, that you wind up with two of your teammates battling there," said Gibbs. "You wish it wouldn't happen. I think Carl would say that, too."

But it did happen and as a result, it's something Gibbs and the folks involved will have to address.            

"It's one of those things that we're going to work our way through," Gibbs said. "We got great teams, great crew chiefs, great drivers. ... It's a tough thing because it's certainly painful for one side. You're on such a high with the other side. It's a tough thing."

For his part, Edwards said Busch would've done exactly the same thing had the roles been reversed. And, with each of the drivers having multiple wins already this season, both are locked into NASCAR's playoff round. That changes the dynamic considerably. 

"We're here to win the race," Edwards said. "You can either finish first or second. It's a tough decision. At this point in the season, we both got wins. Really it's about just going out for trophies and having fun. We still finished first and second. Nobody got wrecked."

And besides, it's racing, not driving in circle.

"You can't just sit there," Edwards said. "I wouldn't expect Kyle -- if the roles were reversed, I'd expect him to bump me the same way. That's hard racing."

Yes, it is.

Sometimes, though, hard racing creates hard feelings. But like Gibbs said, everyone is just going to have to work their way through it.

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