NASCAR Sprint Cup points leader Carl Edwards went to the garage with engine issues after just 58 laps at Pocono Raceway.
“One of the valves got in an argument with something in the engine and lost,” Edwards said. “We broke one valve. We don’t think it is from an overrev or anything, we just think it was a parts failure. This is a great car and a great engine. We were running really well and I was babying the engine a little bit and not shifting too much.
“It is just one of those things. Sometimes things break. The good news is that we haven’t had to deal with this very much with this FR9 engine. (Engine builder) Doug Yates and those guys have done such a good job with this engine that I don’t end up in the garage watching them work on it very often at all.”
Edwards entered the 14th race of the season with 40-point advantage over second-place Jimmie Johnson.
Edwards qualified sixth for the 5-hour Energy 500 and ran as high as fourth before engine issues developed with the No. 99 Kellogg’s Ford. Edwards said there was no warning at all before the engine hiccuped and he doesn’t believe that the change in shifting had anything to do with the failure.
“It just went,” Edwards said. “Before the race we talked so much about not overrevving the engine and not breaking the transmission and all these things. It is just a coincidence I believe that we broke something.”
Edwards went on to finish 37th, but maintained the points lead over Jimmie Johnson. Penske Racing's Kurt Busch, who finished second in the race and sits sixth in the standings, offered insight into how the field reacts when the points leader endures a setback.
"When the points leader has problems, everybody’s just chomping at the bit, licking their lips, going, wow, look at this, I’m right back in this," he said. "When you’re having good runs like we are, my little brother, just plugging away, that helps you feel more solid when you get to the month of August after you get through the Brickyard, making that summer run to the Chase.
“Right now, it’s all about consistency. I’d like to break through and get a win just to help us feel more confident in our Chase position. When the points leader has trouble, everybody benefits from that.”
