Has Steve Newmark made Carl Edwards an offer he can’t refuse?
As the president of Roush Fenway Racing, Newmark has had the daunting task of balancing Edwards’ contract while attempting to secure sponsorship for the Nos. 6, 17 and 99 — with or without 99's current driver.
But will it be enough to keep ‘The Carl’ in the RFR stable rather than saddling up with Joe Gibbs Racing?
“That’s our hope, our intent and our goal,” Newmark said. “We’ll see where he ends up.
“We’ve all kind of parsed — or the media has parsed — every statement that Carl has made, in part because he’s given very few of them. We understood that, and we sat down with him from the beginning, and he said, ‘I don’t want this to be public, and I’m going to maintain a very uniform approach to say that I’m not going to discuss it.’ We have our discussions with him, and those are the discussions that matter to me. We talk regularly by text, email and phone.
“I can’t speak to Carl’s thought process, although we’ve had a lot of good conversations. I can only tell you that my view and Jack’s (Roush) view is that Roush Fenway is the right place for him, not only this year but into the future. Ultimately, he’s going to make the decision on what he thinks is the best for him.”
Edwards has elected not to discuss the negotiation process in the media. And unlike most top-name athletes, Edwards is working sans agent, so there’s no way to gauge the sentiment coming from the camp.
Certainly, Edwards could be concerned about the status of sponsorship on the No. 99 Ford for 2012 — particularly since primary sponsor Aflac relinquished a large portion of its inventory to Subway, Scotts and Kelloggs. But Newmark doesn’t perceive that to be an issue.
“We’ve been very open-book with Carl, and I think that he should be very comfortable that this organization has a long history of financial stability, and it’s going to be around for a long time,” Newmark said. “So I don’t think that is a factor, but that’s something you’d probably need to direct to Carl.”
When Newmark was asked about the concept of “loyalty,” he was far from naïve in assessing what motivates many of today’s athletes. Despite Roush offering Edwards his first big break in the truck series in 2003 and then cutting Jeff Burton from the Sprint Cup roster the following year to make room for his new driver, it’s unlikely that sentiment will play into the decision.
“I think we believe and hope that we have loyalty,” Newmark said. “But at the same time, we understand that everybody wants to make sure that they’re in the best situation for themselves, and how they perceive that.”
Of course, Edwards could have been courted during the height of RFR’s slump. After Edwards won nine races in 2008, the No. 99 team went winless the following year and, after a 70-race winless streak, found Victory Lane in the final two races of 2010. This year, Edwards has appeared to be a championship contender from the season opener at Daytona. He’s led the points 13 of 19 races this season but has been winless since Las Vegas.
That’s not saying that there haven’t been opportunities. Edwards finished second at Daytona, Bristol and Darlington — he just couldn’t close the deal.
Edwards has claimed all along he wants to be aligned with a club that can provide him with championship-caliber equipment. With the title tear that Jimmie Johnson has been on since 2006, only Hendrick Motorsports has maintained that championship status that Edwards craves.
But as Rick Hendrick would say, ‘There’s no room at the inn.’
While both of Roush’s Sprint Cup titles were won consecutively by Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch in 2003-04, Joe Gibbs Racing hasn’t been to the head table at the Sprint Cup banquet since 2005. Last year the No. 11 team came close but imploded in the final two events.
Edwards says “whatever distractions there are out there, I have to be able to shut those off and go race,” but that’s easier said than done when a championship is on the line.
And whether Edwards remains loyal to the organization or not, Newmark says Roush Fenway Racing will continue to support the team’s efforts.
“Carl will still be under contract, and Jack’s focus at the end of the day is to win championships, and I think Jack is agnostic about who he wins it with,” Newmark said. “I think the goal is to win.”
SEARCH FOR SPEED
Trevor Bayne had to qualify on time since the Wood Brothers No. 21 Motorcraft Ford is outside of the top 35 in owner points. The challenge? Bayne, 20, has never raced on the 2.5-mile oval. He had never run a lap until Friday. The Daytona 500 winner was still under the weather during the Goodyear tire test at Indy, and Greg Biffle substituted in the No. 21 Ford.
The solution? Follow three-time Brickyard winner Jimmie Johnson around the track.
What did he learn from shadowing the No. 48 in practice?
“Everything,” Bayne said with a chuckle. “That was huge. It’s embarrassing to say, but I picked up three seconds since our first lap. Then again, it’s not because I had no idea what I was getting into. I was going down the front stretch and it looked like you just had to stop, so I was breaking so hard. When I went out behind Jimmie, I saw you could carry momentum and trust the track to have grip.
“So that’s what I did behind him — picked up like seven-tenths (of a second) and then pick up two or three tenths every time we went out. We worked our way into it because we just have to get into the show.”
Bayne qualified 25th — the fastest of the go-or-go-homers.
WHERE THE RUBBER MEETS THE ROAD
Goodyear will host a star-studded cast of drivers for their tire test at Phoenix International Raceway on Aug. 29 and 30. Teams invited to participate include the Nos. 99, 14, 22, 18 and 48, as Goodyear was hoping to recruit Chase drivers to select the control tire that will be used when NASCAR holds its full field open test Oct. 4 and 5.
“It’s an important test for us because repaves are always challenging,” said Goodyear’s Rick Campbell. “It’s also a reconfiguration. It’s going to be fast, and there’s just going to be one chance to get the tire right before the open test in October.”
NUMBERS GAME
--2 career poles for Brickyard 400 polesitter David Ragan -- his first came at Texas in April.
--5th average start for Juan Pablo Montoya. He will roll off seventh on Sunday.
--6 of eight Brickyard starts have been in the top 10 for Kasey Kahne.
--2.6 million meals distributed this season from AARP’s Drive to End Hunger campaign.
SAY WHAT?
Kurt Busch will start fourth for Sunday’s Brickyard 400. Given team owner Roger Penske’s success at Indianapolis Motor Speedway — including 15 Indy 500 wins — does Busch feel added pressure at the track?
“Definitely,” Busch said. “Roger is always excited about Indianapolis. The race team, everybody just amps it up. Of course, I want to win here at Indianapolis. To deliver that first trophy on the Cup side is the optimum goal.”
