Edwards on pole, as open wheel stars steal the show

Avondale, AZ – While Carl Edwards drove to his first Bud Pole of 2007 at Phoenix International Raceway in preparation for the Checker Auto Parts 500 presented by Pennzoil, he also joined in on the discussion about the impressive start to the weekend by Open Wheel stars Jacque Villeneuve, Patrick Carpentier and Sam Hornish Jr.

Edwards piloted his Office Depot / Roush – Fenway Ford Fusion COT machine around the unique 1 mile Raceway with a lap of 27.114, just nudging Martin Truex’s Bass Pro Shops #1 by 0.003.

Jeff Gordon, who won the spring race in Arizona, and first to win from the pole in the COT car, will launch off third. He starts three spots ahead of NASCAR NEXTEL Cup points leader Jimmie Johnson (6th). With only this race and Homestead remaining, every position counts, especially on a tight one mile track like Phoenix:

“There are still a lot of things we’re working on when it comes to the COT. Performance-wise, I think we have a little bit of an advantage over the 48 team (at Phoenix)," Gordon said.

The buzz of what many thought has been one of the strongest starting 43 drivers in NASCAR history has arguably been brought to yet another level with the influx of open wheel stars to the sport. Carpentier (24th) and Villeneuve (27th) qualified for their second NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race, while this will be the first oval race for Carpentier whose previous Cup experience was on the Watkins Glenn road course earlier this season. Villeneuve is speeding up the learning process by also competing in the last races of the 2007 Craftsman Truck Series which ran this weekend (finishing 19th in the Casino Arizona 150).

This will be Sam Hornish Jr.’s debut in the NEXTEL Cup in only his seventh attempt. The former Indianapolis 500 winner and IRL champ said that his previous inability to qualify is one of the key motivations to this move:

“I don’t enjoy being told I can’t do something. Until you sit behind the wheel and keep pace with NASCAR’s best, it's a learning process and we keep trying to learn as much as we can."

Sam Hornish Jr. has been the latest to commit to 2008 with a full race schedule for a third Penske team and the return of the #77, racing alongside Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman.

Existing Cup drivers, including Edwards are not threatened by the influx of drivers from other top series and their possibility of taking spots of other younger talent in the nation: “This series is so tough. Teams are looking for talent. Period. If they can't do the job, they won't be here for very long."

Jeff Gordon, who originally went to open wheel racing to break into the major leagues of Motorsports, said NASCAR works slightly opposite to other major Motorsports: “I walked thru the pits looking for ride in open wheel, and the first question was ‘who sponsors you.’ In NASCAR it’s the opposite, you find a driver with some talent, you sign him, and then go find sponsors to back the team."

Either way, bar has been raised.

Results

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* Denotes Rookie