Carl Edwards on whether Nationwide series needs All-Star race
CARL EDWARDS – No. 99 Office Depot Ford Fusion – YOU HAVE A TV GIG DURING THE ALL-STAR EVENT DON’T YOU? “Yeah, I’m gonna be a pit road reporter for the Open, which is way more fun that being in the Open, I can guarantee you that. I had a little bit of fun with it last year. I was a reporter for the all-star race and I learned that some of those guys are really hard to get an interview from after they wreck. I know how you feel. It’s very tough. You kind of have to chase them down and be as nice as you can and hope they don’t push you over."
ANY SYMPATHY FOR US? “I had a little sympathy toward you. I’m getting my dose of sympathy once a year if I can do this pit road reporting."
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT AN ALL-STAR RACE FOR THE NATIONWIDE SERIES? “That would be a lot of fun. It would be fun if once a month they had a race that wasn’t points. They could start with Talladega. It’s fun to race when you don’t have any points on the line, when it’s really just a race. I think that’s what so much fun about going and doing races like the Eldora race or the all-star race or the Bud Shootout. Everybody knows that once that checkered flag falls it’s over. There are no repercussions competitively after that."
WOULD A NATIONWIDE ALL-STAR RACE PLAY OUT DIFFERENTLY THAN A CUP RACE BECAUSE OF THE INEXPERIENCE FACTOR? “It depends. I think that everybody races as hard as they can every week anyways, so an all-star race isn’t gonna be much different, but because of the points thing you might see people gamble a little bit more on pit strategy or do all the things that you always see at all-star races. There have been a lot of people wreck at that place just because it’s kind of a no-holds-barred race, so I don’t know if the Nationwide Series would be any different. It would be exciting though."
WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE CHARLOTTE TEST? “I think if the reason was to make sure the tires weren’t gonna blow out, but I don’t think we all need to go test there at all. We shouldn’t test at all. The guys work hard enough. If everyone tests, then everyone is in the same boat as if no one tests. Competitively, it’s the same. I don’t seen any reason to go do all this testing, other than making sure that this new car is gonna work with the tire and things like that. That’s important, but you can handpick a couple teams to go do that or NASCAR could have a test team to go do that. I’d gladly go drive something like that. I know any of these guys would on a rotating basis to save everyone from having to go do that. It’s a huge burden on the teams and it’s huge on the guys."
DO YOU FEEL DAMNED IF YOU DO AND DAMNED IF YOU DON’T BECAUSE EVERYONE IS SHOWING UP ANYWAY? “Listen, if they said we were gonna test 24 hours a day, every day of the year, we’d just be there. We’d be there in shifts and we’d test because it opens the door for someone to get ahead. What I’m saying is the less we can go test, the better. It’s not going to affect what the fans see, it’s just gonna make it easier on all the teams."
YOU WERE FAST AT THE TEST, SO DOES THAT GIVE YOU PIECE OF MIND? “Yeah. It’s good. I was happy with our test at Lowe’s, but I don’t think that test is gonna make the race any different. I think everybody might be a tick better, but I think the best teams are still gonna be good. I was really excited with how fast we were, but we really just kind of went there and went through the motions and tried a couple of things. It was just a lot of effort for not a lot of gain."
SO YOU WOULDN’T WANT TO SEE A SECOND TEST THERE? “We’re gonna have another test there? That’s unnecessary – definitely."