CARL EDWARDS Preseason Thunder Interview

CARL EDWARDS
Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images

He was last year's NASCAR Sprint Cup series runner up who will be driving the No. 99 Aflac Ford. He feels that coming into the Daytona 500, they'll pick up right where they left off. Realistically though, no one really knows where they stack up with out any in-depth testing.

LADIES, you may want to sit down for this, but Carl got married over the break. Sorry. On the bright side, he thinks that being married will help ground him and having Kate in his life with that grounding affect will make him a "better race car driver or able to do my job better, focus more."

He was asked to toss out some odds on how everyone stacks up, but like myself, he echoed that it takes up to ten races to see how everyone stacks up over the different tracks.

To be more competitive, some things have to improve, or get changed up. With that in mind, Carl says that one of the ingredients for getting a stronger teams was adding Pierre Kuettel as the car chief on the 99, replacing Jason Myers. Myers hasn't left the team and is applying his own skill sets elsewhere within the No 99 team. Carl thinks it's going to as head mechanic. (Don't quote him though) Carl feels that they are back in the same form the team was in during the 2005 season but with the added talent of Keuttel.

One person he seems worried about this year is Mark Martin. Carl feels that if Martin makes it to the chase, in the equipment he'll be in, "... it's going to be tough. You're going to have to beat Mark Martin to win the championship."

Having come so close to winning the Cup last year, his team is hungry for another shot at it. As he put it, "It's no fun to watch somebody celebrate the championship when you're second, but it was a little easier from victory lane."

Regardless of how well anyone can plan, unknowns still come at that team. As a driver, Carl can plan out how to approach the season, but team wide planning also has to be responsive to so many things throughout the year. It's great to have a plan, but from what he said, it comes down to having a great "plan B", as I put it.

When asked about contending for another Nationwide Series championship and if his rivalry with Kyle Busch will spill over into the Cup side, Carl said, "Yeah, I think it's going to be fun."

He clarified it by defining rivalry as akin to the points battle like Clint and he did at the end of the year. Me, I was thinking more of a fender, paint exchange kind of rivalry!

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For me, I think one of the biggest things Carl has to work on is his patience in restrictor plate racing. It was his level of patience that took him out of the contention for the Cup at Talladega. If he truly is more grounded, it might just add one more complex layer of patience to his entire set of driving tactics. If that's true, then Johnson will definitely have his hands full this year trying to take back the Cup.

source: nascar media

ARIC AMIROLA Preseason Thunder Interview

ARIC ALMIROLA enjoys coming to Daytona since he grew up Tampa. Like everyone else, Aric says Daytona holds a special place in his heart and many a Daytona 500s and Firecracker 400.

He's excited about coming back and running the 8 car and he has hopes to "run full time in the 8 car and stuff like that. We're working through all that stuff. It's definitely interesting to say the least." Basically, he's a bit confused on the 8 car and his status for the year, as it's made him a "basket case of emotions" as things are sorted out.

As far as he knows, EGR is looking to run 4 cars in '09, but the finances will be the final determination on that issue.

Aric works out throughout the year, so getting back into driving form isn't a big change of conditioning for him. (Yes, it takes some serious muscle to turn left all day folks. I can personally attest to that!!!!)

Now that the test ban is in place, he is looking at chatting up some buddies and possibly looking at a few nights maybe at New Smyrna during Speedweeks. He says he's always up for getting in a late model, modified, sprint car, whatever it is. If it's got four wheels and engine, count me in.

When Aric was asked if EGR promised him the ride for Daytona, you can tell that he's not totally in the loop in the issue of the car that was to be his ride... His reply was "Yeah. I mean gosh, I don't know. I mean, I think so, yes." and further added to his response that "But as far as I know, yes, I'm going to race in the Daytona 500 in the No. 8 car. Now, whether that changes or not, that's beyond my control."

On an enlightening side, when someone asked him about his status, for the umpteenth time, Aric's response was rather to the point with "You are beating a dead horse."

From his side of things, he says it's been brutal trying to find a sponsor and said that in regards to cost effectiveness and a sponsor putting their logos on cars, that "... sponsors are not , stupid; they know how bad the economic times are, and they know that they're going to be able to buy more for their dollar right now. So they're shopping around."

As it stands, in regards to drivers' salaries, and specifically his in particular Aric said that right now "It's not a time anymore to where you can just say, oh, the hell with it and I'm going to go get a job somewhere else." and quoted that he knows of at least a thousand people in the North Carolina that don't have the NASCAR jobs they are qualified for.

This, to me said a lot. If that's on his mind, my take is maybe he's thought about the short straw he's gotten and pondered the idea of moving teams... it seems he's the king of short straws these last few years, but the economy has pretty much tied him to EGR. At least he has a job for the moment and can probably count on a few rides this year!

source: nascar media,
image: Sam Greenwood/Getty Images.