Carl Edwards Strong Performance at Texas Spoiled by Broken Pushrod

Carl Edwards wasted little time getting the feel for the high banks of Texas Motor Speedway. After only a few laps in the MB Motorsports #63 Ford Truck, Carl was turning lap times with the leaders and finished 10th fastest when practice ended. He then went on to qualify for the 9th starting position at 30.529 seconds (176.881 mph), just ½ second off the pole speed. In happy hour, Carl gathered additional drafting experience running with several fast trucks and was 10th fastest.

When the green flag waved to start the race Friday night, Carl quickly powered his way from the 9th starting position to 5th place in one lap. Throughout the first 50 laps he ran with the leaders, but never lower than 9th place. Shortly after the first pit stop, on lap 54 Carl radioed to the crew that the engine lost a cylinder. The crew diagnosed and replaced a broken pushrod and damaged rocker arm. The #63 Ford Truck returned to action 48 laps down. Carl picked up where he had been running and continued to run lap times with the leaders finishing in 24th position.

"We had an awesome race truck this weekend," commented Carl Edwards. "It was fun running the high banks of Texas Motor Speedway. These guys gave me a good truck. We had plenty of horsepower, and it handled great. A broken pushrod took us out of a good finish, but we were just as strong once we returned to the track."

"We knew Carl could handle the high speed, high banks of Texas Motor Speedway," stated Mike Mittler, owner and crew chief. "Carl reads the truck so well and just as important, is able to communicate the information to us. It is a real pleasure to have him in our truck. We were all disappointed when the pushrod broke. We had a great run going."

This was the sixth NASCAR race for Carl Edwards. He is able to compete in 7 NASCAR races in 2002 and still preserve his opportunity to run for the 2003 rookie-of-the-year. Carl will run his 7th race in the #63 MB Motorsports Ford Truck on October 13, 2002 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The team and Carl will then set their sights on running the full 2003 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule.