By Steve Parker 

Remember last season when Carl Edwards went “bully” on teammate Matt Kenseth? On pit road after a race – I believe at Martinsville - while Kenseth was being interviewed on live TV, Edwards walked in front of the camera and rather forcefully planted his hand in the middle of Kenseth’s chest and pushed him backward. Carl was apparently not very happy with his Roush/Fenway teammate because of an on track incident in the closing laps. Carl felt that was the appropriate time and place to express his displeasure. It was not, and many jumped to the defense of Kenseth and said Edwards was way out of line. One of the more vocal critics of Edwards’ actions was Roush driver Greg Biffle. He said Edwards was just showing his “true colors.”

What also came of this little incident was the fact that Roush/Fenway was apparently not one big happy family.
Edwards said he and Kenseth virtually never talked. This is a far cry from what goes on at say….Hendrick Motorsports where Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon always seem to get along great, even when battling each other for race wins. Johnson and Casey Mears are very good friends as well. This season Dale Earnhardt, Jr. seems to be a very good fit and has talked about how freely information is shared among all the Hendrick teams. He said at Phoenix that he had gotten much of his car’s setup from the 48 team after Johnson was faster in practice.

So far this season, Carl Edwards’ 99 team has been flat unbeatable on the mile and a half tracks (and the 2 mile oval at California) where they did not race the new car last season. He’s won three races and had the Atlanta event in the bag until a late mechanical issue derailed his dominant car. Without that late problem at Atlanta, Edwards would be four for four on the intermediate tracks. His team has hit on something that no other team has so far. This would seem to include the rest of his mates in the Roush/Fenway stable. I haven’t seen Greg Biffle or Matt Kenseth up there challenging for wins. In fact Kenseth is off to a bit of a disappointing start. Kenseth is a former champion and one of only two drivers to make every chase. Biffle finished as championship runner up in 2005.

Edwards is a huge talent. He’s easily a championship caliber driver. But is he really head and shoulders above the rest of the Sprint Cup field as he’s looked at times this year? I think not. He’s also been without his regular crew chief Bob Osborne. His team knows something the others don’t right now. I’m not at all suggesting they’re doing something shady. They’ve just found something with the new car and it doesn’t look like they’re sharing that information anyone, including the rest of the guys at Roush.

Edwards is becoming one of the more popular drivers on the scene. With everyone it would seem - based on comments from Biffle and Kenseth last season – except his teammates. If he continues to pile up victories and his Roush cohorts continue to struggle, that probably won’t change.

Tags: Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, NASCAR, Roush-Fenway Racing