Hard contact with the Turn 4 wall during Friday’s opening NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice forced Carl Edwards’ No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing team to roll out a backup car for Sunday’s Auto Club 400.
“We went from a 12-inch to a six-inch sub pretty quick,” Edwards said in a glib reference to primary sponsor Subway. “I tried to save it – I got a little bit loose off (the corner) – and I tried to save it and that was a mistake. I had a ton of throttle and the lap was going really well coming off Turn 4. It got a little bit loose and I was like, ‘Man, I’m not going to hit the fence,’ and I thought, ‘I should lock it down.’
“Right there I was thinking ‘Lock it down,’ and I thought, ‘Nah, I’ll save it,’ and that was not the right decision. Anyway, the guys have a lot of work in front of them. I hate to do that. I think we were having a pretty good lap there.”
Notes: Greg Biffle’s No. 16 Ford slapped the Turn 4 wall early in the opening practice, but his team was able to repair the primary car and get it back on the track during the session. … NASCAR confiscated a truck arm (rear suspension part) from the No. 33 Chevrolet driven by Brian Scott and owned by Joe Falk. The sanctioning body will take the part to its research-and-development center in Concord, North Carolina, for further evaluation.
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