Fontana, Calif. – In the final five minutes of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice Friday at Auto Club (Calif.) Speedway, Carl Edwards lost control of his No. 19 Subway Toyota Camry and slammed the Turn 4 wall.
The damaged was deemed terminal, meaning Edwards will revert to a backup car for Sunday’s Auto Club 400.
“We went from a 12-inch to a six-inch sub pretty quick. I tried to save it – I got a little bit loose off – and I tried to save it and that was a mistake,” said Edwards.
“I had a ton of throttle and the lap was going really well coming off Turn Four. 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 – I don’t know if we can use this engine and keep our qualifying spot or what.”
Edwards enters Sunday’s race 22nd in series points after a rollercoaster start to the season. After finishing 23rd in the season-opening Daytona 500, Edwards finished 12th at Atlanta, before a tangle with Kasey Kahne meant a 42nd place finish in Las Vegas.
Last weekend at Phoenix, Edwards recovered and finished 13th.
This weekend, the fourth Joe Gibbs Racing hopes they’ve already used their bad luck for the weekend and freshen themselves with their first top-10 run of the year.
By the end of practice, the team had already begun working on the backup car for qualifying later today.
“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.”
Edwards has 17 starts at Auto Club Speedway including a victory in 2008. He’s aiming for his 15th top-10 finish at the 2.0-mile track Sunday.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
