Edwards: Foot won't hinder racing
RICHMOND, Va. -- Carl Edwards still needs crutches to get around the Sprint Cup garage, but he's not concerned that the broken right foot will hinder him inside the car.
"My foot is better this week than last week, that's for sure," Edwards said Friday at Richmond International Raceway. "I thought I would have more trouble at this track [than Atlanta last week], but the extra week of time has made my foot feel a lot better, so it shouldn't really be an issue."
Edwards broke his foot last week in a freak accident playing Frisbee with friends in his hometown of Columbia, Mo. He was able to get through the Nationwide and Cup races at Atlanta Motor Speedway without any problem -- at least from his foot.
Edwards is more concerned about having another freak incident on the track that would put his Chase hopes in jeopardy.
A runner-up in the Chase last season, Edwards had a wheel weight puncture the oil cooler of his No. 99 Ford at Atlanta, leaving him with a 37th-place finish.
All of a sudden a driver who seemed safely inside the top 12 is only 105 points ahead of 13th-place Brian Vickers heading into the final race before the playoff field is set.
"If we just run well and don't have any failures or don't get caught up in a wreck or something like that, then we should be fine," said Edwards, who is winless this season after leading the series with nine victories in 2008. "[But] I know what can happen and I won't sleep easy until it's over."
David Newton covers NASCAR for ESPN.com. He can be reached at dnewtonespn@aol.com.
