Number of Laps Led by Carl Edwards = 2

This weekend will be the 18th race of 2010 NASCAR season. Through 17 races Carl Edwards has led a total of 2 laps this year. Despite only racing in one race this year, Mattias Ekstrom (you probably have never heard of him) has led 7 laps. Carl Edwards has raced in 17 races and Ekstrom has raced in 1 and Ekstrom has led 3.5 times more laps than Edwards this year. Incredible!

Boris Said has led 9 laps (4.5 times more than Edwards). Robby Gordon has led 5 laps this year. Regan Smith has led 3. Scott Speed has led 21. If I would have told you that through 17 races Scott Speed would have led 10 times more laps than Edwards would you have believed that in your wildest dreams? No way.

Despite Edwards win at Road America and he should be commended for that, Roush Fenway has some serious issues. They are nowhere close to the leaders. They could barely stay on the lead lap this past weekend. I know they are working hard to fix this but I can't help but wonder if they are accidentally leaving the parking brake on and forgetting to turn it off before they go racing.

I would say that it is a Ford problem but Richard Petty racing seems to be running pretty good. Kahne had the car to beat and led the most laps (yes his engine did blow up) and Allmendinger ran in the top ten for a large part of the race. Even Elliott Sadler led a lap or two.

In a few years Roush Fenway has gone from being near the top to being almost a middle of the pack team. With Hendrick and Gibbs running like they are along with the resurgence of RCR it is hard to see Roush competing unless they step up their game in a big way.

Source for laps lead: ESPN Stock Car Challenge (http://games.espn.go.com/stockcar/en/frontpage)