HOMESTEAD, Fla. (Nov. 19, 2011) – Roush Fenway Racing moved one step closer to history, with Carl Edwards winning the team’s career-high 11th Sprint Cup pole in Saturday afternoon’s qualifying session for Sunday’s season finale Ford 400 at Miami-Homestead Speedway.
Roush Fenway is looking to become the first team in NASCAR history to win both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series championships in the same season.
“Thank you to the fans for coming out to support this Ford weekend. It is a big weekend obviously and it is really neat to be part of a battle like this,” said Edwards who also led the season’s final practice session on Saturday. “It is great to be on the pole. It is just one lap and tomorrow we have 267 laps and we have some serious competition out there. We are just going to go put this Ford Fusion up there and get a good pit stall and race hard all day Sunday.
“We focused on our race runs the first practice and had a tire issue the second practice and only made two runs. It worked out great though. I just really appreciate (Roush Fenway teammate) Matt Kenseth’s help and all of my teammates helping me the best they could today to give us the best shot at this pole. I can’t believe we got the pole. We were just hoping to start in front of Tony (Stewart) somewhere and preferably the top five. The pole is a gift.”
Edwards, who leads the Chase for the Sprint Cup standings by three points, is joined in the top 10 by teammates Matt Kenseth (sixth) and Greg Biffle (eighth). David Ragan will start 13th. In addition, Roush Fenway driver Trevor Bayne qualified 20th in the Wood Brothers No. 21 Ford for the race.
Roush Fenway’s 11 poles this season are a record for the organization. Edwards has achieved three poles, in addition to three by Kenseth, three by Biffle and two by Ragan.
Tomorrow’s Sprint Cup Series finale is set for 3:00 p.m. EST and will be televised live on ESPN.
Roush Fenway Racing is NASCAR’s largest team operating in both the Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Series with drivers Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, David Ragan, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Trevor Bayne. Celebrating 25 winning years in 2012, Roush Fenway is the leader in NASCAR marketing solutions with its exclusive Roush Fenway OnTrack sponsorship measurement services, motorsport’s only team-focused TV show, and its social marketing channel RickyvsTrevor.com bringing unmatched brand opportunities to sponsors. Visit www.RoushFenway.com, become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/roushfenway and follow on Twitter at @roushfenway. For sponsorship inquiries call John Younger at 704.720.4620.
