Edwards ends 52-race skid
BROOKLYN, Mich. — When Carl Edward was collecting four wins during his first Nextel Cup season, he challenged one of his team members not to shave between victories.
What was the worst that could happen? Tom Giacchi might have to go a couple of weeks without a razor?
Try 19 months.
Edwards snapped his 52-race winless streak Sunday at Michigan International Speedway, then promptly took a pair of scissors to Giacchi's long ZZ Top-style beard. The beard had gotten so unruly, Giacchi found a tick in it after returning from a camping trip two weeks ago.
"I just hated to see him like that for so long," Edwards said. "It's changed his life a little bit. People grab their children in Wal-Mart and pull them aside, lock their doors when he walks by on the street. He used to go on dates. Women loved him.
"He's been staring at the Gillette Phantom razor with longing eyes. It's going to be a new day for you, Tom."
The beard had become a running joke in the Nextel Cup garage, where Giacchi was a constant reminder that Edwards had last won a race on Nov. 6, 2005. Wins came often that year — he scored four of them, and finished third in the season standings.
But he struggled through all of 2006, when car owner Jack Roush moved crew chief Bob Osborne off Edwards' team. The two are back together this season, and Edwards has a win to show for it while Giacchi was looking for some shaving cream.
"When they made that silly wager, I had no idea it would be this long," car owner Jack Roush said. "Carl and Bob won four races the first year. I was even surprised it took this long to get it going this year."
Edwards had to overcome an early speeding penalty and held off Martin Truex Jr. to seal the win. Truex, who has not finished lower than third the past three races, brushed the wall in the closing laps and lost his momentum.
"It was very difficult to stay composed, especially when Martin was closing in," Edwards said. "To me, second place would have felt the same as chopping off my arm. I wanted to win. That's it."
The victory gave Roush his second win of the season — first since Matt Kenseth won Feb. 25 at California — and temporarily sidetracked Hendrick Motorsports' season-long domination. Hendrick cars have won 10 of the 15 races this season.
Roush, who has company headquarters in nearby Livonia, makes winning at Michigan a priority for all his drivers and he celebrated twice this weekend — Travis Kvapil also won the Truck Series race Saturday.
Edwards' victory was only the second of the year for Ford, and it snapped a 13-race winning streak for Chevrolet. No other manufacturer has won a race this season.
"Ford has given us every technical support, all the money that we've asked for to help us put in equipment and be competitive with the other manufacturers, with the other teams," Roush said. "They deserve more, and I'm just embarrassed that it took us this long to really celebrate it with Carl and the guys."
Truex, who had his first victory two weeks ago at Dover, finished second after overcoming a spin on the backstretch 100 laps into the race. Truex, who led 54 laps before the early spin and has climbed to 10th in the series standings, heaped praise on his Dale Earnhardt Inc. team.
"It was a great day for us," he said. "The team did another awesome job. I think it was the best pit stops we've ever had on pit road. Awesome race car, and probably the best engine I've ever had. Guys are doing great, man, and I'm loving life right now."
Two-time series champion Tony Stewart, winless this season, was third. Stewart had a strong car in practice Saturday, but an accident with David Gilliland caused heavy damage and he wasn't sure how good his car would be in the race.
