FORT WORTH, Texas As his interim crew chief headed toward inspection, Carl Edwards offered to lend him cash to bribe NASCAR's officials.
Of course, Edwards was joking. But in making light of the severe penalties his team drew when its race-winning car failed inspection last month, Edwards showed his Roush Fenway Racing team has solidly bounced back from the Las Vegas disaster.
Edwards raced to his series-best third win of the season Sunday, holding off Jimmie Johnson on a two-lap overtime sprint to the finish at Texas Motor Speedway.
It backed Edwards' declaration four weeks ago that his team would survive the 100- point deduction and six-race suspension to crew chief Bob Osborne that stemmed from a missing lid on the oil tank after the Vegas victory.
"It doesn't matter if we get penalized. We might get a 100-point penalty for something today," Edwards said. "It's not going to change what I do. I'm just going to do the best I can and our cars are really good. It does feel good to look in there and see the oil tank cover on the car, that's good.
"But this is what we do. We got out and try to win. The other stuff doesn't matter."
That was evident as Edwards dominated Sunday, leading a race-high 123 laps while continuing to be the driver to beat at NASCAR's intermediate tracks. He won at California and Vegas, and might have won in Atlanta if his motor didn't fail while he was leading.
"He probably could have led however many laps there were today," third-place finisher Kyle Busch said. "He just didn't show his full hand. We knew he was pretty good."
Edwards didn't dispute it, either. He nearly won the pole, settling for second when Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s late attempt nudged him to the second starting position, then paced both of Saturday's final practice sessions to cement himself as the driver to beat.
Then he toyed with the competition, building a lead of more than seven-seconds before a pair of late cautions gave Johnson and Busch two final chances to catch him. They never came close, as Edwards pulled away on the restarts and never looked back.
