Coming into Richmond winless this season but ranked fifth in Chase points, Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Kellogg’s Ford has taken a turn on his previous consideration that momentum didn’t really mean anything going into a race. 

“I used to just laugh at people that talked about momentum,” Edwards said.  “I thought ‘There’s no such thing as momentum in a sport.’  I thought, ‘You are what you have at the racetrack.’” 

Of course having momentum can quickly change your thought process.

“Lately, it’s been working, and I’m enjoying it,” Edwards said. “The previous eight or nine races have been very good.  If we can make the next eleven like the previous nine, I think we’ll be really good.”

Riding on the accomplishments and wisdom his team has gained in this run, Edwards and his crew have felt a rise in optimism. 

“When we sat down and looked at the schedule like we did yesterday and looked at the Chase races, and our plan at approaching each of those races, we feel like we have a car that can win every single one of those races,” Edwards said. “That’s a far cry from where we were six months ago, so I’m really proud of my guys.  If that’s momentum, then I’m enjoying it and I’m all for it; so hopefully, we’ll keep riding it.”

So, what caused this conversion? 

The epiphany came when Edwards started noticing little details about his team.  “I think when you run poorly for so long, now that we’re running well I see things that I didn’t see before when things were a little easier,” Edwards said.  “I can see the spring in the guys’ steps, I can see the communication between team members being better, and I think all of those things combine to really make you run better.  So, that’s the part of momentum that maybe I didn’t understand before.”

Edwards finished the second round of Sprint Cup parctice with the top time, 125.290 mph.