NASCAR: Winners And Losers From Martinsville

Loser: Carl Edwards

As I stated earlier, the Round of 8 did not get off to a good start for Carl Edwards.

After a solid Chase through the first two rounds, he got into trouble at Martinsville. On Lap 356, Edwards, who had been running in the top-15 for the majority of the afternoon, cut a tire and slammed hard into the wall.

The accident sent the No. 19 car to the garage as Edwards would go on to finish 36th and 23 laps down. The result was a 32-point hole after the first race of the Round of 8.

After the accident, Edwards had this to say (via mrn.com)

"“We had a really good race going and sometimes that’s just what happens in racing. I think we had a top-three car. I was having a lot of fun and now we just go to Texas and try to win there and Phoenix – we could win at either one of those race tracks.”"

While it’s typical for any driver to talk about bouncing back after a disappointing day, Edwards is going to have a real shot the next two weekends. He’s won three times at Texas and led 124 laps earlier this season before an issue. At Phoenix, he’s won twice and was a couple of feet away from beating Kevin Harvick for the win.

He’ll definitely have a shot, but going into a must-win situation this early in a round is certainly not ideal.