Edwards may not win Chase, but can close 2013 strong - MotorSportsTalk

A Sprint Cup championship is probably too tall an order for Carl Edwards, who sits 76 points off the lead in the Chase with three races to go. But the Roush Fenway Racing driver can certainly establish himself as a contender for 2014 in the remaining events.

Edwards, who starts from the pole for tomorrow’s AAA Texas 500, has the most wins at Texas Motor Speedway among active Sprint Cup drivers with three (2005, sweep in 2008). Next up after Texas is Phoenix, where he snapped a 70-race winless streak back in March. Then comes the season-finale on Nov. 17 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where Roush Fenway squads have triumphed seven times.

As Edwards himself stated after winning the pole on Friday, he couldn’t have picked a better set of tracks to finish the year on. And that makes him confident that he and his No. 99 crew can get a proper headstart on next season.

“There is nothing we are not bringing to the race track equipment-wise and effort-wise, and we are coming to win,” Edwards said. “For us, it is really about gearing up for next season…There are a lot of things changing but overall it would help to keep the guys motivated and everyone looking forward. Wins would be great.”

“I love racing here [at Texas] and we ran really well at Phoenix, and Homestead, for some reason, perfectly suits me and the way our cars work and the engine. We should be really good. At the very least, we will have a good time and have some fun which is something that is easy to forget. That is a big part of it.”

Edwards was hoping for bigger things from his 2013 Chase after winning the last “regular season” race at Richmond back in September. But after starting out with decent results in his first two post-season events, a 35th-place finish (broken wheel hub) in Chase Race No. 3 at Dover effectively ended his bid for a title.

However, Edwards noted that the Chase has still been productive for Roush Fenway as a whole, as the group has realized the need to step it up against its competition.

“We recognize that we need to be better,” he said. “I think Greg’s run at Martinsville last week was a turning point for us. The speed he had was huge.

“I believe this pole and hopefully a solid run by not just me but Ricky [Stenhouse] and Greg [Biffle] and the whole Ford RFR camp will hopefully give those guys a little bit of something to show for all their hard work because they have been really working hard in the shop. Yeah, we recognize this Chase hasn’t gone well and it spurned a lot of hard work.”

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An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”