Atlanta: Round four preview

Carl Edwards looks to make history with third straight NASCAR NEXTEL Cup victory at AMS

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (March 14, 2006) -- This week, the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series returns to the site where one of its rising stars made his mark by "back-flipping" his way into Victory Lane.

Not once, but twice in one weekend -- and three times during the 2005 season -- at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Carl Edwards (No. 99 Office Depot Ford) burst on the scene last March by capturing the Golden Corral 500, his first victory at the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup level; that came a day after he got his first NASCAR Busch Series win. Edwards followed with yet another Atlanta triumph in October's NASCAR NEXTEL Cup event.

He put the exclamation point on all of those victories with his trademark "back-flip" off his car. Should Edwards prevail in Sunday's Golden Corral 500, he would become the first driver to post three consecutive NASCAR NEXTEL Cup victories at AMS.

Edwards, who enters this week's race 23rd in the standings with one top-five finish, says the racing at Atlanta is as good as at any track on the series schedule.

"I'm pretty excited about racing in Atlanta, to say the least," he said. "Last year we had a great run and we hope to improve on that. Atlanta is a fast track with multiple grooves, which makes it easy to pass and a lot of fun."

Edwards' Roush Racing teammate Matt Kenseth (No. 17 DEWALT Power Tools Ford) echoes his fondness for the track at Atlanta.

"The most fun track we race on may be at Atlanta," Kenseth said. "You can run the white line or you can have the right rear scraping the fence and probably run the same lap times, so you never have an excuse for not passing a car in front of you. There are a lot of good grooves at Atlanta. It's a good race for the drivers and good fun for the fans."

The driver who finished second to Edwards last spring -- Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet) -- continues to lead the series standings through the first three races. Following his final-lap victory over Kenseth this past Sunday at Las Vegas, Johnson's early results include two wins and a second-place finish. He has ranked among the top 10 for 72 straight races, dating back to Atlanta in March 2004. Edwards beat Johnson on the final lap a year ago at Atlanta.

-nascar