Darnell on standby for Edwards

Quote :

Darnell on standby for Edwards:#60-Carl Edwards breathed a sigh of relief Sunday, with his future daughter giving him the wonderful Valentine's Day present of staying inside his wife's belly. The hope is wife Kate delivers the baby sometime this week; if not, Erik Darnell has been hired as a backup in California and Las Vegas should Carl have to jump on a plane and head home.(Frontstretch)(2-17-2010)

well thats good it's uhhh natural..... not induced

Personally, I wish Darnell was in that #60 car full time, and Carl would focus strictly on Cup....but that's another thread/discussion.

I am glad he's still part of the Roush-Fenway "team" in some form. Hopefully, they will be able to find sponsorship for a 'ride' in one of the two series at some point....

If Carl leaves the 60 car, Jack would probably shut it down. He doesn't need anymore developmental drivers, he already has Braun and Stenhouse and no Cup team to move them up to... so, why would he want to develop drivers so other teams could steal them away?


And, I wonder if Carl would actually "skip" a whole race if the baby was born, say on Saturday or Sunday morning???

I dunno, I think Jack (or any other owner) would probably field as many NW teams as the sponsors are willing to pay for...plus, it's good to keep a few 'extras' around just in case someone doesn't work out...kinda like having Kurt Busch on standby when Chad Little was released, or Carl to replace Burton in the #99...plus I think the 'verdict' is still OUT on both of the NW guys, and one of Jack's Cup drivers...this is kinda a 'make or break' year for him, IMO.
The Truck series was great for this, until Ford pulled the plug on the program.

I'd be very surprised if Carl would actually miss the entire race, with his sponsor commitments to run for the Championship...maybe do a start and drive change on lap #1...but I understand that some things are more important than racing.

That's the problem -- there aren't sponsors waiting to sponsor NW-only guys. BOTH Braun and Stenhouse only have sponsorship for about half the races, Jack is going to fund the rest of out of his pocket. I can't see him wanting to fund another program out of his pocket for Darnell.

I think Darnell will end up being the odd man out at Roush since they have Braun and Stenhouse.

Was just reported on TV that Carl WILL race both races to completion. Darnell is on hand (if needed) for practice and qualifying ONLY.