Edwards: "We Know We Have To Be Faster"

Despite persistent rumors of his possible departure to Joe Gibbs Racing in 2015, Carl Edwards remains steadfast in his insistence on not discussing his ongoing contract negotiations with Roush Fenway Racing.

He is more than willing, however, to discuss what he sees as the team’s competitive shortcomings.

Edwards met with reporters today at Pocono Raceway, saying that while he remains loyal to both RFR and Ford Motor Company, he is not satisfied with the partnership’s current on-track product

“I don’t think anybody makes better cars than Ford does,” insisted Edwards today. “I think they really care about their products and they definitely care about racing. It is part of their DNA.

“I am really proud to drive for Ford and I think they do a great job,” he said. “(But) as a group, we have to step-up our performance at Roush Fenway to be representative of Ford’s contribution. We know we have to be faster (and) there are big changes trying to address that.”

Edwards spoke confidently an RFR test session at Nashville Superspeedway earlier this week, calling it “positive.” And after qualifying eighth for Sunday’s race at The Tricky Triangle, the Fastenal Ford driver said he hopes to be even better on race day.

“I was hoping we would be better here today in light of one or two things we found,” he said. “But it is still a pretty young weekend. There is some stuff we would like to try tomorrow.”

The 2014 season has not been a failure for Edwards, by any stretch of the imagination. He has a win in hand already – at Bristol Motor Speedway in mid-March – and is third in points earned behind only Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon. With only 104 laps led, however (78 of those in his win at Bristol) the No. 99 Ford has not exactly been a fixture at the front of the pack.

“We’ve basically had the same struggle all year,” said Edwards today at Pocono Raceway. “We’re working on addressing that. We have time to fix it, hopefully, before the Chase.

“We just have to hope that we work on the right things, we are able to implement the finds and be better.”