One on One with Carl Edwards

On trying to catch Chase leader Jimmie Johnson (Edwards is second in the standings): “The last couple of weeks, we have to go out and try to win all of these races, which we do normally. But at this point it’s pretty much all or nothing. We just go out to win. If we can catch Jimmie on a day where he has some trouble or something happens, we have to be there getting the most amount of points we can so that we can capitalize on that …

On trying to catch NASCAR Nationwide Series leader Clint Bowyer (Edwards is second and the defending champion): “It would just be a huge, huge accomplishment. You know, last week was a spectacular race for us. Everything went our way at Memphis in the Nationwide Series. And it’s the first time in a long time we’ve picked up a bunch of points on Clint, so that was definitely a pleasant surprise.
“We didn’t expect to go there and be able to close that many points on him. But I feel like if we do our jobs and we keep running like we’re running, you know, then we’re putting ourselves in the best position to, like I said, capitalize if Clint or Jimmie has any trouble …

On his appreciation for fan support during tough economic times: “You can’t get around the fact that right now are tough times. It just makes everybody more grateful for the fans that do decide to come spend their entertainment dollars and their shrinking discretionary income on auto racing.

“I think as long as we keep giving them the racing that we’ve been giving them, and we keep doing all the things that we’re doing on the racetrack to make it exciting, we’ll have fans. And, hopefully, we’ll get through this time and it won’t cost the sport anything that we can’t rebound from. …

On his friendship with University of Missouri head football coach Gary Pinkel: “He’s got a pretty tough schedule, and so do I. So we end up texting each other back and forth all the time. But I’ve been following him. He’s an inspiring guy. He’s an amazing person and a really great competitor …

On his recent engagement to his girlfriend, Kate: “I can’t believe I’m getting married, but I mean just if you asked me four years ago if I’d be proposing to someone I would have said, no way, but she just got me. She’s awesome. She couldn’t be any better. So I’m really excited about it. So it’s something that no one could have described to me, and I’m really, really pumped about spending my life with her.”