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BY TEAM FORD RACING CORRESPONDENT
Mexico City — Carl Edwards' yo-yo weekend continued in the No. 60 Charter Communications Ford. After leading Friday morning practice, he crashed hard in the afternoon. His Roush Racing crew prepped his backup well enough for Edwards to qualify ninth Saturday—second best among Blue Oval drivers at 102.401 mph.
But, because Edwards’ backup car blew an engine late Friday afternoon, it looked as if he would have to start from the rear of the field in Sunday's 80-lap main event. Still, Edwards was thankful to just be participating.
Effects of the hard head-on hit Friday made Edwards nauseous that evening, precipitating a visit to a Mexico City hospital. He underwent tests including a CT scan, but "luckily I checked out fine," he said.
Edwards felt just as fortunate to have his hustling crew led by chief Brad Parrott.
"That car was going through tech [before qualifying]," Edwards explained, "and Brad Parrott and the guys were running a hundred yards back and forth, with tools and shims and everything they could to get every last little quarter inch out of the width of the car, to get the lead out of it, to do everything they could. That means a lot to me for them to do that for me after what I did yesterday."
Edwards blamed himself for the Friday crash, when he came upon a slower car too quickly entering a chicane and had to make an evasive maneuver when the slower car opted to short-cut the chicane in front of him. "What I should have done was assumed that could have happened and gone slower, and forgotten about making the most out of that lap," he said in retrospect.
SADLER GETS ACQUAINTED QUICKLY
Elliott Sadler, among about 10 NEXTEL Cup regulars opting to give Mexico City a try this weekend, admitted he knew nothing of the track before seeing it Friday. That didn't prevent Sadler from putting his No. 90 Citifinancial Ford in the 10th qualifying spot Saturday (102.225 mph).
"I didn't know anything about [the track] at all, so it's pretty cool to be able to come in here and qualify good," Sadler said. "And come to a different country— it's my first time in Mexico—so I'm learning a lot of new stuff. It'll be fun."
David Green was directly behind Sadler, in 11th at 102.223 mph in the No. 27 Kleenex/Cottonelle Ford.
JOURDAIN SATISFIED WITH 18TH
Busch rookie Michel Jourdain Jr., had visions of pole position dancing in his head when he took to his home track Friday morning. But after a crash in the afternoon forced Jourdain into his backup machine, he was just happy to qualify safely in the field.
Jourdain was 18th Saturday (101.671 mph) in the No. 10 telcel Ford from ppc Racing. Considering the car had never set a wheel on the track before qualifying, it made for an edge-of-the-seat run for the driver.
Adding to the drama, Jourdain's best friend Freddy Tame Jr., crashed as he qualified ahead of Jourdain. A longtime friend and racing competitor of Jourdain's, Tame was trying to make his first Busch Series race but instead will go home.
"It was very tough for me," Jourdain admitted, seeing his friend's hopes dashed just before he was to make his own run. "This is Freddy. We grew up together as friends and we are best friends forever. We raced together always and he worked so hard to get in this race. It was terrible."
Jourdain collected himself and put together a solid, if conservative, lap. Afterward he praised his crew.
"I'm very proud of my guys for all the work," he said. That car had never turned right ever. They came in at 6:30 this morning and were working very hard right up until the time we qualified to get the car as close as possible [to the primary setup]. I'm very happy for the time."
MEXICO CITY NOTES
• Attendance Saturday picked up dramatically from the opening day, officials pleased with the turnout of nearly 40,000. Emotions were high in the grandstand all day. Native icon Adrián Fernández drew a huge ovation when he walked down pit lane to his car, but the silence in the grandstands was deafening after former Ford driver Fernández spun and crashed on his qualifying attempt (he'll start with a provisional). The partisan spirits were raised sky-high soon after, however, when Goeters clicked off his pole-winning lap.
• Asked if he believed the Busch Series' visit to Mexico City was a harbinger of NASCAR's top series adding it to the schedule, NEXTEL Cup regular Elliott Sadler was noncommittal. "We got a little work to do with the race track before the Cup guys come," he said. "We've got to do some stuff with the chicane and stuff like that. Maybe one day, we'll see. I think they want to see what kind of response we get with the Busch cars. We always send the Busch cars to test the market a little bit, and then if it does good, the Cup cars may come."
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