Edwards' team working to improve pit stops, finishes

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- In the wake of last weekend's pit miscue at New Hampshire that may have cost Carl Edwards a possible chance at victory, the entire Roush Fenway operation sat down Tuesday to discuss ways to improve pit stops.

"It wasn't a talking to. It was a real brainstorming session on what we can do to make ourselves better," Edwards said Thursday before practicing for Saturday night's Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway. "I can't go into the details but there was a lot of really good information.

"It was kind of an eye-opening experience to make sure that we're doing everything we can. There will be small changes but I think they'll have great effect."

Moments after Edwards took the lead during Sunday's Nextel Cup race, he made what was expected to be a routine green-flag stop. However, the No. 99 Ford fell off the jack while the team was attempting to change the tires on the left side -- and by the time the 47-second stop was completed, Edwards had lost a lap (watch video).

He rallied to finish 13th but he and crew chief Bob Osborne felt the car had the potential to win.

"In a way, it's very frustrating because those are the kind of things that are so silly," Edwards said. "You're leading the race, there's no reason to rush, it's a green-flag stop. And that's what it comes down to.

"We need to make sure we have our people focusing on the right things. It's easy for anybody to do."

Edwards, who was 18th and 25th in Thursday's practices, admitted he's even been guilty of losing concentration behind the wheel at times.

"I've crashed great racecars," he said. "A year ago at Chicago, I had the fastest racecar and I ran it into the fence because I didn't have the right mindset. It's to make sure everybody's on the right page.

Don't expect any major changes, Edwards said, because the organization's opinion is that it's a matter of procedure rather than personnel.

"I think Tracy Duncan, our jack man, is an awesome guy," Edwards said. "It's not him. He obviously made the mistake there, but I believe the way that he practices and the way the teams do things, we can do a better job of managing that.

"It's not the people, per se, it's just the way we do things. As long as we improve somewhere, it's going to be awesome. I'm behind Tracy 100 percent and don't think he'll ever make that mistake again."

Edwards said his younger brother had the perfect response after the race.

"He laughed about it and said, 'That's just one more thing that won't happen in the Chase,'" Edwards said. "In a way, I think that's how we're going to look at this, as a positive."