Kickin' it with Carl

Carl earned his first career road course win last week, but will race with a broken foot at Atlanta this weekend. Jason Smith/Getty Images Sport

Carl Edwards is doing a diary Q&A with SI.com this season. In his latest edition, Carl talks about his foot injury, his thrilling last-lap win at Montreal, meeting President Barack Obama at the White House, what he needs to do to shore up his third straight bid in the Chase, and tells the story of the night a thunderstorm almost brought his career to an early ending.

Carl's foot injury happened after our interview, but I asked him about it early Friday. He said he didn't want to go beyond what he'd already said in his press release, which was:

"I know this probably sounds ridiculous to a lot of people and I could hardly believe it myself. I was playing Frisbee with a couple of buddies and we both went for the Frisbee at the same time. I put my foot on it, my friend dove for it, and the next thing you know...we all heard a pop. I knew it was broken and we all kind of looked at each other in disbelief that of all things, I would break my foot playing Frisbee. I immediately went to the doctor and have been working with a great team of people at the University of Missouri who work with all the college teams here. They have me on crutches to help me walk but said I could race in both races this weekend and shouldn't have a problem using the accelerator."

SI.com: Let's talk about your Nationwide ride in Montreal. Can you take me through those last two laps? It seemed like initially, you were just as worried about Andrew Ranger (who finished 3rd) than passing Marcos Ambrose for the win.

Carl Edwards: Yeah, Andrew did a great job. He ran me off the end of the track in Turn 1 the last three restarts in a row, but he did it slow enough that I knew what was coming and I was able to hold him off. It was really a lot of fun racing with him.

So once I got by him, I just had to run down Marcos. But I wasn't sure that was going to happen ...

SI.com: When did your mind change from just going for second to going for the win?

CE: Well, I thought that he was going to take off and check out, and I knew the race would be over at any moment because that was our one attempt at a green-white-checkered. So I just ran as hard as I could, and I had an advantage on Marcos because the track was drying up, so it was really tough to tell where you could brake. So I could watch him brake and get a gauge on how much grip he'd have to feel in the braking zone before I stepped on the brakes. That allowed me to go in a little deeper than him, enough to let me catch him.

SI.com: Looking back on the victory, is this the most surprising win you've had in your career?

CE: That was definitely the most surprising one at the NASCAR level, although I had one like that at my local dirt track in Holts Summit, Mo. when I was young. I thought about it since, and as happy as I was, Marcos had to be just as distraught and frustrated. But if you go back and look at Watkins Glen and how he got by Kyle, it was a very similar situation. He pressured Kyle enough to where Kyle made a mistake, and he got by.

Marcos left after the race, but we text messaged each other back and forth this week. He is a world-class driver and a really great competitor, and that's what made the win so special. I know next time, if the roles were reversed, he'll show me no mercy and it'll be tough to hold him off. That was just good racing.

SI.com: Now that you've gotten your first road course win in NASCAR out of the way, do you feel it's a type of monkey off your back considering how people have never considered you a road course expert?

CE: Yeah, it feels good. That's been a goal, but this race in particular a lot of people helped me. I drove the Daytona prototype car for Kevin Dolan, which I crashed before the race even started, and that was humiliating ... I didn't get the tires warm enough, and the car swapped ends on me and I just got behind in my steering and hit the wall hard.

So, that was awful. But I wouldn't have won the Nationwide race if it wasn't for that, because Marcos showed me a lot about how to get around that race track. And even before I got to this track, Juan Montoya, Max Papis, and Boris Said talked to me a little bit too. All those guys have helped, and to me that road course win was a big deal for a lot of reasons. It really made me feel good.

SI.com: You've been out testing for Roush the past few weeks. Can you elaborate a little bit on where you were and what types of things you guys look to tweak at this point in the season?

CE: Small stuff, small things we can tweak for the Chase. Really, the focus right now for our team is Richmond and even Loudon. But Richmond -- I know you've got myself, Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle right there in kind of a precarious spot. We have to run well these next few weeks. So that's been the main purpose behind that, things to make our team solid that we can work on all year. The pit crew, our aero package, setups for the mile-and-a-halves... because that's the meat of the Chase.

SI.com: Over 200 points up with two races left, do you feel comfortable at this point as to your Chase bid?

CE: I think if I can make it out of Atlanta and be locked in, that would be great. But until I'm locked in mathematically, I'm not comfortable. Things can change in a hurry.

Auto racing will humble you very quick. It's completely possible that we could blow up on the pace lap in the next two races, finish 43rd, and be in a bad spot. So I know that, and I just have to go do my very best and be just as cautious as ever to make it in.

SI.com: How was going to the White House a few weeks back? It sounds like it was an amazing experience.

CE: Yeah, it was cool. I actually, I've had the chance to meet the President before, back when he was campaigning up in New Hampshire during one of the race weekends. So we went down to the White House and listened to him. He's a regular guy. It was really cool to be able to go see the White House and to be able to actually stand in the rooms, hear the history, and walk around and see everything.

But the coolest thing about it was the implications of him and his administration taking the time and effort to have us there and to recognize NASCAR in that setting. That meant a lot to everyone.

SI.com: Jimmie Johnson said something I thought was interesting. He said, "The thing that stood out for this particular visit to the White House was you left that whole experience feeling like you really knew the president." Would you agree with that?

CE: Yeah, he's just ... to me, his actions are the same as anyone that I'm around on a regular basis. When I saw him the other day, it was 'Hey man, how's it going?'

SI.com: You mentioned the importance of this visit. What do you think the implications of this visit will be?

CE: I think his statements were huge about the Big Three and their need to be in NASCAR because it is an extremely effective form of marketing. When it comes down to it, the question about the economy and its impact on NASCAR can best be described like that, that it is one of the most efficient forms of advertising for anyone. And that is why it's still viable and a good choice for people in this economy. That's the biggest thing which came out of it.

SI.com: We saw Jeff Gordon snap a little bit at Michigan last month when asked for the 1,000th time how his back was holding up this season. How hard is it to stay patient when you've got reporters asking you the same type of question week after week about your winless streak?

CE: Well, the question you just asked is a question about a question that is, I think, an ignorant question to begin with. The answer's obvious. So, it's almost humorous when people say, "What do you think about the fact you haven't won a race this season?"

Of course I wish I would have won more races. So, I guess the question that people should be asking that they hardly ever ask is what are you doing differently this year? And the answer is nothing. I'm doing everything the same way I did it last year as a driver; we just haven't had the results. So that begs the next question, which is, "Well, why do you think you haven't won as many races?" And the answer to that is this is an extremely competitive environment. And the fact that I haven't won shows you how competitive it is.

That's it. There's really nothing else to say. I could get mad about people asking a question, but I just humor them and give them the best answer I can. It's like asking Jeff Gordon, "So what do you think about your back?" Well, it appears it really hurts! So, I wouldn't ask him what he thinks about his back pain ... it is what it is, there's nothing you can do about it.

I can tell you this much: when I get in a race car, I drive 100 percent, I do the best I can, and I'm better than I've ever been. I'm learning tons, and I get what I can get on the track.

To some people, it might cross their mind once a week, "Oh yeah, the No. 99 team hasn't won yet this year." Trust me, it crosses my mind at least four times an hour, every day, "Man, we need to win a race." So you don't have to remind me. Heck, that's what I do for a living ...