One of the hottest drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at the end of the 2008 season, Carl Edwards has struggled to find Victory Lane as of yet in 2009. The driver of the No. 99 Aflac Ford has three top-5s and seven top-10s in fourteen races and as of late has been showing he’s hungry to lift a trophy.

After a dominant performance last Sunday in Pocono, what better track for Edwards to head to then the team’s best track on the circuit. Nestled in the shadows of Motor City, Michigan International Speedway has been host eleven Roush Fenway Racing victories with Edwards carrying the banner as of late. Looking at the statistics, Edwards leads all active drivers in driver rating, average running position, laps in the top-15%, average green flag speed and fastest laps run.

One thing is for sure, Edwards will once again be a threat when the cars hit the track this weekend in the Irish Hills of Michigan.

"Yeah, we haven't won a race yet. But I feel like our team has grown a lot over the last month or so," Edwards explained. "Our pit stops have been a lot better. Our cars have been faster. And Sunday was exactly almost what we needed. I mean, we led the most laps. We had good pit stops. We almost won the race. The most important thing that came out of Sunday was jumping up in the points because the reality of this series is that you can win all the races you want, but it really matters what you do in those last 10 races and you have to be in the Chase. You know, it's no fun being on the outside of those 12 cars, you know, looking in. Our mission right now is just to go get all the points we can so that we have a chance to run for that championship. So I feel good about it."

Coming so close to breaking through and getting the win at Pocono, Edwards knows that if the team keeps up the hard work and remains focused on the ultimate goal the wins will come sooner rather than later.

"If you look at the guy that won Sunday, you know, Tony, leading the points, he's had great runs. Look how long it took them, even the way they're performing, you look at how long it took them to win a race," Edwards pointed out. "You have to perform like we did on Sunday for three or four races before you're going to win one of them, just based on the way racing works. So, trust me, I want to win so badly. And even though it's only been 13 or 14 races, it feels like forever. But I think if we just keep our heads down, I think we'll get what we deserve. And definitely the points feel good. I told everybody after the race, I said, I hope I feel a little better tomorrow, because I was not very happy with second. But I can tell you on Monday morning when I got up, I went and looked at the points, that felt pretty good. So we're all right."

Edwards and his No. 99 crew should definitely feel all right this weekend at Michigan as they try to show their stuff in the back yard of Jack Roush and the Ford Motor Company. As he continues to produce consistent runs, it is only a matter of time before the crowd is treated to the signature back-flip – and this weekend is a great place to get things rolling.

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