Practice pays off for Edwards

LONG POND, Pa. — Carl Edwards turned his first laps at Pocono Raceway playing a video game.

He paid attention, and when it came time for the real thing, nobody was better.

Edwards raced to his second Nextel Cup victory of the year Sunday, easily adjusting to a new gearing rule and avoiding the tire woes that plagued other drivers.

"It's a NASCAR game that you can buy on the shelf," he said. "I've got a steering wheel and a clutch. Coming to a new track and spending time on one of those things really helps."

The Missouri driver, who celebrated his first NASCAR Nextel Cup victory three months ago in Atlanta with a backflip from the window of his car, did it again Sunday.

His Ford led 45 of 200 laps and beat the Chevrolet of Brian Vickers in a race that ended under caution on the 2.5-mile triangle. Edwards took the lead for the fourth and final time on lap 187. Vickers led six times for 121 laps, both race highs.

While he was winning, Edwards lost the points lead in the Busch Series because a rainout Saturday night in Nashville prevented him from racing there Sunday. Reed Sorenson took the Busch lead and Edwards fell to fourth.

When he didn't race in Nashville, Edwards jumped on a plane piloted by car owner Jack Roush, who nearly died a few years ago when he crashed into a lake in Alabama. The flight proved back more adventurous than the race because an airport near the track was fogged in.

"I stayed up until 4 in the morning practicing missed approaches with Jack Roush, which, by the way are scarier than the tunnel turn," Edwards said. "My heart was pounding."

Eventually, Roush diverted to Scranton-Wilkes-Barre International and landed without incident.

"I have more and more trouble getting people to fly with me," Roush said. "Getting them to fly with me the first time is not a problem. But getting them to go with me a second time is an issue."

Edwards might be among the reluctant after his experience in the fog.

"Trust is a big thing," he said. "You're looking at that gauge and it says you're 500 feet above the ground, but do you really know?"

Edwards, who moved from ninth to fourth in the Nextel Cup standings, set a Pocono record for winning from the deepest in the field. He started 29th. Terry Labonte held the record by winning from the 27th position in 1995.