Carl Edwards had two big issues to deal with this past weekend. On Saturday, April 14, 2012, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series traveled to race at Texas Motor Speedway for the Samsung Mobile 500. During the race, Edwards, who started in 20th, fell back to 30th due to mechanical trouble. Somehow, he got his car back out in time to end up in the top 10. Though he is still 58 points behind Greg Biffle, the current points leader, he is still in contention for the Chase for the Cup. There is still a lot of time for things to change, however.
The other big issue in his life was the recent release of a book written by his ex-girlfriend, swimmer Amanda Beard. Beard is an Olympic athlete who has won several medals over the years. In her book, she chronicles her difficult childhood and troubled relationships. In 2004 and 2005, Beard and Edwards dated. Beard alleges that Edwards was very controlling and the two had a very lacking emotional relationship. Edwards was asked to comment on her book and he did so in a calm and rational way. He stated that he was unaware of her issues with the relationship at the time and it seemed he wished her nothing but the best in life.
Carl Edwards seems to be one of the drivers who values his privacy. Though he has had a number of interesting ways to celebrate achievements and victories, recently he has also demonstrated an ability to control his temper that is rare in NASCAR racing. Even if everything that was stated in the book was true, there has not been anything reported that is so bad that fans should think different of the driver. Both parties have moved on and it was several years ago. All relationships, especially those that will ultimately fail, have problems. Some problems are bigger than others and in those cases, both parties end up going their separate ways. Edwards did handle the questions well and hopefully, the issue won't go much further. There is a lot of racing to do and I have little doubt that there will be much bigger issues to come up during the season.
Kristin Watt has been a NASCAR Winston Cup, now Sprint Cup, fan for as long as she can remember starting way back when she was a little girl and her mother would sit on the couch with her every Sunday during the season to watch the races. Back then, they were fans of Bill Elliott and newcomer Davey Allison.
