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Edwards fights hard for 13th Top-5 at the "Monster Mile"

Carl Edwards, No. 60 World Financial Group Fusion Dover International Speedway

Camping World RV Sales 200/Dover, Del. /September 20, 2008 - Carl Edwards - Race Recap

[DOVER, Del.] — The Monster Mile provided an afternoon of challenges for Edwards and the No.60 World Financial Group team . They fought hard to spend most of the race in the top-10 on the one-mile oval, but encountered some problems on pit road when the No. 99 pulled out in front of Edwards causing him to wreck into the points leader Clint Bowyer. Edwards recovered and pulled off a 5th place finish for his 13th top-5 of the season and gained 21 points on Bowyer to help close the lead.

Edwards started the race from the 8th position. The World Financial Group Ford Fusion was fast during both practices which poised Edwards for a very promising afternoon. Edwards hovered around the top-10 for the first 71 laps before the first of seven caution flags flew. He had advised crew chief Drew Blickensderfer that his Ford Fusion was just too tight. They pitted from the 9th position for right rear wedge and air adjustments. The World Financial Group team had a 15.66 second stop and gained three spots when Edwards resumed racing on lap 76.

Edwards maintained 6th until the third caution on lap 97 when he pitted to adjust another too tight condition. The crew adjusted right side wedge and air again. This time there was more action in the pits then on the concrete track. David Reutimann pulled out wide in front of Edwards causing him to swerve right hitting the Nationwide Series points leader Clint Bowyer. This caused damage to Edwards' and Bowyer's vehicles and sent them back several positions. Blickensderfer asked spotter Jason Hedlesky to check out the right side of the No. 60 while the crew took a hard look at the left side. Following the assessment, Blickensderfer advised Edwards the car just had cosmetic damage and everything looked fine. Edwards found himself in 11th place when the race went green on lap 104.

Edwards was still fighting a snug car and fell back to the 14th position by lap 109. Never giving up, he was able to fight his way back into the top-10 on lap 135 claimed the 9th spot by passing both the No. 33 and 22 cars.

Edwards pitted for the last time during the 4th caution on lap 140 for the team's best pit stop of the night. They blistered off a 14 second stop gaining one spot placing Edwards into the 8th position when racing resumed on lap 147. Edwards survived three more cautions and never dropped out of the top-10 for the remainder of the race. Edwards remained in 7th for the next 30 laps, but was able to pass two cars on the final lap of the green-white-checkered finish for a last ditch effort to claim his 13th top-5 of the 2008 season.

"I can't believe that out of all of that we ended up fifth," stated Edwards. "I can't remember the last time I ran into somebody that wasn't Clint Bowyer. That was just bad luck that we got together on pit road. I wish that wouldn't have happened. It kind of messed up Clint's car, but our guys did a good job. The World Financial Group Fusion was not as good as it needed to be, but everybody worked real hard to come out of here fifth after what it was looking like. That's good."

The No. 60 World Financial Group team struggled on the Monster Mile, but was still able to capture a top-5 finish. Edwards and the No. 60 team head to Kansas City for one of his favorite tracks near his hometown of Columbia, Missouri. They had a good points day and gained 21 points on Nationwide Series points leader, Clint Bowyer.

World Financial Group
World Financial Group is a financial services marketing organization whose affiliates offer life insurance and a broad array of financial products and services. Through its independent associates in the United States and Canada, World Financial Group strives to help individuals and families who are often overlooked by the financial services industry to plan for their financial futures and work toward their goals.

World Financial Group is a member of the AEGON Group, one of the world's largest life insurance and pension companies and a strong provider of investment products.

World Financial Group's Headquarters is located at 11315 Johns Creek Parkway, Duluth, GA 30097-1517; phone: 770-453-9300. For more information, visit our website www.worldfinancialgroup.com.

About Roush Racing
Roush Fenway Racing is NASCAR's largest team operating 14 motorsports teams, five in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup with drivers Matt Kenseth, Jamie McMurray, Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards and David Ragan; five in the Busch Series with Kenseth, Biffle, Edwards, McMurray, Ragan, Todd Kluever, Michel Jourdain Jr. and Danny O'Quinn Jr.; and three in the Craftsman Truck Series with Edwards, Peter Shepherd, Travis Kvapil, Erik Darnell and T.J. Bell; and one in the ARCA/REMAX Series with Colin Braun and Darnell. For more information on any of the Roush Fenway Racing teams, log onto www.RoushFenway.com. For sponsorship inquiries please contact Robin Johnson at 704.720.4645.

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