Losing a crew chief isn't so bad

Carl Edwards is latest top driver to show his team can get along fine with boss on suspension

Losing your crew chief to a six-week suspension is supposed to be a really tough penalty to overcome.

But some NASCAR stars have hardly lost a step after being separated from the men who oversee their teams on a daily basis.

Last season, Jeff Gordon lost Steve Letarte, and Jimmie Johnson was without Chad Knaus for six weeks at midseason after their Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets were found to have unapproved front fenders before the June race in Sonoma, Calif.

During Letarte's absence Gordon had six straight top-10 finishes. Johnson had finishes of 37th and 39th without Knaus but also had runs of fifth, 10th, fifth and third, and he lost little momentum on the way to his second straight championship.

Now it's Carl Edwards, the hottest driver in the Sprint Cup Series with three victories in the first eight races, who is getting along OK without his crew chief.

Edwards was docked 100 points and deprived of Bob Osborne's company for six races because the lid on the oil tank of his No. 99 Roush Fenway Racing Ford was missing after a victory in March at Las Vegas.

Osborne will miss the race next week at Talladega before returning May 3 at Richmond. In his absence, with team engineer Chris Andrews and general manager Robbie Reiser filling in, Edwards has finished 42nd (an engine failure), 16th, ninth, first and fourth.

Even before last week's strong race at Phoenix, Edwards has had to reassure Osborne that he is indeed missed.

"I mean, I can't wait until he gets back," the driver said. "... I didn't realize how much of a relationship we'd had built on the radio, how efficient our communication was.

"Nothing against Chris Andrews or Robbie Reiser, but it seems like it takes one or two back-and-forth transmissions on the radio to get the same thing done that Bob and I would do (with one). And there have been a couple of moments that have been kind of confusing. We've made small mistakes. So, I think when Bob comes back we'll actually get better."

TALLADEGA TALENT: Jeff Gordon won both Cup races last season at Talladega Superspeedway, where two- and three-wide racing in huge packs and multicar crashes are considered business as usual.

"Jeff Gordon winning last year, he did a great job and gives credence (to the belief) that great drivers find a way to make it happen," Cup driver Jeff Burton said. "He didn't have the fastest car.

"A lot of times we see at Talladega, there's about four, six, eight cars that are better than the field. I know (the spectators) don't see it because we're all in one pack, but we can see it. On the track we know who the fastest cars are and, typically, one of those cars wins."

The late Dale Earnhardt was a master of restrictor plate racing, and it was said he could see the air. It seems Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Gordon, two of the best current plate racers, have the same talent.

"The interesting thing is being at the right place at the right time is so important there," Burton said. "And knowing what to do and when to do it is so important and you see the same people able to do that. So there is a skill involved in it, there's no question about it."

Although he acknowledges the close, tense racing on the 2.66-mile Talladega oval used to make him nervous, Gordon has six wins and 16 top-10 finishes in 30 races on the Alabama track. And he is no longer uptight about going there.

"I am looking forward to Talladega," he said. "I think it is going to be a similar race to last time. We are going to have to make a decision as to whether we ride in the back and come up through there at the end.