Rick Minter's OBSERVATIONS

Edwards gets vindication

EDWARDS It's becoming increasingly clear that the loose oil-tank lid discovered on Carl Edwards' car after his victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March wasn't a big factor in his speed at that track.

Edwards, who was penalized 100 points and lost his crew chief, Bob Osborne, for six races for the violation, came back the next week at Atlanta Motor Speedway and led 33 laps before a blown engine took him out of the race.

Then on Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway, he led a race-high 123 laps en route to his third victory of the season.

He said afterward that he felt vindicated.

"The reason that car was so fast at Vegas was because of the hard work by all the crew and the people back at the shop," he said.

The victory, the 10th of Edwards' Cup career, moved him back into the top 10 in the Sprint Cup standings, 184 points behind leader Jeff Burton.

Experience questioned

One of the overlooked factors in Michael McDowell's spectacular crash during qualifying for the Samsung 500 at Texas last week was the experience level of the driver involved.

LABONTE McDowell, a 23-year-old Phoenix native, was attempting to qualify for just his second Sprint Cup race when he lost control of his car, slammed head-on into the wall and barrel-rolled down the track.

His only other Cup start had come the week before on the half-mile Martinsville Speedway, and he had run just five races in NASCAR's elite divisions - three in the series now known as Nationwide and one in the Craftsman Truck Series. His best effort has been a 14th in a Nationwide race at Phoenix last year.

Although a few members of the media mentioned McDowell's lack of experience, most focused on the fact that he wasn't injured and on the performance of safety features in place since Dale Earnhardt's fatal crash in 2001. Among the features mentioned were the SAFER barriers and the improved cockpit and driver-restraint systems.

Petty loses sponsor, driver?

There was bad news on two fronts last week for one of NASCAR's oldest teams.

Petty Enterprises is losing the current sponsor of its flagship car, the No. 43 Dodge, and maybe its top driver, too. And there's turmoil surrounding the team's other car, the No. 45 Dodge normally driven by Kyle Petty.

Richard Childress Racing announced this week that it will field a fourth Sprint Cup team in 2009 with General Mills, the longtime sponsor of Petty's No. 43, as primary sponsor.

Although no driver was announced, the fact that General Mills is involved has led to rampant speculation that Bobby Labonte, now driving the No. 43 for Petty Enterprises, will move to RCR next year. He already races a Nationwide Series car for RCR.

Labonte said in a statement he has no intention of talking about his plans beyond this year.

Then, Chad McCumbee was picked to drive the No. 45 at Texas, a decision that apparently didn't sit well with Kyle Petty. He told some reporters at Texas that he would consider driving for another team if the leadership at Petty Enterprises decided to replace him.

SPRINT CUP STANDINGS

1. Jeff Burton 1,065; leader 2. Kevin Harvick 1,006; behind: -59 3. Kyle Busch 1,001; behind: -64 4. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 978; behind: -87 5. Tony Stewart 957; behind: -108 6. Jimmie Johnson 921; behind: -144 7. Denny Hamlin 913; behind: -152 8. Ryan Newman 901; behind: -164 9. Greg Biffle 901; behind: -164 10. Carl Edwards 881; behind: -184 11. Clint Bowyer 874; behind: -191 12. Kasey Kahne 874; behind: -191