NASCAR At New Hampshire: Carl Edwards, Roush Fenway Racing Cars Struggle

Carl Edwards is running out of time.

The driver who tied for last year’s championship and entered 2012 as the preseason favorite is on the outside of the Chase, and his disappointing 19th-place result on Sunday at New Hampshire only weakened his playoff hopes.

Edwards is now 46 points behind 10th place, meaning he’ll likely need at least one win – maybe two – to make the Chase. But after Sunday, there are only seven chances left.

“I think this (off-week) will be good for us,” he said after the race. “We’ll go back to the shop and get a real war plan. I say ‘war plan’ because I think it’s gonna be tough, but we’ve got to plan for the next seven races.

“We can do it, though, and now we’ve just got to get it done.”

The frustrated Edwards said he’ll “keep fighting” and “make something happen,” although there are now fewer opportunities to do so. He has not won a race all season.

Edwards’ seven chances include Indianapolis, Pocono, Watkins Glen, Michigan, Bristol, Atlanta and Richmond.

On Sunday at New Hampshire, his Roush Fenway Racing teammates didn’t fare much better.

Greg Biffle was ninth – the only Ford to finish inside the top 10 – and Matt Kenseth was 13th. That doesn’t bode well for the two Roush drivers who are virtual locks to make the Chase.

“I’m a terrible driver when it comes to taking care of the brakes,” Biffle said. “It’s got to be me because we’ve done everything under the sun, but about halfway through I lost my brakes and that’s about all I could do.”

Kenseth said Roush Fenway “struggles here as a company a little.”

“Since the introduction of the COT car, it has been a struggle here,” he said. “I think Greg won one time because of some good stops and strategy by being in the front, but, overall, it’s a bad track for us. We’ve got to keep working on it.”