"It's no tougher on me than any of the other guys in the Chase," the Penn State graduate said. "There's a lot on the line. It's a part of the sport we deal with every year.
"We focus on minimizing mistakes, having fast race cars, the best races and the best pit stops. It's doing everything we did to get here."
When Osborne added, "We're trying to alleviate the unnecessary pressure on ourselves by talking about it," I chuckled and replied, "You mean what we're doing now, right?"
Edwards led the standings for 15 of the first 26 races (he was tied for first with Kyle Busch another week). When the Chase began, the Missouri native was seeded fifth.
That Edwards is the Chase leader after four races is remarkable when you remember he overcame a pit-road speeding penalty to finish third at Dover 2 weeks ago. Then, Sunday at Kansas, he finished fifth in the No. 99 Ford after not running in the top 10 until late in the race. ESPN analyst Andy Petree, a former championship crew chief, was astonished at Edwards' finish.
"Our 99 team worked hard, and Carl drove the wheels off the car," Osborne said.
Like most top racers, Edwards is aware of how much crew chiefs have on their minds.
"The question has always been, what's more important, the driver or the car," Edwards said. "Now I think you can make that a three-part [answer]: the driver, car or crew chief. I think all three of them are important. I think without all three of those things, you're not going to win a substantial number of these races.
"A two-tire call or a no-tire call could be the call that wins the race. Those calls are very, very difficult. I sit in the race car and I can't decide what we should do. Now, more than ever, a crew chief who can make those decisions is extremely valuable. I wouldn't choose any other crew chief in the garage over Bob Osborne and his ability to win these races."
