Carl Edwards heads back to the NASCAR TV booth

  

   From ESPN:

    After a two-race initiation last year, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Carl Edwards will return to the ESPN broadcast booth as an analyst for the next three races in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

    Edwards will join lap-by-lap announcer Allen Bestwick and analyst Andy Petree in the booth to call the 300-mile race at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday night, April 12, at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2. The race will be the first after a two week break in the schedule for the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

    Edwards also will call races at Richmond International Raceway on Friday night, April 26 (7 p.m. on ESPNEWS) and at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, May 4 (2:30 p.m. on ESPN). In each case, Edwards will compete in the next day’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at the same track.

    “I truly appreciate the opportunity to be a part of the ESPN team and their Nationwide Series broadcasts again this season,” said Edwards. “Allen, Andy and the whole ESPN team really helped me get a better feel of what goes on in the booth last season.”

    The Columbia, Mo., native made his debut in the ESPN booth last year, calling Nationwide Series races at Darlington Raceway and Kentucky Speedway. Moving to the booth was a progression in broadcasting for Edwards, who had been doing post-race analysis for ESPN SportsCenter during ESPN’s portion of the NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule the previous two seasons.

Interesting what DIDN'T happen in Sunday's NASCAR race at Martinsville

   A cursory glance of much of what was written leading up to Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Martinsville, likely led race fans to expect to see several plots unfold during the race.

   But, here's what DIDN'T happen:
   
   - The 42 other drivers in Sunday's field did not gang up and knock Joey Logano around the track like a pinpall machine to exact revenge for Denny Hamlin's injury of two weeks ago.
  
   - Tony Stewart did not drive out of line on the pace laps and plant Logano in the wall for blocking in the previous race. In fact - gasp - Logano and Stewart passed each other several times in the race without making any contact whatsoever.
  
   - Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer didn't wreck each other every other lap to continue their "feud." In fact - gasp - the two sat together cordially in the media center after the race and discussed Sunday's outcome without the need to call security personnel.

    So, what DID happen?
   
   One of the sport's best drivers, who is a member of one of its best organizations, drove a heck of a race with a fast car to claim a win.

    In other words, racing happened.
   
   After all, that is what this is about.