Spotter's Stand: Carl Edwards Races Into Sprint Cup Contention

Carl Edwards is flying under the championship radar no more.

After a second-place finish in Sunday night's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Edwards let everyone he's going to contend in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

"I know we don't look like we did in 2008," Edwards said, alluding to the most recent season he had a shot at winning the series title. "But we're better set to go race for that championship now than we've ever been."

Edwards, long a cerebral force in the garage area with an unvarnished penchant to march to his own beat, isn't pulling anybody's leg with that declaration.

In the last eight races, Edwards and his Roush-Fenway Racing No. 99 Ford team have turned the corner and then some in favor of being competitive again.

That span -- beginning at Daytona in July -- has seen Edwards finish in the top five five times. More significantly, he's finished outside the top 10 just once, and that was at Bristol, where he crossed the finish line in 12th.

Talk about momentum.

"I used to say it didn't matter. I never used to believe in momentum," Edwards said. "But I think for us, I've never run so poorly for so long, and now I'm seeing this return around and it's been a couple months, and I kind of -- I think I understand the team more than I understand where we've been gaining."

The consistency and added competitiveness has made a huge impact on Edwards' run to secure a bid in the 10-race championship fight that begins after Saturday night's regular season finale at Richmond International Raceway. In just eight races, Edwards has vaulted from 12th in the points standings to 5th -- enough to lock him in the Chase no matter what happens at Richmond.

The contrast between the last eight races and those at the beginning of the season is striking. From Daytona in February to the season's 17th of the year at New Hampshire in June, Edwards averaged a 15th-place finish, with a single top five and six top 10s.

In those last eight races? He jumped 10 places to post an average finish of fifth.

"You can't do anything about a cut tire or a broken spring or something like that," Edwards said. "But at least we've proved to ourselves the last couple of months that we can do it, and that feels good for us."

And better than feeling good, that's championship material.

WHO'S HOT: I'll take the guy who has a worst finish of 12th in the last eight races and call it a day. Hat tip, Carl Edwards.

WHO'S NOT: Before he blew an engine Saturday night, Denny Hamlin had a fast race car. But he was credited with dead last in the finishing order -- his third finish of 34th or worse in the last four races.

NOTABLE: Give a nod to Reed Sorenson, subbing for the sidelined Brian Vickers in the Red Bull No. 83. Saturday night, he finished 14th for his best non-restrictor plate finish since a 13th at Indianapolis in 2009.