LONG POND, Pa. -- Carl Edwards heard the chants for the backflip, so he had to line up the right spot.
On cue, Edwards hopped on the center spot of the billiards table, took his position and celebrated his latest victory with his trademark ritual to the delight of the Dover crowd.
Edwards might have found the winning shots at a celebrity pool tournament, but he's still looking for the right combinations to reach Victory Lane for the first time this season.
Considered a preseason threat to topple Jimmie Johnson's reign as Sprint Cup champion, Edwards has positioned himself as a Chase contender without the first-place finishes that dotted his record last season.
Edwards can race all season without a spin in Victory Lane if it means he's celebrating with a title at the end.
"I'm definitely more concerned about the Chase," Edwards said yesterday. "I know it sounds silly, but we won plenty of races last year and we didn't win the championship."
He nearly won the Cup championship last year with a series-high nine victories. All his dominant season got him was a runner-up finish, 69 points behind Johnson in the final standings.
The lesson was clear: All those wins are nice, but they seem empty at the end without a Cup title.
Edwards also won three of the final four races and seven overall in the Nationwide Series and finished second in the second-tier series.
"I felt like at the end of last season, every other week we were winning races," he said.
He was poised to make the leap from contender to champion -- and still can if he qualifies for the Chase -- but Edwards hasn't put together the string he did last season. He's 11th in the points standings, with only two top fives and no finish higher than third.
Edwards had a crew shakeup in April, removing a tire changer that messed up a pit stop that cost him a win at Texas Motor Speedway.
Johnson said the surprises of the season have been Tony Stewart's success as owner/driver and a slow start by Edwards' standards.
"I look at the No. 99, as strong as he was at the end of last year, and think that his story is more shocking," Johnson said.
Edwards, who left rain-soaked Pocono Raceway early to practice for the Nationwide race in Nashville, Tenn., knows only a bunch of runs near the front can turn things around.
"Things change quickly," he said. "I'm praying that Jimmie won't have to worry about that for long."
Edwards also laughed off the idea there was any tension between him and Roush-Fenway Racing teammate Greg Biffle.
Edwards took the blame last season when he ignited a wreck at Talladega that took out Biffle, and Biffle accepted responsibility for a crash this season.
So when the two tangled again at Dover, it seemed like owner Jack Roush might have to calm down the pair. Instead, Biffle and Edwards hashed out their differences over a short conversation.
The late-race contact didn't seriously derail either's shot at a victory. Biffle was third and Edwards finished seventh.
Sure, Edwards can brush off any talk of a feud, but the winless season is gnawing at him.
"I would rather be winning races," Edwards said. "I won nine races last year, and I'd trade that for a zero-win championship season any day."
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