Pro Stock competitor Mike Edwards said he did the best thing he knew to do to fix his DNQ situation – he stayed home. The 15-time NHRA national event winner and driver of the Young Life Pontiac has been MIA on the tour since the rescheduled Bristol event.

Fans of Edwards can breathe a sigh of relief. He hasn’t quit. He’s just sorting through his problems by testing. Once he’s done, he’ll return.

“Maybe Reading, but Indy for sure,” Edwards said. “We are just struggling in the engine department. We’re not competitive, so what’s the sense in going to the races if you can’t qualify? I just don’t see the need in wasting the effort and the money it takes. I want to feel that I have a halfway chance. I really want to be back out there.”

Edwards has been testing at Tulsa International Raceway, but the extreme temperatures gripping much of the country in the last month have limited his efforts. Lately, he has limited his testing to the early morning hours.

“We’ve made a little headway, but we’re not sure if that is what it takes to qualify,” Edwards said. “We’re just going to keep working at it.”

Pro Stock competitor Mike Edwards said he did the best thing he knew to do to fix his DNQ situation – he stayed home. The 15-time NHRA national event winner and driver of the Young Life Pontiac has been MIA on the tour since the rescheduled Bristol event.

Fans of Edwards can breathe a sigh of relief. He hasn’t quit. He’s just sorting through his problems by testing. Once he’s done, he’ll return.

“Maybe Reading, but Indy for sure,” Edwards said. “We are just struggling in the engine department. We’re not competitive, so what’s the sense in going to the races if you can’t qualify? I just don’t see the need in wasting the effort and the money it takes. I want to feel that I have a halfway chance. I really want to be back out there.”

Edwards has been testing at Tulsa International Raceway, but the extreme temperatures gripping much of the country in the last month have limited his efforts. Lately, he has limited his testing to the early morning hours.

“We’ve made a little headway, but we’re not sure if that is what it takes to qualify,” Edwards said. “We’re just going to keep working at it.”

Edwards conceded prior to his sabbatical from the tour that his chances of making the Countdown to the Championship were slim to none. He’s in preparation mode now, working towards a more prosperous 2008.

“We just get a chance to go out there and evaluate what we have for 2008,” Edwards said. “That’s all we can do. The points aren’t a factor in this. We are just trying to get competitive again. We are so far behind now that we’re going in a new direction to see if things we are trying will be better for us in the long run.”

Edwards isn’t certain where things went wrong, but he has an idea.

“We just got into a bad situation with a ring package,” Edwards said. “We just got going in the wrong direction. We feel we are headed in the right direction now, though.”

Edwards said he wanted to apologize to his sponsors and fans for taking this route. He said he had to do what was right to correct the problems.

“I feel really bad for those who have supported us,” Edwards said. “Pontiac, ART, Mac Tools, Ferguson, Murengo, and Young Life … have all been understanding with our situation.”