Mike Edwards has come to realize that every Pro Stock driver has to have a niche if they hope to have a fighting chance of competing.
 
For the former sportsman world champion from Broken Arrow, Okla., his role is to be the driver who is able to make the most with the least, while simultaneously fighting to keep his place in the game, against many of the higher financed operations. To that end, Edwards and partner Roger Stull, a successful businessman, have invested their money wisely creating a team that can run with the best the class has to offer.
 
Edwards drove his way to his second consecutive pole position in 2009, improving on a Friday run at the NHRA ACDelco Gatornationals that he deemed beatable by everyone but himself.
 

Mike Edwards has come to realize that every Pro Stock driver has to have a niche if they hope to have a fighting chance of competing.
 
For the former sportsman world champion from Broken Arrow, Okla., his role is to be the driver who is able to make the most with the least, while simultaneously fighting to keep his place in the game, against many of the higher financed operations. To that end, Edwards and partner Roger Stull, a successful businessman, have invested their money wisely creating a team that can run with the best the class has to offer.
 
Edwards drove his way to his second consecutive pole position in 2009, improving on a Friday run at the NHRA ACDelco Gatornationals that he deemed beatable by everyone but himself.
 
After two more rounds of qualifying, Edwards prediction came true with a single exception. His competitors beat his time, but no by nearly enough, as he drove his Pontiac to a 6.582, a ful hundredth of a second faster than Greg Anderson, in a division measured in thousandths of a second.
 
He used the third stop on the NHRA Full Throttle tour to provide yet another platform to showcase how he is making more with less, slaying the division giants in the process.
 
“I think that is an overstatement. We just try,” Edwards said humbly. “That's all we can do it try. You just do the best with what you've got. Right now, I'm probably in the best shape I have ever been since I've been racing as far as my engine program and the people I have in place. It's kinda on my shoulders.”
 
Those who have supported Edwards over the years in his quest to make his place in Pro Stock know how deep is his desire to succeed. They know what drives this soft-spoken man who takes being humble to a new level.
 
He’s never carried the large corporate backing with unlimited budgets. Edwards has carried enough backing over the years with large corporations such as Penhall, to get the job done. He’s even found a way to provide the necessary goodwill and humanitarian support to Young Life, an organization that works with inner city kids, in an attempt to give back to society what he has been blessed to have.
 
Gainesville became an opportunity for Edwards to give back to a sponsor who has supported him faithfully over the seasons.
 
Edwards made his 2009 debut with Derek and Cathy Steinbach’s Applied Racing Technology [ART] in the primary sponsor role. He believed the southern Florida-based company could benefit most from the exposure.
 
“They are kinda the last man standing for us this year,” Edwards said. “We've lost all of our sponsors. They've [ART] hung in there with us. We wanted to represent them the best way we could and give them recognition and hopefully we can do a good job his weekend and have a good race for them.
 
Nothing says recognition like a No. 1 qualifying position in arguably the most competitive class in professional drag racing.
 
Nothing describes this kind of success for Edwards that being strongest at his monetary weakest.
 
“You dream of having enough stuff to run really, really good and having a chance to come to a race,” Edwards admitted. “We used to come to the races hoping we could just qualify and now we come thinking you can win. That's the mindset you have to have going in when you're in a position like we are now. It because of hard work, a lot of dedication and all the guys, Roger, the funding and all of our help.”
 
Edwards has clearly proven to be one of the more mild-mannered racers, choosing to let his actions serve as his Christian testimony. There are times, in the heated nature of a competitive class such as Pro Stock, that he can’t help but feel like a wounded animal pushed in a corner.
 
Consider his back-to-back No. 1’s as his way of fighting back.
 
“These guys in Pro Stock are awesome but they'll rip your head off,” Edwards revealed. “They take no prisoners up there. So, you gotta be ready and on your game.”
 
Frugally and mentally, Edwards is on his game. 

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