Just one year ago, Darlington proved to be the host to one of the biggest upsets on the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit. This year, Carl Edwards hopes to avenge that surprise loss to Regan Smith and gain some ground of his own on Greg Biffle atop the Sprint Cup standings.
Smith kept riding unexpectedly on old tires to take the race from Edwards in 2011. As he looks back, Edwards says he's been wanting to get back here ever since.
"We've been waiting since that last restart a year ago to come back here," said Edwards. "Everyone talks about this being one of the biggest races and, for me, it really is for our whole team. We would really like to win this race.
"The track has aged, I think, really well. I think the pavement is a little more forgiving right now, so you can slide the car around a little bit more. It's more fun than it's been the last couple of years, in my opinion, so I think it's gonna be a heck of a race. It's just a cool place to come race and I'm glad we're here."
Edwards starts in the No. 7 position for today's race. You can check race times and starting line-up here.