2007 Racing Summary

(Aug. 21, 07) Little Rock, AR - The 2007 racing season has been intense. Champ Car Atlantics is a very tough series and the year did not go as well as I had hoped. I knew I would be competitive with a competitive team and we were at times, but we struggled in a few races more than I thought we should. With the field as close as it is, having the setup just a little bit off would put both my teammate and I out of the top 10. Coupled those setup failures with a few untimely mistakes on my part and I was out of the championship hunt, battling only for good race results.

We showed speed early in the season and intermittently throughout the year. I scored one podium, under treacherous conditions in Toronto. Battling rain and pressure from my teammate, I kept it under control to finish 2nd. I proved I was fast when the car was optimally set with a provisional pole and a front row starting spot in the last race at Road America.

I ended the championship 9th. I had expected to be higher in the championship, but we proved our speed during the season, and I learned a lot about being consistently quick. No matter where I finished this year, I learned a lot and ran at the front at times, giving me experience that is invaluable to my racing career.

As I move ahead to next season, I have yet to determine what I will be racing. I’m looking at all my options and should find out a little later in the off-season.

Check back on www.JohnMichaelEdwards.com to get updates on plans for this winter and next season. Thanks to everyone for keeping up with my career!

John Edwards

Road America: the summary from Forsythe

Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin—Friday, August 10, 2007—While most 16-year olds are enjoying the final days of summer hanging out at the mall and playing video games, John Edwards of Little Rock, Arkansas is setting records in one of the most competitive racing series in the world. The Champ Car Atlantic Championship has seen its share of stars including Gilles and Jacques Villeneuve, Bobby Rahal, Michael Andretti, Keke Rosberg, Danny Sullivan and Al Unser Jr., but none of those historic names equaled what Edwards accomplished today at Road America as the Red Bull Junior Team standout became the youngest driver in Atlantic history to score a provisional pole.

Moving to P1 midway through the 35-minute session only to see two drivers move ahead of him as the time wound down, Edwards kept his composure and rocketed around the nerve-testing 4.048-mile road course on his final lap to regain provisional pole in dramatic fashion. In doing so, Edwards also smashed the existing lap record as he stopped the clocks with a blistering 1m59.247s effort. The provisional pole secured a Championship point, but even more importantly it guarantees a front row starting spot for Sunday’s Generac Power Weekend Atlantic Race.

Edward’s teammate Robert Wickens struggled with an overall lack of grip despite a very similar setup. Fourth quickest in the morning practice session, Wickens could not improve beyond 11th spot in the extremely competitive 24-car field as track temperatures increased dramatically for the afternoon qualifying round.

John Edwards
#7 Red Bull / INDECK
Mazda-Cosworth/Cooper/Swift
Provisional Pole
1m59.247s/122.207mph/196.668kph
“It feels great to come out on top in a really tough session. Franck (Perera, provisionally P2) said he was held up on his fastest lap so I have to thank whoever that driver was! But we finally got it done and knowing that I’ve got a front row starting spot locked up is a great feeling. We have a very strong car this weekend and I’m fully confident that we’ll be right there for overall pole during final qualifying tomorrow. I have to say thanks to Red Bull for putting me in this position and thanks to the guys for a fantastic car!”

Robert Wickens
#3 Red Bull / INDECK
Mazda-Cosworth/Cooper/Swift
11th on Provisional Grid
2m00.484s/120.952mph/194.648kph
“The car was great this morning but the track was quite a bit different this afternoon. I seemed to have an overall lack of grip and developed a lot of understeer in Turn 3. That turn leads onto a long straight so I’m sure I was losing a lot of time right there. But with John taking provisional pole I’m sure the guys will be able to make the #3 car better and I expect to be right back up there for final qualifying tomorrow!”

Final Qualifying gets underway at 1:15pm CT (2:15pm ET, 18:15 UTC). Sunday's race can be enjoyed live at ESPN360.com. For more information about Atlantic including live timing and the espn2 tape-delayed TV broadcast schedule, please visit the official series website at www.ChampCarAtlantic.com.

John Sets Track Record and Grabs Provisional Pole

08/10/07: John lays down a series of under 2:00.00 laps and beats Frenchman Franck Perera for provisional pole on his last lap and won the provisional pole for the season final Champ Car Atlantic race at Road America. 16-year old Edwards set a new track record for the Atlantic cars and he becomes the youngest driver ever to win an Atlantic pole if he can hold it tomorrow. More to follow....

Pos Driver Lap Time Leader
1 John Edwards 1:59.247 0.000
2 Franck Perera 1:59.547 0.300
3 Jonathan Bomarito 1:59.737 0.490
4 Alan Sciuto 1:59.916 0.669
5 Raphael Matos 2:00.027 0.780
6 Giacomo Ricci 2:00.157 0.910
7 Matt Lee 2:00.160 0.913
8 Simona De Silvestro 2:00.314 1.067
9 James Hinchcliffe 2:00.384 1.137
10 Tom Sutherland 2:00.389 1.142
11 Robert Wickens 2:00.484 1.237
12 Kevin Lacroix 2:00.591 1.344
13 Tonis Kasemets 2:00.605 1.358
14 Justin Sofio 2:00.683 1.436
15 Junior Strous 2:00.744 1.497
16 Adrian Carrio 2:00.747 1.500
17 J.R. Hildebrand 2:00.815 1.568
18 David Garza 2:00.853 1.606
19 Ryan Lewis 2:00.958 1.711
20 Brian Thienes 2:01.309 2.062
21 Mike Forest 2:01.398 2.151
22 Carl Skerlong 2:01.425 2.178
23 Richard Heistand 2:01.652 2.405
24 Frankie Muniz 2:02.181 2.934