FONTANA, Calif. -- Carl Edwards' cell phone chimed, and all heads turned.
"Just an accountant," the Sprint Cup driver said.
Excuse Edwards if he jumps a little these days each time his phone rings. Wife Kate is back home in Columbia, Mo., preparing to give birth, and the future daddy is half a continent away getting his No. 99 car ready for Sunday's event at Auto Club Speedway. Erik Darnell, who drove a Nationwide Series car for Roush Fenway Racing last season, is on standby this weekend in case Edwards gets the call.
"I've got fuel in the plane and I'm ready to go if she were to call me this evening," Edwards said Friday. "I'd take off and go see it, but we went to the doctor this week and they said everything looks the same, so I guess we're just kind of hanging out. We've been doing lots of walking, and ate some spicy foods, and everything they said to do, so we're just waiting. I'm really excited about it."
Darnell is on standby for both Edwards' Nationwide and Sprint Cup efforts. Edwards said it would be more difficult to leave California than the Daytona 500, given his historic strength on intermediate tracks.
