Colorado Springs, CO - NASCAR driver and CTS Athlete Carl Edwards has been pulling double-duty all season, driving the 99 Office Depot car in the Nextel Cup Series and the 60 Dish Network car in the Busch Series. The grueling schedule isn’t slowing him down, though, as evidenced by the fact that he clinched the Busch Series Championship on Saturday in the O’Reilly Challenge at the Texas Motor Speedway. And after Sunday’s Dickie’s 500 Nextel Cup race, despite mechanical problems that took him out of contention for the victory, Edwards was in fifth place in Nextel Cup Series.

Fitness has been a big part of Edwards’ success in the 2007 season. He’s been working with CTS Premier Coach Dean Golich since 2006, with a focus on developing the physical strength and endurance necessary to compete at the top of both the Nextel Cup and Busch series. Golich and Edwards speak on a daily basis, with the coach providing guidance on how to fit workouts and healthy nutrition habits into the driver’s demanding and constantly-changing schedule.

“Carl knows a great deal about training and he loves to work out, which makes him a real pleasure to work with. But his schedule is absolutely crazy, and my role is to keep his fitness at an extremely high level while making sure he can still live up to all his other commitments,” said Golich. “It’s all about time management and adapting training on-the-fly so his fitness keeps improving.”

Kevin Harvick is the only other driver who is in the top ten in both the Nextel Cup and Busch points series, although Harvick only started 24 Busch races compared with Carl’s 33 Busch starts. With two races left in the season and The Chase for the Nextel Cup, Harvick is mathematically out of contention for the Nextel Cup, while Edwards is still in the hunt in fifth place. In the Busch Series, Edwards’ 11th place finish at Texas Motor Speedway gave him an insurmountable points lead.

“Fitness has become one of the key determinants of success in motorsports. The level of competition is so high now that drivers need every edge they can get. Better fitness means you can race at your best longer than the other drivers can; you can take full advantage of what your car and pit crew give you on race day,” said Golich.

Edwards isn’t planning on stopping any time soon, either. He and Golich are already putting together plans for the 2008 season, when the driver wants to become the first person in history to repeat as the Busch Series Champion. “Becoming the first driver ever to win both series in the same year would be fine, too,” quipped Golich.

Founded by Olympian, US Olympic Committee Coach of the Year, and bestselling author, Chris Carmichael in 1999, Carmichael Training Systems (CTS) inspires and empowers the athlete in EVERY BODY to perform at their best. For more information, visit www.trainright.com.