FORT WORTH, Texas -- Carl Edwards has found a way to try to mask the frustration of his winless NASCAR Sprint Cup season.

"I've kind of tried to think of it differently," Edwards said. "It's not that we haven't had no wins this season, it's just that we've had nine wins over the last two. That sounds a lot better."

That still doesn't erase that very noticeable zero in 2009.

After winning a series-high nine races last season -- "That was an amazing year," Edwards said, almost smiling at the memory -- he was considered by many as the preseason favorite this year to unseat three-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson.

Instead, Johnson heads into a race today at Texas Motor Speedway, the eighth in the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup, closing in on unprecedented fourth consecutive championship.

Edwards would just like to win a race and try to build some momentum for next season.

"Everybody was so pumped and voted us to win the championship and everybody was on board, but I knew in the back of my mind that things can go great or they can go bad and no amount of speculation can affect that," Edwards said. "Yeah, it's frustrating. But I know how cruel this sport can be."

And how good.

When Edwards got to the 1 1/2-mile, high-banked Texas track a year ago, he already had seven wins. He made it eight when he drove his No. 99 Ford to Victory Lane by a comfortable margin after gambling on fuel to complete the first two-race season sweep in Texas -- and become the first three-time winner there. He won again in the finale two weeks later at Homestead to finish 69 points behind Johnson.

Without a wreck at Talladega and an ignition problem at Charlotte in consecutive Chase races, for finishes of 29th and 33rd, Edwards likely would have been able to end Johnson's title streak last year.

Only Johnson (13) and Kyle Busch (12) have more than Edwards' nine victories over the past two seasons.

Busch is racing in all three of NASCAR's top series at Texas, and has a chance today to be the first driver to win in all three on the same weekend. He got his Texas trifecta started by winning the truck race Friday night and the Nationwide race yesterday.

Chasing Jimmie

How drivers who remain remotely close to points leader Jimmie Johnson have fared in Chase races going into the eighth of 10 today at Texas (2:30 p.m., WTAE) with today's starting position:

Driver Points Ws T5s T10s DNFs Today

1.Jimmie Johnson 6,248 3 5 7 0 X

2. Mark Martin --184 1 3 5 1 X

3. Jeff Gordon --192 0 5 5 0 X

4. Juan Montoya --239 0 5 5 0 X

5. Tony Stewart --279 1 2 4 1 X

Rest of Chase field: 6. Kurt Busch, --312; 7. Greg Biffle, --340; 8. Ryan Newman, --402; 9. Kasey Kahne, --414; 10. Carl Edwards, --437; 11. Denny Hamlin, --448; 12. Brian Vickers, --556.

History says ...

Jimmie Johnson owns a 118-point lead with four races to go in his bid for a fourth consecutive Sprint Cup title. How he stood with four to go in the his previous three Cup-winning seasons (• -total season wins):

Season Ws• Pos. Points

2008 6 1 +149

2007 7 2 ?53

2006 5 3 ?41

Looking for more from the Post-Gazette? Join PG+, our members-only web site. You'll get exclusive sports content, opinion, financial information, discounts from retailers and restaurants, and more. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.