Defending Pro Stock champion Mike Edwards admits he and his team have  a new slogan. They have embraced the slogan of his newest sponsor, Interstate Batteries,  – outrageously dependable.

Edwards ran a 6.580 elapsed time at 210.47 to claim the provisional No. 1 qualifying position in first day qualifying at the NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, Ca. If his opening shot holds, it will mark the 23rd of his career and tenth straight dating back to last season.

Defending Pro Stock champion Mike Edwards admits he and his team have  a new slogan. They have embraced the slogan of his newest sponsor, Interstate Batteries,  – outrageously dependable.

Edwards ran a 6.580 elapsed time at 210.47 to claim the provisional No. 1 qualifying position in first day qualifying at the NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, Ca. If his opening shot holds, it will mark the 23rd of his career and tenth straight dating back to last season.

That’s a pretty impressive performance for a driver who left Pomona believing that he’d be a spectator for this year’s event.

Edwards and wife Lisa spent as much time chasing down sponsorship as they did wringing horsepower out of their 500-inch Pro Stock engines.

“It looks like if you win a championship, you pick up a sponsor or two,” said Edwards, who ended the season unsure of his plans for 2010 at the end of last season. “Lisa works hard on the sponsorship deal and a few of them actually called us last year. The old saying suggests you gotta have money to make money. I guess you have to win a championship to get a sponsor.

“When we left last year, we wanted to come back. We had all the parts and pieces to come back. Financing one of these programs is tough.”

Edwards has announced in the last week, a sponsorship package with the Penhall Corporation, Interstate Batteries, K&N Filters and ART, a returning sponsor from last year. Contemporary Corvette will also return.”

Edwards admitted his Thursday afternoon pass was an “okay” pass on a track that wasn’t completely up to peak condition from the off-season.

“It’s pretty tricky out there, but the 6.58 is pretty much where we expected to be,” Edwards said. “I’m not sure where it would have ended up if the two Summit cars had made it down. It’s a good start.”