Carl Edwards needs to make a big move

INDIANAPOLIS — 

— There are 17 races left in this year’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule, but only the next seven matter to Carl Edwards.

Starting with the Brickyard 400 Sunday, seven races remain to determine which 12 drivers will compete in NASCAR’s Chase for the Cup championship playoff over the final 10 races of the season, and Edwards is in danger of missing the cut.

That’s a scenario few would have predicted after Edwards, who drives the No. 99 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing, came within a whisker of winning the title last year.

The Missourian finished tied in points with Tony Stewart after the series finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway last year, but Stewart was crowned champion because had more wins during the 36-race season — five to Edwards’ one.

But this year Edwards, 32, has struggled to show that form again. He’s winless this season — in fact, he has gone 52 races without a victory — and he has been stuck at 11th in points for several weeks.

That’s a problem, because the Chase will have the top 10 drivers in points after the season’s 26th race, at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway on Sept. 8, along with two wild-card drivers who have the most wins among those 11th to 20th in points.

So Edwards either has to climb at least one spot in the point standings or win at least one of the next seven races to make the Chase.

“These last seven races are as important as any seven races we’ve ever run,” Edwards said. “A win at Indianapolis would be huge.”

There’s another wrinkle for Edwards, who has never won the Brickyard 400 but did finish second in 2008.

Edwards’ longtime crew chief, Bob Osborne, recently stepped down, and his replacement, Chad Norris, makes his debut atop Edwards’ pit box Sunday.

Ganassi’s mixed bag

Team owner Chip Ganassi, who has a long winning record in IndyCar racing and the Grand-Am Rolex sports car series, has struggled to replicate that success in NASCAR.

The NASCAR team, formally named Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, has two Cup drivers — Jamie McMurray, who’s 20th in points, and Juan Pablo Montoya, who’s 21st. Neither has a top-five finish this season.

The team did shine in 2010, when McMurray won the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400.

Montoya, McMurray and IndyCar driver Scott Dixon co-drove one of Ganassi’s Grand-Am prototype endurance-racing cars Friday in the Brickyard Grand Prix at Indianapolis and finished fourth. Sebastien Bourdais and Alex Popow of the Starworks Motorsport team won the race.

Colorado tribute

The No. 78 Chevrolet of Cup driver Regan Smith will have a Brickyard 400 paint scheme that pays tribute to the victims of the recent Aurora, Colo., movie theater shooting, including the names of the 12 victims. Smith drives for Furniture Row Racing, based in nearby Denver.

james.peltz@latimes.com