Carl Edwards still chasing elusive championship

BOSTON — When Carl Edwards won four races and finished third in Sprint Cup points in 2005, his first full-time season at stock car racing’s highest level, he earned a place in the somewhat short line of presumptive future champions.

With a list of skills that included performing backflips off his winning vehicles and an engaging personality that made him attractive to sponsors, Edwards needed only to prove himself on track against major-league competition. He did that quickly, enhancing the race wins in 2005 by challenging eventual champion Tony Stewart and second-place Greg Biffle at the top of the standings.

Eleven years have passed, however, and Edwards still sits outside the throne room. He’ll turn 37 in August. Like many others who watched him in the early years of his NASCAR journey, Edwards figured he’d have that first title in hand this deep into his career.

After finishing third in 2005, he was second to Jimmie Johnson in 2008 and second to Stewart in 2011, a title decided in Stewart’s favor using a tiebreaker. (Those championships were determined before NASCAR switched to the current elimination system in the Chase).

“I was really close in those three years,” Edwards told USA TODAY Sports. “Looking back, I could have won the championship in any one of those years. It’s going to make the championship really special when I get it. I’m not sure I would have appreciated it in 2005.”

NASCAR's Carl Edwards flying high to better life

Edwards has won 27 Sprint Cup races and established himself as one of the best drivers of his generation. The championship remains the flag not taken, though.

“To begin with, my goal was to make a living driving a race car,” he said. “I thought that would be great. Then when Jack Roush gave me an opportunity in the Cup series, I thought just winning a race would be spectacular. Now that I’ve won a bunch of races, my goal is simply to win the championship. That’s it.”

Edwards made the difficult decision two years ago to leave Roush Fenway Racing, which was (and still is) having performance issues, and move to Joe Gibbs Racing, a team on the rise. He landed in Toyotas in a Sprint Cup environment which demands more of its champions in a difficult playoff format.

“The goal is still out there,” Edwards said. “I’ve learned a lot. I’m a lot more prepared to battle for it now. I think I’m as good as I’ve ever been, and I think I have the best opportunity I’ve ever had.”

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