Sprint Cup Commentary and Race Coverage






Click on button to go to
Home Page
Insider Racing News

Tickets Make Great Gifts

SoldOutEventTickets.com
F1 Tickets
MotoGP Tickets

Insider Racing News
Copyright © 2000-2011. All Rights Reserved.

Sprint Cup® and NASCAR® are registered trademarks of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc. This web site is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by NASCAR®. The official NASCAR® website is "NASCAR® Online" and is located at.. www.NASCAR.com


Carl Edwards Unlikely To Jump Ship In 2012

An Opinion



Follow Doug On Twitter





June 21, 2011

By Doug Demmons


Doug Demmons
































Sometimes the grass is truly greener on the other side. And sometimes when you get a close look at the other side of the fence it’s just weeds.

Silly Season finally fired up over the weekend at Michigan International Speedway with Joe Gibbs Racing entering the Carl Edwards Sweepstakes. Gibbs’ president J.D. Gibbs talked about his desire to sign Edwards and to simultaneously squelch the rumors that it might be to replace Joey Logano.

Edwards’ contract is up at Roush Fenway after this year and he is apparently in no giant rush to re-sign, which is smart. Edwards can command more on the open market than Matt Kenseth or Greg Biffle.

But the question is whether he should leave Roush for Gibbs.

And the answer is probably not.

Gibbs would like to sign him. Who wouldn’t want to sign Edwards? He’s a sponsor’s dream.

But from what Gibbs had to say after Sunday’s race, it doesn’t sound like there’s much of an aggressive plan in place to get it done.

“The reality of it is each year we have three cars,” Gibbs said. “We learned over the years, probably when we started the 11 car, the FedEx team, we learned some good lessons. Unless you have all those parts together -- a sponsor, the right driver and team don't do it.

“We're not in any hurry to do it,” he said. “Carl is a gifted driver. He's doing great where he is. From our standpoint, we're going to focus on Denny, Joey and Kyle. When we get that going right, we can worry about other stuff in the future. Right now that's all we're kind of focused on.”

Speculation earlier had been that Edwards might replace Logano in the Home Depot car. Logano hasn’t exactly been setting Sprint Cup on fire and Home Depot probably isn’t real happy to see archrival Lowe’s rolling up wins and championships with Jimmie Johnson.

Gibbs stomped on those rumors as well, saying Home Depot was committed to developing Logano.

That’s despite the fact that Edwards is one of the best pitchmen in NASCAR and would be an excellent match for Home Depot. Sure, he has a temper that gets the better of him on occasion, but so does Tony Stewart and he got along just fine with Home Depot.

Truly, unless Gibbs was going to put Edwards in the already-established No. 20 and assign Logano to a new fourth team, it isn’t worth considering for Edwards.

Why leave a team and a manufacturer on the rise? Ford’s FR9 engine is a clear advantage. Why give that up?

Why leave a team where he is already a championship contender?

Edwards is unlikely to jump ship. The bigger question at Roush is what the sponsor lineup will look like in 2012.




Doug Demmons is a writer and editor for the Birmingham News ~ he writes daily and weekly auto racing columns ranging from NASCAR to open wheel to Formula One, local tracks and more... you can read Doug's columns online at Blog of Tommorow

Follow Doug on Twitter: @dougdemmons


You can contact Doug Demmons at .... Birmingham News

You Can Read Other Articles By Doug Demmons


The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Finding cures for children with catastrophic
illnesses
through research and treatment

return to top
Google
 
affiliate_link