Carl Edwards 2016 Review
By Richard Tix
Season Grade: B+
Season Preview: "I really expect Carl to improve upon his 2015 season with JGR and give a better full season performance compared to last year. I think we might see 3 back flips, 8-10 top 5's, and 16-18 top 10's. He should once again easily make the Chase, but might struggle to finish 5th as he did in 2015 because of the nature of the new Chase."
Season Review: Man did I check off the win's, top 5's, and top 10 numbers perfect. 3 wins, 9 top 5's, and 18 top 10's is how 2016 shook out for Cousin Carl. But enough about me being right on with the numbers, I also thought he would struggle in the Chase and he proved me wrong. Just kidding, lets go back that part about me being right...
In fact, Carl was the most inconsistent JGR driver during the regular season, but squeaked by early in the Chase and then came up clutch at Texas in the last round before Homestead. So, without the win at Texas my prediction about him struggling in the Chase would have looked much better, because he in fact did struggle but this Chase system allows that.
However, being the worst of the JGR team on the season (consistency wise) isn't a bad thing at all because the team as a whole was bad fast all year. Even with consistency issues Carl and the No. 19 team made it work all the way to the Finale where all four drivers had a shot at a title, which earns him his B+ grade. It isn't like these numbers are far off from what I expect Edwards remaining "peak" years to be. He will settle right in at JGR.
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