Behind the Wall: Carl Edwards

Showing posts with label Carl Edwards. Show all posts

Monday, December 5, 2016

2016 NASCAR Driver Spotlight Review: Carl Edwards

Carl Edwards 2016 Review

By Richard Tix

2016 Preview Article

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.

Previous Driver Reviews

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

2016 NASCAR Driver Spotlight Preview: Carl Edwards

Carl Edwards 2016 Preview

By Richard Tix

2015 Review

Carl Edwards Career Paint Schemes

After Matt Kenseth got to JGR a few years ago and dominated and Kevin Harvick did the same at SHR, it felt like Carl Edwards might do the same getting new life with a new team. However, that was not the case when he first stepped into the JGR #19 in 2015.

In fact, he had a very slow start until all of JGR started to take off when Kyle Busch came back from injury. Carl took that momentum and finished the season with 13 top 10's in his last 18 races including a win and all of them being top 15's.

With his first season at JGR under his belt Carl will look to take that second half momentum and roll it into a more well rounded 2016 season.

Bold Predictions/2016 Season Expectations:

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.

Previous Driver Spotlights

Thursday, December 10, 2015

2015 Driver Spotlight Review: Carl Edwards

Carl Edwards 2015 Review

By Richard Tix

2015 Preview

Season Grade: B-

Season Preview: "I think the expectations for Carl Edwards are going to be higher than ever since he is making the move to JGR. JGR had a tough time in 2014 finding speed but I personally think they will find there way back with there new 2015 Camry body. What does that mean for Carl? I do think he should have a bounce back year. I think his average finish should hover back around 11-13 which should bring some extra top 5's and top 10's. I think 2 wins, 8-9 top 5's, and 16-18 top 10's are in store. Those numbers aren't huge improvement over 2014, but what he does in the other races will be, consistency is the key here."

Season Review: I was not far off on Carl Edwards in 2015. High expectations? Check. JGR improving from a rough 2014? Check. About 2 wins, 8-9 top 5's, and 16-18 top 10's (He had 2, 7, and 15)? Check.

I will touch on his 2016 outlook in Driver Spotlight Previews, but I think overall it's looking up. For now, lets look back at Carl's 2015. I for one tried to keep my expectations low because not everyone can transition to a new team as well as Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick have in recent years.

A lot of Carl's slow start happened at the same time as JGR slow start. When JGR picked up speed Carl's top 10's started to come in. He finished much better than he started in 2015 which should make 2016 a good outlook for him. In the first six Chase races Carl had five top 10's including three top 5's. In the last four he only had one top 10 (a top 5) which is where he season fell a part. It was an ok first season at JGR, but expectations will be higher in 2016.

Previous Driver Spotlights