From 2005 to 2016 it can be reasonably argued that Carl Edwards was a top 5 NASCAR talent. Competing for NASCAR Cup Series championships in 2005, 2008, 2011, and 2016 he always came up just short BUT he was always in the mix as well. So when he announced his sudden retirement prior to the 2017 NASCAR season it was easy to see why so many people were shocked by the news. So today we are going to look down a different path, a path where Edwards raced on past 2016. We ask the question, “What if Carl Edwards never retired in 2017?”
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38 comments
What do you think would be different had Carl Edwards not retired?
could have won a championship, but now he’s probably out on his boat fishing…….or wanting to return to be on the nascar board…….
I think that jgr would have it’s issues with to much driver in the pipeline. Cause of christopher having to go to jgr after Levine family racing closes. But I do think he would get like 10 to 15 more wins. And contend for another championship. Expeitally with Jimmies fall off
Furniture Row Racing would still be in existence, Suarez would be in the 77 now and Truex still in the 78, no way JGR promotes Suarez straight from Xfinity to them they’d poach Erik still for the 20
@Dajan Greensword Not 17 prob. Truex was too dominant. 2019 seems more likely as a 2-peat
He was leaving no matter who got moved to what car or any of that. Carl was a hell of a wheel man and had a great career. The flame just burned out too quick for him. Nothing in any scenario would have altered his choice in retiring.
I can still remember the shock I had when I saw this. Just making the championship 4 and then retirement?!? I don’t know if he gave a reason but if not, then his has to be THE most craziest retirement I’ve ever heard.
Common rumor was that he was sick of the direction of the sport and that wreck set him over
At the time I thought he retired because of a scandal or some family issue we didn’t know about.
@AndyFromBeaverton I thought he retired to focus on starting a political campaign to run for City Council or Mayor.
I do wonder if Carl Edwards had taken the 42 ride in 2020 if it would have revived his career in the same way Kaulig revived Allmendinger’s career or if he would have gone down the same path as Kenseth in that ride.
I feel like if it happened, William Byron does not win the 2017 Xfinity championship. I don’t know if 23XI and Trackhouse would exist.
Imagine if Edwards retired a couple years later.
Then JGR would have Busch, Hamlin Truex Jr. and Jones without having to be rushed up. Instead of having Suarez rushed up, they have him at Furniture Row with Matt DiBenedetto. Instead of having DiBenedetto at Leavine, they stick Christopher Bell in the 95 in 2020. Toyota’s future could’ve been secure.
Now, this scenario is built on Toyota and Gibbs not blowing their prospect pipeline like it’s Chernobyl but it could’ve worked out if they were patient.
Insane that the 2 craziest retirements in racing history happened in 2016: Carl Edwards and Nico Rosberg
And at least Rosberg got a ring too
Nico pulled the biggest F U to Mercedes
in an interview last year he showed how he had a lot of interest in running Bristol dirt, maybe someone will put a one time ride together.
He will never find a top ride for that unless pays big bucks to like Murray gelinger to drive the 84 and I don’t think Carl has anybody wanting to sponsor him even for 1 race
Maybe Carl could’ve competed for a championship in either 2018 or 2019 with how dominant JGR was at that time
He would just have choked those years to.
His wife is a doctor and after Dale Jr had to miss so many races in 2016 due to a concussion, his wife probably convinced him to quit
Would’ve been cool if Carl Edwards went to the booth since he enjoyed doing tv stuff once in a while.
I wasn’t confused about what Carl did. I understood and appreciate that he basically told NASCAR to take their bs points system and shove it.
How about a video on AJ Allmendingers 2012 drug test failure that led to Joey Logano in the 22 for 2013, and so on, leading to two championships
What really sucks is he had a good 6 or 7 years of racing left in him at the time. Probably could’ve had 40+ wins and a championship.
there are many hypotheticals around this but one thing’s for sure… if Carl Edwards didn’t retire, he’d still be racing.
I still remember the initial shock I had when Edwards announced this. He was only 37 at the time, still a top driver in the sport, and had almost won a championship. I’d say he would’ve gotten a couple more wins, with him sticking around maybe another 3 years.
Thank NASCAR for that they are the ones who kept screwing him over every chance they got
Things that break your heart. Carl Edwards retiring
I respect the hell out of Carl for walking away from the sport and never looking back. He knew from the ridiculous points system to the gimmick of stage racing that it was going down the tubes fast. It would be cool to see Carl run some SRX races for fun.
Bozo
When I grew up I wasn’t super big into nascar but my uncle was, and I believe I just fell into like Carl because of his number as a font. TLDR I became disinterested in motorsports as a teenager and missed out on his golden years. I would be so grateful to see him come put down some rubber in the SRX! I know he still has a strong fan base!
The stage racing myth persisting is hilarious, Carl retired because his neurosurgeon wife saw what happened with Dale Jr. and told him it was time to quit, same reason he’s not really made any racing starts since
@MLGProSwag69 I’m glad you were in the bedroom with the two of them to break the news of what really happened. Gotcha. Thnx
I was a fan of Carl’s after I saw him win at old Atlanta in 2005. I saw him come so close so many times. I was devastated when he crashed out in 2016, and pissed at NASCAR. My next thought was hope for 2017. That was crushed at the press conference when he announced his retirement. I think he had a championship in him, and I think he could have finally gotten one if he had raced longer.
Think back to 2011 wen he lost to smoke by a tie breaker .. lost to Johnson “goat” about 2 times then got robbed 2016 .. I love Carl ❤️ he’s just unfortunate
I miss Carl Edwards so damn much!
Going off on a tangent here, but what JGR did to their Toyota partner teams turned me off from them for good. I had a brief interaction with Bob Leavine in 2020 about it, and what he shared with me doesn’t sit well from a business/relationship/ethics standpoint