After competing the past seven years for Roush Fenway Racing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, all while running a full Sprint Cup Series schedule, Carl Edwards has decided not to run any Nationwide races in 2012.
“The way we’re approaching this season is, I’m not committing to any races right now,” Edwards said. “And as the season goes, if I decide I’m just a nervous ball of energy on Saturdays and I can’t function without going and racing — because that might be the case — then we’ll work to try to go [Nationwide] racing.”
Carl Edwards, the 2007 champion of the Nationwide Series, had finished in the series’ top 3 in every season he’d raced and the top 2 in each season but 2005 before last season, when he was ineligible for the season championship after NASCAR ruled drivers wouldn’t be able to compete for two series titles in the same year.
Edwards drove to a career-best eight Nationwide wins in 2011 despite his status, posting 1,887 laps-led — more than double his previous best of 918 in 2009. He won the Nationwide owners’ championship for Roush Fenway. But Edwards also contented for the Sprint Cup title, losing the championship to Tony Stewart in the last race of the Chase.
“I’m hoping this lets me focus more on the Cup car,” Edwards said, “lets me be a better Cup racer by maybe having more time during the race weekend to maybe hone the setups in.
Three straight days of qualifying and racing can run you ragged, but you can learn tricks on Saturday in the Nationwide Series that can help you on Sunday in Sprint Cup. Edwards, Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch have all testified to that.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup season opens with the annual shootout in Daytona on Feb. 18, and the first race on the 2012 schedule is the Daytona 500 which will be held on Feb. 26.
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