What Does The Future Hold For Carl Edwards After Kentucky?

2015 has not been kind to Carl Edwards.

Scratch that. That’s an understatement.

2015 has been evil to Carl Edwards.

Here he is, a championship-caliber driver driving championship-caliber Toyotas for a championship-winning organization. Also, he happens to have a championship-winning crew chief in Darian Grubb. Yet they currently sit 17th in points, with only three top-10’s.

Sure, they’re locked into the Chase for the Sprint Cup field at the moment, as Edwards played the fuel-strategy game to win this year’s Coca-Cola 600. 12 top-20’s may also have a hand in why he isn’t outright failing this year. But besides all that, let’s be honest; Edwards doesn’t usually perform like this. Neither does Joe Gibbs Racing for that matter.

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It’s not the first time a grade-A driver has struggled mightily with a new team and the No. 19 JGR Toyota team has taken things in stride. But with a fourth-place finish at Kentucky Saturday night, has 2015 changed for the better for Carl Edwards?

For all intents and purposes, this could very well be the case. Despite working nicely as a team, there’s no doubt morale may have been low for the Edwards camp. There’s no reason they should be struggling as mightily as they are, yet three top-10s in 18 events says enough. But Saturday night in Kentucky, they were at or near the front most of the evening.

This could be credited with the rules change NASCAR implemented for Kentucky and Darlington. Drivers were vocal in their approval of the new rules change, including Edwards. It was his best run of the season, and it was the shot in the arm the team needed. It was definitely a far cry from a week before at the Coke Zero 400, where a strong run was ended in a crash that saw him riding Brian Scott’s roof.

Will this carry on to this weekend at New Hampshire International Raceway?

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It’s hard to say. Edwards has won there in the past, but he’s had several strong runs this season end in failure, such as Sonoma, where a top-10 run ended in a crash with David Ragan. But with the positive affirmation a solid run brings, Edwards may very well back up his Kentucky run. It wasn’t a thing of luck. Hard work put him and his three JGR teammates in the top-five Saturday night.

It’s hard work that will show whether or not the No. 19 crew has indeed turned a page in their 2015 season. They have the Chase to think of in a couple of months, and if they have any hopes of advancing they need to have more runs like they did at Kentucky. That’s the sort of run that will keep them alive this season.

Sure, they can look to the plight of former teammate Kurt Busch if they fail. Busch struggled in 2014 with a new team, only to come back with a vengeance in 2015. That could very well be the case for Edwards, although it’s doubtful they even want to think or consider such things. They’re a team capable of running at the front, and as they proved in May, they’re capable of winning. That’s what they should be thinking about or considering this season.

Be sure to comment and weigh in below on whether or not Carl Edwards has turned a corner in 2015.