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NASCAR: Ford Boss Believes Carl Edwards Will Be Back

By Christopher Olmstead

Nov 6, 2016; Fort Worth, TX, USA; Sprint Cup Series driver Carl Edwards (19) places his name on the NASCAR Chase grid after being declared the winner of the AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 6, 2016; Fort Worth, TX, USA; Sprint Cup Series driver Carl Edwards (19) places his name on the NASCAR Chase grid after being declared the winner of the AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /
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Carl Edwards back in NASCAR in 2017? Someone from Ford Performance believes that to be the case.

Carl Edwards was a non-caution away from winning a NASCAR Championship in 2016 and less then three months later he shocked the NASCAR world when he walked away from the sport. Since Edwards stepped away from NASCAR there have been rumors that he is coming back to JGR in 2018, coming to Penske in 2018 and even running for US Senate.

While his fans certainly want him back, does anyone actually think that he is going to come back? Ford Performance boss Dave Pericak not only believes Edwards will indeed be returning to NASCAR, he thinks that it will be with a JGR Ford. Pericak was recently quoted in an ESPN.com article where he spoke about Edwards returning to NASCAR.

"I don’t know what Carl’s future looks like. We’ve had no conversations about that at all. I can tell you that, honestly. I personally believe that Carl’s coming back. That’s just a Dave Pericak thought, but I have no idea what’s going on with him. No conversations, but you’ll see Carl Edwards in the sport again. That’s my two-cents worth.In that press conference, I thought he said that if he comes back, he was going right back to see Mr. Gibbs. Listen, who wouldn’t want a championship-caliber driver such as Carl Edwards in their camp? But I don’t think that’s his intention. I think his intention is to go back to Joe Gibbs Racing."

If Edwards were to return to JGR in 2017 he would have to take the spot of one of the drivers currently driving for the team as his seat was filled in the No. 19 machine by Daniel Suarez. Suarez appears to be the future of JGR, which means that he isn’t going anywhere. Then again, if he struggles mightily this season they could send him back down to Xfinity for another year or two, but that seems highly unlikely.

Denny Hamlin recently signed a new deal with JGR, which means that he isn’t going anywhere in 2018. So that leave Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth as the only two options. Busch seems to have more career left in him than Kenseth does, which means Kenseth would likely be the odd man out. However, I don’t foresee Kenseth getting the boot which means he would have to retire for a spot on the team to open up. Retirement wouldn’t be a stretch for Kenseth given his age but he also hasn’t shown any intention of being done racing in the near future.

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In the same token, Edwards also didn’t show any signs of being ready to walk away from NASCAR until he actually did. So who knows, if Edwards comes back in 2018 maybe it will indeed be with JGR and maybe it will be in the No. 20 machine.

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