NASCAR: Carl Edwards reveals possible future plans

Former NASCAR Cup Series driver Carl Edwards has revealed whether or not he plans to come back to racing as well as some of his possible future plans.

Carl Edwards, 38, stepped away from his role as a full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver following the 2016 season, his 13th career season, when he drove the #19 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing for the second consecutive season following 11 seasons of driving the #99 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing (and Roush Racing before their name changed before the 2007 season).

Ever since he announced that he would not return to the Cup Series in the 2017 season and it was announced that Daniel Suarez would be his replacement in the #19 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, which is the car that Suarez is currently driving for the second consecutive season, there has been speculation that Edwards could potentially make a return sometime after the 2017 season.

However, it appears as though Edwards has officially ruled that out once and for all, according to NASCAR.com.

"“I don’t have any plans to come back. I do miss a lot of people. I stay in touch with a lot of folks and have fun, but I really appreciate the time from Joe Gibbs and everyone else to go do the things I want to do. I do miss the fans and there are a couple races I’d like to be a part of, but for the most part I’m having a lot of fun.”"

Edwards discussed hearing several rumors following his departure from his full-time role as a Cup Series driver, including one that he had passed away.

There has also been another rumor circulating that involves Edwards potentially running for office in the future. Here is what he had to say about the prospects of this particular path, according to NASCAR.com.

"“I really believe in America and that the Constitution is a fair rule that’s letting us have all of our success and our freedom. So if sometime there’s a chance for me to help that cause and lend some assistance to not letting us get off track, then heck yes. But there’s nothing planned any time soon.”"

Edwards drove in 445 Cup Series races over the course of his 13-year career in the sport. He racked up 28 victories, 124 top 5 finishes, 220 top 10 finishes, and 22 pole position starts. He led 6,136 of the 127,758 laps he competed and recorded an average start of 14.2 and an average finish of 13.6. He was running at the finish in 414 of his 445 races, and he finished on the lead lap in 352 of them.

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Edwards finished as high as 2nd place in the Cup Series championship standings, and he did so twice. He finished in 2nd behind Jimmie Johnson in the 2008 season before finishing in 2nd again behind Tony Stewart in the 2011 season.

In the 2016 season finale, Edwards looked like he was on his way to winning his first career Cup Series championship, as he had the lead late in the race. However, a late caution flag period bunched the field up and led to a crazy restart in which championship contender Joey Logano attempted to pass Edwards, and Edwards attempted to block him, resulting in a collision that sent Edwards into the wall and ended his hopes at winning the title. Jimmie Johnson ended up winning his seventh championship after winning that race.

Here is a video of that wreck, which is unfortunately the most recent, and likely final, occurrence in Edwards’ Cup Series career.

As a result of his classy response to this incident, Edwards was awarded a Stan Musial sportsmanship award this past November at the Musial Awards at the Peabody Opera House in downtown St. Louis, Missouri.

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Would you like to see Carl Edwards run for office in the near future if he gets the opportunity to do so? Are you disappointed to hear that he has no plans to return to the NASCAR Cup Series, or is it what you expected all along ever since he announced his departure from the sport following the conclusion of the 2016 season? It will be interesting to see what his future holds.

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