Carl Edwards retires

I remember when he put Brad into the fence but for the most part he was also a old school of drive hard and his actions after the wreck at Homestead was first class all the way. I would have much rather had either whining Hamlin retired. Getting tired of it is OK for him to do something but heaven forbid if someone touches him. Although I admit that Matt runs a close 2nd to Denny.
 
I really don't have a clue or a care if Carl comes back...... I think right now...... he's just tired of the grind and realizes the mortality of his job..... and...... not just his job..... but... life in general..... he has the chance that almost none of us on this board..... or anywhere else have..... the luxury to do whatever you want each and every day and spend all the time you want with your family.......I recall seeing all the other drivers families on pit road before a race..... I can't ever remember seeing Carl's wife of kids...... I'm sure they have been there..... I just don't recall them.....
 
AdoubleU24 said:
For those that didn't like Carl, what about him did you find unlikeable?
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I didn't like a lot of his on-track actions earlier in his career. I didn't like his roid rage incidents with Kenseth and Harvick. His squeaky clean image just seemed fake to me. I never bought into his by-golly-gee-whiz persona in front of the camera. It always struck me as phony, like he was an actor or something. And I know all drivers promote their sponsors, but Carl went above and beyond, especially when it came to praising Ford. He constantly went wayyyy out of his way to talk about how Ford was the superior manufacturer. Then he jumps ship to Toyota, LOL.

Nobody seems to know a thing about Carl's personal life, which is also kind of strange. But I don't know the guy, so obviously my opinion of him means jack squat. I really didn't mind him much over the last few years, and I respected his ability and the way he raced later in his career. He is one hell of a great driver.
 
kymartin6 said:
Thanks dp........... I enjoyed watching it....... I was a little surprised he never mentioned Jack at all for helping him get started........
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He did mention Jack Roush.

"To all my crew members and team members and the people who have built these cars and worked on these things, and Jason Hedlesky, my spotter and Randy Fuller and Dave Rogers, who's become one of my best friends, the team owners I've driven for, Mike Mittler, Jack Roush, Coach Gibbs, there are no better men on earth, and I'm glad to have been around them and to see how they do things and to have been a part of that. And without racing, I wouldn't have been able to do any of that."
 
Michfan said:
Carl is such an *******. Tell that to all the kids and sick people he gave his trophies to after wins
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Whoa....if taking care of people is the definition of a nice guy, then Kyle Busch qualifies as well. You ready to go there?
 
2 Sweet said:
I didn't like a lot of his on-track actions earlier in his career. I didn't like his roid rage incidents with Kenseth and Harvick. His squeaky clean image just seemed fake to me. I never bought into his by-golly-gee-whiz persona in front of the camera. It always struck me as phony, like he was an actor or something. And I know all drivers promote their sponsors, but Carl went above and beyond, especially when it came to praising Ford. He constantly went wayyyy out of his way to talk about how Ford was the superior manufacturer. Then he jumps ship to Toyota, LOL.

Nobody seems to know a thing about Carl's personal life, which is also kind of strange. But I don't know the guy, so obviously my opinion of him means jack squat. I really didn't mind him much over the last few years, and I respected his ability and the way he raced later in his career. He is one hell of a great driver.
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I think his personality was/is legitimate, we all go through growing pains. Carl went through a phase, but honestly his personality seems pretty true to who he is.

Now, someone like an Austin Dillon or something like that... I'll probably question a bit, but that's just my opinion. I like Austin Dillon the driver, but his personality is a bit questionable at times.

Let me cuss out my CC, spotter, team owner (grandfather), and teammates in one message real quick...
 
blue92 said:
NA$CAR being PC.
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I don't think so. They were on the verge of losing Jones and Toyota stepped up and made a ride for him
in their newest team. Not sure but they did make it a one year deal which means he is free next year to go to JGR. This might be the best for him because he will be protected more than Joey was.
The Squarez to the 19 was a deal made after.
 
Team Penske said:
I don't think so. They were on the verge of losing Jones and Toyota stepped up and made a ride for him
in their newest team. Not sure but they did make it a one year deal which means he is free next year to go to JGR. This might be the best for him because he will be protected more than Joey was.
The Squarez to the 19 was a deal made after.
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IMO the plan was to have Erik take the first open seat at JGR after a year at FRR which would have been in '18 in hindsight. This would have given the the second seat at FRR to Daniel. Thinking a year or two there, and he will fill Matt's seat after his retirement. Daniel needs more time, but he isn't going to get it. I am concerned about a Joey type of thing happening. Very concerned. My frustration with Carl's exit is that this does impact other careers on the team in a significant way. Honestly, this situation reveals the man Coach is. Coach is a great person. Owed Carl very little after a couple of years, but treated him very well. Let us not forget that the JGR shop was turned on its ear to create a fourth team for Carl. This is very significant for JGR and Toyota. Going to be a fun challenge.
 
Revman--good point about JGR creating a 4th team for Carl Edwards. That is easily forgotten.
And yes...Coach is one heck of a good person.
 
Carl is the only jibbs driver I liked. Matt gained some ground when he put joey into the fence and paved the way for Gordon's last win.
booooosh and hanglin I cant stomach.
dont care for carls replacement either, does his green card expire?
 
Revman said:
IMO the plan was to have Erik take the first open seat at JGR after a year at FRR which would have been in '18 in hindsight. This would have given the the second seat at FRR to Daniel. Thinking a year or two there, and he will fill Matt's seat after his retirement. Daniel needs more time, but he isn't going to get it. I am concerned about a Joey type of thing happening. Very concerned. My frustration with Carl's exit is that this does impact other careers on the team in a significant way. Honestly, this situation reveals the man Coach is. Coach is a great person. Owed Carl very little after a couple of years, but treated him very well. Let us not forget that the JGR shop was turned on its ear to create a fourth team for Carl. This is very significant for JGR and Toyota. Going to be a fun challenge.
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Erik Jones is the one who isn't ready, listening to his panic rants on the radio certifies the claim.
 
Revman said:
Whoa....if taking care of people is the definition of a nice guy, then Kyle Busch qualifies as well. You ready to go there?
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People often confuse a driver's on-track style with his off-track behaviors. Tony Stewart is a great example.
 
blue92 said:
NA$CAR being PC.
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Are you serious?

First, it isn't NASCAR's decision who drives which car. In this case, it was Gibbs Racing's decision, with assistance from Furniture Row.

Second, Jones was already signed to the #77 long before Carl's announcement, too late to change all the contracts and sponsorship deals. The team likely would have named Jones to the #19 -IF- they had know far enough in advance that Carl was leaving. Since he made his decision too late for that, JGR picked the next driver in their pipeline, the current Xfinity champ, a guy with sponsor ties to one of the #19's existing backers.

I don't know what Suarez' contract looks like, but don't be surprised if he and Jones swap rides in '18.
 
Carl Edwards was a highly sought free agent, Gibbs wanted to add a fourth car, and seized on Edwards' availability to do it. It wasn't an act of charity to Carl, it was sound business. Edwards' marketability made it easier to fund the car than it would have been with a young driver. Now they have an established fourth team to put one of their prospects in.

It does appear that JGR treated Edwards quite well on his way out. They didn't have to do that, but it also wouldn't have done them much good to go to war with him. Above all, JGR is just a very smartly run organization.
 
rocket dawg said:
dont care for carls replacement either, does his green card expire?
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Any other reason you don't like him other than being Mexican? Suarez is a great thing for the sport, and a great talent. Plenty of people believe he's not ready, but he's probably been the best driver in Xfinity for the last season and a half, finishing his stint there with a championship. I know firsthand that there is a huge Latino fanbase waiting to cling onto a driver. That was present in Montoya in the years he was successful in NASCAR, prominently 2009 and 2010. With Suarez, there's a chance that there'll be a successful Latino driver in the sport for the next 20 years. He'll pave the way for other Latino drivers. This will do nothing but expand NASCAR's horizons. I've personally been looking for a new driver since Jeff retired, that search might be over.
 
gnomesayin said:
... It does appear that JGR treated Edwards quite well on his way out. They didn't have to do that, but it also wouldn't have done them much good to go to war with him. ...
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I don't care what business you're in, a motivated newcomer beats a proven but unhappy employee. If the guy doesn't want to be there, he's not going to do his best work.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
I don't care what business you're in, a motivated newcomer beats a proven but unhappy employee. If the guy doesn't want to be there, he's not going to do his best work.
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Absolutely. It would have been very counterproductive for JGR to have taken Carl up on the "if you really need me for one more year" offer that allenbaba said was made.
 
AdoubleU24 said:
For those that didn't like Carl, what about him did you find unlikeable?
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It took me a long time to forget turning Brad at 190 mph. Confront him after the race. Throw your helmet at his car. Bump him under caution. Bang doors a little, but turning a car at that speed was pathetic. The thing that made it worse is that Brad really didn't do anything to instigate it. The wreck early in the race was not Brad's fault.

Carl had some serious rage issues early in his career.
 
Marcingak said:
He did mention Jack Roush.

"To all my crew members and team members and the people who have built these cars and worked on these things, and Jason Hedlesky, my spotter and Randy Fuller and Dave Rogers, who's become one of my best friends, the team owners I've driven for, Mike Mittler, Jack Roush, Coach Gibbs, there are no better men on earth, and I'm glad to have been around them and to see how they do things and to have been a part of that. And without racing, I wouldn't have been able to do any of that."
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Thanks..... guess I missed it in the interview..... should have read the transcript.......
 
Taco said:
Erik Jones is the one who isn't ready, listening to his panic rants on the radio certifies the claim.
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Yeahhhh baby it's Taco Time!!!! Good to hear from ya! I love Erik's demeanor.....just like Kyle. ****** hates to lose. Love it. Repulses him. Has more nightmares about losing than dreams about winning. Looking forward to having him. Daniel too. He's going to be good, but maybe a year or two off IMO.
 
Revman said:
Yeahhhh baby it's Taco Time!!!! Good to hear from ya! I love Erik's demeanor.....just like Kyle. ******* hates to lose. Love it. Repulses him. Has more nightmares about losing than dreams about winning. Looking forward to having him. Daniel too. He's going to be good, but maybe a year or two off IMO.
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Jones is not going to go far in Cup if he can't cool his head. Sometimes he just breaks down behind the wheel. That's not what Kyle does. I think with the more even Cup playing field he'll struggle pretty heavily his first year until he matures a bit.
 
cheesepuffs said:
Jones is not going to go far in Cup if he can't cool his head. Sometimes he just breaks down behind the wheel. That's not what Kyle does. I think with the more even Cup playing field he'll struggle pretty heavily his first year until he matures a bit.
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He will be fine. Not worried at all. Certainly, he will have rookie stuff, but I believe he will be as successful as Chase Elliott.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
I don't care what business you're in, a motivated newcomer beats a proven but unhappy employee. If the guy doesn't want to be there, he's not going to do his best work.
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Yeah, but big picture, it would have given Daniel more time, and wouldn't have disrupted what I believe was the plan all along--to put Erik in the JGR seat when Carl left, and Daniel to FRR to replace Erik. We need to see what Daniel a year early will look like. Perhaps Carl at 75% would have been okay as a stop gap. This is where Coach somehow manages to be an exceptional human being, and an incredible leader. He put Carl first.
 
Elliott had the advantage of driving for an existing Championship-level team. Jones is with a very good satellite organization but the #77 is still a start-up.
 
Anyone remember this driver?

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Charlie Spencer said:
Elliott had the advantage of driving for an existing Championship-level team. Jones is with a very good satellite organization but the #77 is still a start-up.
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An extremely good point, but I still think Erik will be as successful. This is how good he is IMO.....and he is ready.
 
Revman said:
An extremely good point, but I still think Erik will be as successful. This is how good he is IMO.....and he is ready.
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The Nature Boy said:
Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson jumped into "start up" teams in their rookie year and did just fine.
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Oh, I think Eric will do fine. I also think Daniel will start the season with an advantage.
 
gnomesayin said:
Carl Edwards was a highly sought free agent, Gibbs wanted to add a fourth car, and seized on Edwards' availability to do it. It wasn't an act of charity to Carl, it was sound business.
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Dunno about that. Adding the car was a huge undertaking. I think that Arris made it possible, and JGR would have been able to fulfill it's business aspirations by waiting on Daniel because that is why Arris was there in the first place. Carl was a placeholder for Daniel. I believe that there was some risk in adding the fourth team when they did.
 
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