FanHouse 2009 Cup Rewind: Carl Edwards, 11th

THE SEASON: Just as fellow 2008 frontrunner Kyle Busch did, Carl Edwards was nowhere near what most expected par to be for driver No. 99 in 2009. But unlike Busch, Edwards still managed to earn a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup -- though it didn't amount to much.

Edwards began 2009 as the driver that annoyed Jimmie Johnson the most. After racking up a series-high 9 race wins in 2008, most of the motorsports media looked to Edwards as the guy that would play out 2009 as the championship favorite, dethroning Johnson after three straight titles.

Obviously, such predictions were nothing but off.

Aside from the two wins teammate Matt Kenseth lined up to start the 2009 season, Edwards and the rest of Roush-Fenway Racing team failed to earn another checkered flag for the organization that came the closest to topling Johnson in 2008. Such struggles were a big surprise.

A seven-race stretch in the spring of 2009 starting at Bristol watched Edwards manage a best finish of 10th just twice -- noticeably different from his runner-up 2008 performance. After Bristol in 2008, Edwards picked up a win, 3 top-5s and 4 top-10s in the next seven races.

The tide seemed to have turned after the early season slump as he then rattled off four straight top-10 finishes.

Consistency didn't stick around though, and Edwards limped into the Chase where he was never much of a factor. In fact, Edwards finished in the top-10 just three times during the final ten race run and, when compared to last season, such stats are a polar opposite. Johnson beat Edwards by just 69 points in 2008 after Edwards had 8 top-5s in the Chase.

Another stat to recognize how far Edwards was off from 2008? He led over 1,000 less laps in 2009 compared to 2008.

THE STATISTICS:
Best Finish - 2nd, Pocono
Worst Finish - 39th, twice
Top-5s - 7
Top-10s - 14
Total Laps Led - 164
Percent of Laps Completed - 97.4

THE FUTURE: The stats didn't lie for Edwards in 2009.

Compared with 2008, the 1,000 less laps led, 12 less top-5s, 13 less top-10s and -- most notably -- 9 less wins made a marked difference on Edwards postseason competitiveness. He just wasn't a factor.

2010, though, needs to be a huge step forward for the No. 99 team. Edwards has been rumored to have one of the steepest sponsor costs in the sport -- something that's easy to pull when you're winning 9 races a year.

But AFLAC certainly is going to want to see a little more bang for its buck and Edwards -- naturally one of NASCAR's hottest driver commodities with his marketability and driving talents -- will need to see improvement from his Roush team.

Jamie McMurray's race team will no longer exist within the confines of RFR to due NASCAR's limit on team numbers coming to fruition, which should shift a few of RFR's better resources to the remaining four cars in the operation. One would think such a move would help in an era of extremely limited track testing.

Expect Edwards to be a Chase driver once again, but we should know early on in 2010 if he'll be a championship contender again.