Carl Edwards still faces questions about his 2012 Sprint Cup season, but there’s only one way he answers about how it felt.
“Pretty damn disappointing,” he said Thursday during NASCAR Media Day at Daytona. As such, he begins the 2013 with a fresh reminder of that disappointment, yet with many new aspects and confidence to his Roush Fenway team.
“It was disappointing and it was as frustrating as it could be but it was also so much different than the expectation that we had set that it was actually shocking. We finished the season and thought it was not at all how I thought it would go.
“I sat here a year ago and literally planned on winning somewhere between five and 10 races and dominating the championship. The way we ran at the end of 2011 I thought we had everything in place. Then it kind of fell apart. That was very frustrating. It was also humbling. It was a pretty big test for me to keep my mind on doing things that I knew I could do well and focus on giving it 100 percent even when we weren’t in the Chase which was really not a lot of fun.”
By the time Homestead rolled around, Edwards noted that he was ready to leave and be done with the season. He couldn’t get out of town quick enough. Then the long offseason came and for the first time in his career he wasn’t headed to the NASCAR banquet and soon cabin fever was setting in. Except, while he was ready to go racing first he made sure to utilize his offseason.
“It was a little different this year. I spent a lot more time getting to know the guys,” he said. “I took every test that was offered. I wanted to test all I could so I could be around Jimmy [Fennig] and the guys more. I watched a little more tape and mentally prepared a little bit better.”
Missing the Chase and failing to win a race were just apart of Edwards’ many ups and downs through last season. He went through two different crew chiefs, first splitting with long-time pit boss Bob Osborne when he stepped aside to take care of health issues in July. Chad Norris lasted until the end of the year before Roush made the decision to enter 2013 with another new face atop the box.
Veteran Jimmy Fennig, who was the crew chief for Matt Kenseth’s No. 17, moves to Edwards and the 99 team. New teammate and Rookie of the Year candidate Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will have rookie crew chief Scott Graves now calling the shots on the Best Buy team. The experience and dedication of the Edwards/Fennig pairing though, already has the excitement at a high.
Plus, the way that Fennig runs his team is something Edwards looks at as a learning experience. Fennig does things the way he wants to, not the way he’s told, not that anyone – including Roush – could tell him what to do. According to Edwards, everyone is just a tool in Fennig’s toolbox, including the driver, and his new driver for 2013 plans to embrace that personality and change himself in the process.
“When we made the change I didn’t know much about him but I am really looking forward to working with him. I want to be careful because a year ago I thought we were going to be great, so I don’t want to get ahead of myself,” Edwards said, “but I have a gut feeling that this is going to be a great season.”
