2012 Review:
Carl Edwards suffered easily the worst season of his career in 2012, logging zero wins and career lows in top fives, top tens, and average finish in eight full seasons competing in NASCAR's top series.
For the most part, Edwards was an afterthought on the racetrack, leading only 254 laps over the course of the entire year. 206 of those came at Richmond in the spring, when a late penalty for jumping a restart took the No.99 out of contention for the win.
To further compound matters, Edwards' long-time crew chief, Bob Osbourne, stepped down in mid-July citing health concerns, breaking up a tandem that had been together since the latter part of2004 when Carl Edwards took over the No.99.
By the end of the 2012 season, Edwards was ranked 15th in points, his worst career finish in the Sprint Cup Series. It also marked only the second time in his career that he failed to make the Chase.
2013 Preview:
If history is any indication, Edwards should be poised for a rebound from last year's disappointing performance.
Over the course of his career, Edwards has finished 3rd, 12th, 9th, 2nd, 11th, 4th, 2nd, and 15th in points. Based on the pattern alone, he should be in for a much improved year.
A more tangible reason for improvement will be new crew chief Jimmy Fennig, who has experience dating all the way back to 1986. He won a championship in 2004 while working with Kurt Busch and helped Matt Kenseth win six races over the course of the last two seasons.
Prediction:
Together, Carl Edwards and Jimmy Fennig should make a stout combination, based on their past individual successes. Still, it's difficult to discount just how horribly average the No.99 Ford was last season, and that's why I can't rank him any higher than 12th.
Expect some growing pains, some inconsistency, but also some strong runs and probably a victory or two, setting this team up for another legitimate title run on down the road in 2014.
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