Things are not always better

The debate seems to go on and on, no matter what.  I have debated this topic with numerous fans that think that Carl Edwards should be looking for a new ride when his contract expires after 2011. 

Here is where I totally disagree.   I think that there is a huge fall out when you look at the top-notch rides in NASCAR between Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing and Richard Childress Racing coming up.  One reason is, Hendrick has loaded their guns with drivers like Johnson and Gordon, they have Mark Martin for one more year and then Kahne arrives to the 5 car in 2012.  Then there is Mr. Popularity, Dale Earnhardt Jr., who no matter what, he is going to have a ride because he brings in the money. 

Gibbs has three young drivers that have not even hit 30-years old yet.  Denny Hamlin is the veteran, at 29 years old, Kyle Busch is 25 years old, and then there is Joey Logano who is still a youthful youngster at 19.   Neither one of these drivers are looking to go anywhere else and adding another driver would really mean way too roosters in the hen house for Gibbs.

Then there is Richard Childress.  Same goes for RCR when it comes to having a full-slate of drivers with Jeff Burton,  Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick.   These guys are successful where they are at and it doesn’t appear that they will go anywhere, at one point many expected Harvick to go somewhere but after winning Talladega a couple weeks ago it doesn’t seem so.

So now we look at Roush.  Look at it in this way, Edwards is going to be Roush’s primary driver no matter how you want to look at it.  He brings in more cash flow to the organization that any driver and his fan base is growing.  And even though, there are some fans that don’t see it; there have been some big improvements over this last year.  Last weekend’s race at Richmond was a sign of that when he rallied late in the event to finish in the top-5.  He has been 44 races without a win in the winter of 2008, when he scored the Ford 400 victory at Homestead.  However, there are some drivers that have waited a lot longer than he has.

Clint Bowyer has gone 72 races,  Earnhardt has been 67, Biffle 54 and Burton 51.  Jeff Gordon has gone 39 races without winning a race, so there are some of the best drivers in the sport sitting on the same boat that Edwards is on.  So I have to say that if you complain that there are struggles, yes it is your right, but there are drivers in worse shape than Edwards.   I know a friend that is married to someone on the 99 crew, and the work that has been going on is unbelievable.  We just have to be patient and let the little kinks work out.

The fact is, there just isn’t any place that Edwards could go in the near future that would provide Edwards with equipment that could be better than what he gets right now.  Edwards is the face of Roush Fenway Racing no matter who wants to debate it.   And people forget about the season that Edwards had during the 2006 season when there were two crew chief changes made during the season with Bob Osborne and Wally Brown.  This season is no where near filled with the struggles that Edwards had during that year.  Cars that would start out terrible and never come close to getting better with a crew chief that didn’t know how to fix a problem.

The issues are being worked on, but remember we are just spectators, we don’t make decisions on a day to day basis and those that want Osborne out as crew chief are not going to get it.  Because here is something you have to look at, I listened to Earnhardt Jr., blame his crew chief Lance McGrew for everything that happened last weekend in Richmond and McGrew shot back in an interview saying he was the driver and didn’t know what the problems were.

That is one issue you don’t hear out of Edwards and Osborne.  The chemistry is balanced there and it will be what makes the team get better.  So those that want changes, you can want but it doesn’t mean it will happen.