Edwards the choice as 2008 Driver of the Year

Carl Edwards is the 2008 NASCAR.COM Driver of the Year.

Not Jimmie Johnson, who won a third consecutive Cup Series championship.

Election '08

Writer	Driver
Mark Aumann	Carl Edwards
Jarrod Breeze	Carl Edwards
David Caraviello	Jimmie Johnson
Duane Cross	Carl Edwards
Bill Kimm	Jimmie Johnson
Joe Menzer	Jimmie Johnson
Josh Pate	Carl Edwards
Dave Rodman	Kyle Busch
Raygan Swan	Carl Edwards

Not Kyle Busch, who won a record 21 races across the three national touring series -- Cup (8), Nationwide (10) and Truck (3).

It's Edwards, who won a Cup Series-best nine races -- including three of the last four this season -- and finished second in points. He also won seven Nationwide Series races and finished second in points.

Edwards garnered five votes to Johnson's three, while Busch received one in voting among the NASCAR.COM staff.

In the Cup Series, Edwards tied Johnson for the most second-place finishes (5); led the circuit with 19 top-five finishes; led the circuit with 27 top-10 finishes; and led the circuit with a 9.5 average finish.

In the Nationwide Series, Edwards had the second-most runner-up finishes (4); led the circuit with 19 top-five finishes; was second with 22 top-10 finishes; and was second among full-time drivers with a 9.5 average finish.

In short, Edwards personified the sport. Maybe it was fitting he finished second to Johnson at Kansas -- a finish marked by Edwards last-gasp banzai move; he won as well as finished second a lot in 2008.

While Busch became the first driver in NASCAR history to finish in the top 15 in the three national touring series (Edwards did not made a Truck Series start in 2008) and Johnson tied Cale Yarborough's threepeat, it was Edwards who remained consistent from Daytona through Homestead. That consistency is what separated him from the pack.

How the NASCAR.COM staff voted:

• MARK AUMANN: Carl Edwards
Kyle Busch might have been the best driver of the first half of the Cup season and Jimmie Johnson the best of the second half, but Carl Edwards was the most consistent driver for the entire year. Edwards won nine times -- including three of the last four races -- and had more top-five and top-10 finishes than anyone else in the series. And it wasn't just intermediate tracks were Edwards excelled in 2008. He made major gains at Martinsville, a track that had previously been his nemesis, and ran with the leaders at both road courses.

His "go for broke" move on the last lap at Kansas is perhaps the seminal moment of the season. Carl's brain fade at Talladega and ignition issues at Charlotte were the two major reasons why Johnson repeated as champion, but as Carl said, "They knew we were here."

• JARROD BREEZE: Carl Edwards
Edwards, Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson combined to win 24 of the 36 races this season. But Edwards was the only driver of the three to consistently win throughout the season. Of Edwards' Cup Series-best nine wins, three came in the season's first seven races, three more came in a four-race stretch in midseason, and he capped the year by winning three of the final four events. Busch won eight times, but faltered down the stretch and failed to reach Victory Lane in the final 14 races. Johnson won only once in the first 19 races before coming on strong just before and into the Chase, with wins in six of the final 17 races including five in the last 12. But we're not talking Driver of the Chase here, it's Driver of the Year.

Furthermore, no driver benefits more from his pit crew than does Johnson. The 48 team is fast and flawless, enabling Johnson to make up more positions sitting still for seconds at a time than he ever could at speeds in excess of 120 mph. Edwards had to force the action on the track, and wasn't shy about doing so. And it's why I gave Edwards the nod over Johnson.

• JOSH PATE: Carl Edwards
This isn't "driver of the past three years" and yes, Jimmie Johnson once again has been oak solid when Chase time came. Before that, it was Kyle Busch we were singing praises to; he won eight races before the Chase even started. So who has been the constant of it all? Carl Edwards.

Edwards won two of the first three races. He won again in April and three times in August. And then he won three of the last four races. Nine victories total, all spread across the season. He was a contender from Daytona to Homestead. His victories came on a short track, intermediate tracks and on a triangular 2.5-mile track. And he did it all while driving full time in the Nationwide Series. Sure, Busch had a historical season if all three series are combined, but he wasn't in championship contention for anything. Edwards was in contention for two titles -- and finished second in both of them.

• RAYGAN SWAN: Carl Edwards
Carl Edwards has earned this title for many reasons, but the most important being his ability to support his team and maintain a never-quit attitude inside the car.

In the season finale at Homestead, Edwards did everything in his power to dethrone champion Jimmie Johnson by winning the race and leading the most laps. And Charlotte, when his car malfunction and he sat on pit road watching his second place in the Chase drop to fourth, he kept a cool head and rallied his team to salvage a decent finish.

Last, Edwards has learned to admit when he's wrong unlike some other drivers in the garage. It's a virtue that will take him far in next season's battle for the championship.

• DAVID CARAVIELLO: Jimmie Johnson
How do you choose just one?

Carl Edwards leading the Cup circuit with nine race victories. Kyle Busch leading the points for 17 weeks and winning 21 events on three different national tours. Jimmie Johnson claiming a third consecutive title on NASCAR's premier series. Not since the days when Dale Earnhardt, Bill Elliott and Rusty Wallace were duking it out on a weekly basis in the late 1980s has the sport seen such a potent trio. The threesome combined to win 24 of 36 points events in 2008. In an era of NASCAR that's supposed to be the most competitive ever, the three were truly in a league unto themselves.

But history sets Johnson apart. The Hendrick Motorsports driver did something that no one else has done in three decades, something few in the sport thought they'd ever see happen in their lifetimes, and he did it in a car and in a playoff system that were supposed to level the playing field. By rebounding from such a difficult start, by owning the Chase once again, by tying Cale Yarborough's seemingly untouchable record of three consecutive championships -- and by holding off competition like Edwards and Busch to do it -- there's no question that Jimmie Johnson is your driver of the year.

• BILL KIMM: Jimmie Johnson
Kyle Busch had an amazing first half of the season, Carl Edwards was mind-blowing the second half -- but Jimmie Johnson was the man all season long and won a well-deserved third Cup Series championship. Johnson's seven wins were third to Edwards (9) and Busch (8) but 15 top-fives and 22 top-10s show just how dominant the No. 48 was throughout the season.

Johnson led more laps than anyone (1,959) but the most impressive stat to me is that Johnson stayed out of trouble. He was running at the finish in 35 of the 36 events this season and had one finish worse than 35th. To be that dominant, you have to have a little luck on your side; Jimmie Johnson, Chad Knaus and the No. 48 team make their own luck and that's why they are atop the mountain once again.

• JOE MENZER: Jimmie Johnson
It could be argued that Carl Edwards won more races (for that matter, so did Kyle Busch). But there can be no argument that holds water when it comes to naming JJ 2008 Driver of the Year. By overcoming a slow start to become the second driver in history to capture a third consecutive championship, he cemented his place not only as Driver of the Year but as Driver of the Decade.

• DAVE RODMAN: Kyle Busch
If you take everything out of the equation except performing on the racetrack, Busch did something in 2008 that's obviously unprecedented. To win 21 races across NASCAR's three national series is something that very few drivers have the opportunity to attempt -- never mind accomplish -- and to nearly finish in the top 10 in all three series' driver standings, while competing in well under the full schedule in Nationwide and the Truck series elevates Busch's accomplishment even more.

Busch's achievement out-runs Carl Edwards' second-place finishes in the Cup and Nationwide series and Jimmie Johnson's Cup championship season, which was accomplished with the best team in the sport and only served to continue the dominance they've displayed for the past three seasons.

The 2008 NASCAR Driver of the Year?
• Your Voice: Join the discussion!