Edwards looking forward to '09, and so should we

It's not 2003 again, but if it was, Carl Edwards would be the 2008 Sprint Cup champion, by 16 points over Jimmie Johnson.

But you can never go backwards, except at a movie theater. So as it is, Johnson won his history-tying third consecutive Cup championship, by 69 points despite being outrun by Edwards in every critical statistical category: 9-7 in wins, 19-15 in top-five finishes and 27-22 in top-10s.

• Send Dave your thoughts
• Dave's Community page

Edwards even stole a page from Johnson's virtually guaranteed championship-winning manual, at least in the Chase era, by outscoring Johnson in the last six races, albeit by a narrow, 969-966 margin.

So please forgive this ol' guy for what must have been a retro moment when I guaranteed that Carl would win one of the two NASCAR titles for which he was seriously contending.

Why wouldn't anyone think that? All Edwards did in the last four weekends of the season was win six of the eight races he started. He was second in the only Nationwide race he didn't win and fourth in the only Cup start he failed to win.

That's unprecedented. A couple of years ago, when he was still a focused force in the stretch -- unlike what he's been the past couple seasons -- Tony Stewart won a couple of late-season Cup races.

And of course, Johnson's hefty stretch runs are well-documented legends in his own time, as he actually won a phenomenal four-in-a-row on his way to the 2007 Cup title.

But those achievements are in a single series, chasing a single crown -- not that that really makes it any less stressful, or any easier.

But no, what Edwards did after enduring two bad blows in Cup competition, one that was self-inflicted in the Talladega race and the other a galling part malfunction a week later at Lowe's Motor Speedway, deserves a serious standing ovation.

And considering Edwards is still in a stage of his development curve where he's on an upswing, NASCAR fans could really be in for a treat next season; considering Kyle Busch's second-half wounds after dominating the Cup Series through early August, will be healed; and four-time champion Jeff Gordon might be capable of launching a season-long title-contending effort in 2009.

But when you listen to Edwards, there's no mistaking how serious he'll be about doubling up next season, when he again competes for Cup and Nationwide titles. And while at this point -- it appears they're the only ones who plan to do it -- more than anyone else in recent history, he and his Roush Fenway Racing organization appear to be best equipped to accomplish it.

"Right now, [crew chief] Drew Blickensderfer already told me -- he looked me square in the eye and he said, 'Man, we are going to be better next year. We are going out to win every single race,' so I know he's got the killer mind-set right now," Edwards said before he left Homestead. "I'm sure [Cup crew chief] Bob [Osborne] feels the exact same way and I do, too.

Carl Edwards

2008 Series Results

	Cup	Nationwide
Starts	36	35
Wins	9	7
Top-5s	19	19
Top-10s	27	22
Avg. Finish	9.5	9.5
Points Rank	2	2

"So, yeah -- it's a good year. Second in both [series] is an accomplishment. It's great, but we hope we can do a little better next season."

With the Nationwide Series in a real state of flux, it's quite possible Edwards is the odds-on favorite to take his second title, to go with the one he scored in 2007. And more than likely, if he does, he'll break the two-year string in which there have been different organizations scoring the drivers' and owners' titles.

But for sure, pointing the favorite's arrow at Edwards isn't meant to downplay what Johnson or Nationwide champ Clint Bowyer achieved this season.

Huge kudos to Bowyer for doing what he needed to at Homestead, to win his first Nationwide Series crown; and even more significantly, Richard Childress Racing's fifth title including two drivers' and three owners' crowns in the past six years, better than any other organization in the same stretch.

When I proclaimed Edwards was gonna win a title this season, I honestly thought Bowyer was the most at risk, considering his season was in about a four-week tailspin coming into the finale, in which Edwards had sliced a huge chunk off Bowyer's previously sizeable lead.

In the end, fifth place in the Ford 300 locked-up what certainly was a well-deserved championship for Bowyer and RCR.

But despite the deserved credit for winning titles, you've just gotta like a group that never lost sight of its goal, despite being in two big holes. And Edwards acknowledged that.

"It's one of the toughest things to do is to just keep your head up, do the best you can and take what you get," Edwards said. "And that's why I'm so excited about the years to come because I feel like this team can do it, regardless of the odds, or whatever.

"It would've been real easy for all of the guys to get lax and not pay attention to all of the detail they do at the shop, for Bob not to take the gambles or spend the time that he spends on the racecar. So, yeah, it's cool to be with a group of guys like that. These two guys [Osborne and team owner Jack Roush], they're as tough and determined as anyone. It's just cool to be a part of it."

And it's not hard to predict it's going to be cool to watch how it unfolds in 2009.

"I guess Jimmie has a chance to make some real history next season," Edwards said. "I would be glad to be the guy to deny him that chance."

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.