"I really don’t know yet what to expect," Edwards said last week during Champion’s Week festivities at the Wynn Las Vegas. "I know that I hope for some really great things and from what I’ve seen, the little I’ve seen, I believe we have the ability to go out and dominate next year. That’s why I’m doing this and that’s what I’m prepared for. Anything less than a championship will be a disappointment for us. We’re going to come out guns blazing and just go for wins right off the bat, prepare for the Chase and dominate all the way to Homestead."

After weeks of rumors, Edwards was unveiled as Gibbs’ fourth Sprint Cup Series driver in mid-August. After what he called "the most difficult decision I’ve ever made, by far," Edwards had to inform longtime team owner Jack Roush, the man who first saw big-league potential in him by tapping him for a Camping World Truck Series ride in 2003.

Edwards said Roush’s disappointment was palpable, but it never weakened the car owner’s commitment to seeing the season through and pushing for their first championship together. Edwards made it all the way to the Eliminator Round for the final eight drivers but fell short of a title shot after the next-to-last race of the season at Phoenix International Raceway.

Leaving the only Sprint Cup operation he’s ever driven for will take more than a little adjustment, which is why Edwards is front and center for his new JGR team at a two-day Goodyear tire test Tuesday and Wednesday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Edwards said he’ll always be grateful for Roush’s influence, but he said even with 10-plus years’ experience at NASCAR’s top level, he’s anxious for what the future holds with Gibbs.

"Roush Fenway Racing and Ford will always be a part of my life," Edwards said. "All the wins that we have and the championship in the Nationwide Series and all that stuff have come with Jack and Ford, and whatever comes starting next year will be an adventure. It’ll be fun, but yeah, it still feels very new to say the least. It’s the first time in a long time that I have a lot of pressure on me, and I guess I’m nervous about performing. That feeling, that’s what drives a competitor and I’m excited for that."

Even with a new Toyota Camry race car in his future, Edwards continued to be a pitchman for Ford during the NASCAR After the Lap program in Las Vegas, helping to give away a new Mustang GT from the event sponsor. His part in the promotion led soon-to-be JGR teammate Kyle Busch to chide him for using "the F-word" — Ford — but Edwards responded that the U.S. automaker was "paying me until 2015."

Regardless of contracts, the other major adjustment — both for Edwards and for fans — is shedding the only car number he’s ever had in Sprint Cup, trading the No. 99 he inherited from Jeff Burton in the second half of the 2004 season for the No. 19, which slots in between Busch’s No. 18 and Matt Kenseth‘s No. 20 on Gibbs’ new-look roster.

Though the No. 19 has only visited Victory Lane three times in the history of NASCAR’s premier division — twice with Jeremy Mayfield and the other an upset win by Colorado driver John Rostek in 1960 — the number does have some history associated with it. NASCAR legends Ned Jarrett and Tiny Lund once piloted the No. 19, and a young Cale Yarborough donned the number to record the first top-five in his Hall of Fame career in NASCAR’s top series.

"That one was something, the way I understand it, that was special to Joe Gibbs and everyone there to have the 18, 19 and 20," Edwards said. "Jason Hedlesky, my spotter, and I talked about it a little bit after he found out the number, he told me some of the history about it. He’s a NASCAR historian and he said it was a great number and everybody’s really excited about it. I think it’ll be a good one."

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