Clemson upsetting Alabama may have been somewhat surprising enough to kick off the sports year of 2017, and that was so far the biggest surprise. What wasn’t actually expected from anyone happened before the inaugural era of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and the Daytona 500. Carl Edwards is retiring from NASCAR and will not compete this season. The sudden move has put everyone in shock, but Joe Gibbs Racing thankfully was already prepared to fill his spot.
All this happens just weeks after he was so close to winning his first ever championship until bad timing had struck. Edwards was actually less than 10 laps away until a single car accident halted that momentum. It was then with four laps left the biggest block in Edwards’s career led to a nine car pileup and a red flag to which Joey Logano tried to dive inside. It was due to those series of unfortunate events that led Jimmie Johnson to win his record tying seventh NASCAR championship and last under the Sprint name.
The last two seasons, we already said goodbye to Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart, and most likely Greg Biffle. But never imagined we would already say goodbye to Edwards before 2017 even starts. 2016 was pretty much the year for Joe Gibbs Racing team wise, winning 12 races (16 if you want to count Martin Truex Jr’s alliance through Furniture Row Racing). How will that change momentum going into 2017 now that there are three veterans on the team and now a new rookie?
Daniel Suarez will now fill the seat after becoming the first foreign born racer to win not only the Xfinity Championship, but any of NASCAR’s top three series. Suarez has not raced in a Monster Energy race yet, which is truly frightening to JGR no doubt. There is truly no way of knowing if Suarez will be able to take on the best, but while Kyle Busch knows the true differences between Monster Energy and Xfinity, Busch could be Suarez’s best mentor at this moment.
Health and other interests played a part in Edwards departure. This could give an advantage to Hendrick and Penske now that JGR is one veteran down. 2017 has already become intriguing and the Daytona 500 hasn’t even started yet.
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(Photo – USA Today)