Edwards leads series in wins, but falls short for title

Nine victories and the best average finish (9.5) in the Sprint Cup Series is usually good enough to win the championship. But for Carl Edwards this past year, it was good enough for second.

Whereas Kyle Busch set the tone early and Jimmie Johnson paced things late, Edwards, to put it mildly, was dominant throughout the entire season. His victories came on every style of oval on the schedule: half-mile, mile, 1.5-mile and 2-milers. And when it counted, he turned up the heat more than anyone.

Carl Edwards won three of the final four races of the season.

Edwards was solid through the first half of the season, scoring back-to-back victories at Fontana and Las Vegas -- although he got yanked 100 points and 10 bonus points for an oil reserve encasement lid that was missing. He managed to work his way back into the top 10 in points after an early blown motor saddled him at Atlanta. Once the second half began, it was top-10 or bust.

Edwards was second at Indianapolis, then won three of the next four races (Pocono, Michigan and Bristol) to climb to second in points.

In the Chase, two blemishes stuck out: A crash and 29th at Talladega, and a flurry of problems for a 33rd-place finish at Charlotte. Otherwise, Edwards was fourth or better, including victories in three of the final four races.

His charge at the end came up just short, but Edwards' 2008 season quite possibly could have laid a foundation on which to build a championship-winning team next year.

Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway -- Two weeks before the Texas race, Johnson had won at Martinsville, prompting Edwards to declare that he just might have to win the final four events. And then he nearly did. He backed up his prophecy the next week with a win at Atlanta. But his domination at Texas is what actually made critics take notice. He led 212 of 334 laps, while Johnson finished 15th. Edwards moved back to second in points and was 106 back of Johnson with two races to go. Edwards, of course, won three of the final four races but Johnson captured the bigger crown.

Bank of America 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway -- At the halfway point of the Chase, Edwards was in good shape: second in points and just 72 back of leader Johnson despite a 29th-place finish the week earlier at Talladega. But it wasn't a pretty week for Edwards. That Thursday, he got into a scuffle with Kevin Harvick in the Nationwide Series garage from which photographs surfaced showing Edwards grabbing Harvick by the throat. When it finally came time for racing, it was more of the same. Edwards lost a lap early after being caught on pit road, then an electrical malfunction chewed up his ignition box. He limped to a 33rd-place finish, and fell from second to fourth in points with just five races remaining.

Carl Edwards: 2008 Video Highlights | Superstore | Community Crew