Edwards to leave Roush (15th Update)
07/27/14 This rumor is now 'fact.' Carl Edwards, winner of 23 races for the organization since 2005, will not return in 2015, Roush Fenway Racing announced Sunday. Greg Biffle has signed a contract extension to continue in his current ride.
Sunday's announcement by news release was no surprise. Both Edwards and Joe Gibbs Racing officials have been mum when asked if the 2011 Cup runner-up would move to a new fourth JGR team next season.
Team owner Jack Roush said a driver leaving is part of the business and it was not emotional for him. He said Edwards had told him more than a month ago that he was in serious discussions with another team and did not tell him where he was going.
"We wish it wouldn't happen, but there's curiosity (from him) about what another team's situation would look like," Roush said. "I think that although I shouldn't speculate, I think Carl wanted to try something different before he saw his career get in its middle term and its final years. … It's just a reality of the business we're in.
"I have no emotion either way on that."
Edwards also would not talk about his 2015 destination before Sunday's Crown Royal 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
"There are so many moving parts here, and this was the right time for Roush Fenway to talk about their plans for next year," Edwards said Sunday. "For me, the right time to talk about exactly what I'm doing next year is the same scenario — there are a lot of moving parts and we'll announce everything as soon as possible.
"But today is about racing. I talked to my crew. I talked to Jack (Roush), to (crew chief) Jimmy (Fennig) and our mission is to go win this race today and go win the championship. From a competitive standpoint, that's the key. That's where I'm at today."
Edwards said his 2015 deal is done, and it wasn't easy talking to his team Sunday morning.
"It was difficult today," Edwards said. "It's a difficult part of the sport. Jimmy Fennig put in the best perspective. He said, 'This is part of the sport that is what it is.' He did a really good job of reminding me and everybody, hey, we can't lose our focus, we have to win the championship this year." Sporting News
07/12/14 Richard Childress Racing had "informal discussions" with free agent Carl Edwards earlier this season. Edwards toured the Welcome, N.C.-based racing campus during Martinsville Speedway weekend in March. "We – as a lot of teams did – had some informal discussions with Carl Edwards," said R.C.R. president Torrey Galida on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. "And yeah, we feel like it would have to be a guy that's the caliber of a Carl Edwards. He's an incredibly talented guy. He is a franchise-type driver. And so, I think that's the kind of guy – whether it's Carl specifically – but that's the kind of driver that everybody out there is looking to add to their stable." Motorsport
06/15/14 At the end of FoxSports1 NASCAR Raceday, Bob Dilner reported that #99-Carl Edwards had spoken to Richard Childress Racing about a Sprint Cup Series ride in 2015 and gave them an answer of 'No'
06/22/14 from FoxSport's Tom Jensen's Twitter about some recent Joe Gibbs Racing rumors:
1) JD Gibbs just told me it will be at least September before Joe Gibbs Racing announces if it will run a fourth car (for Edwards).
06/21/14 Greg Biffle said Friday he is still working on a new contract to stay at Roush Fenway Racing.
Biffle admitted he has talked to other teams in the garage, but he was presently negotiating with Roush, the only team he's driven for since his 1998 rookie season in the Truck Series. He won the Truck Series championship in 2000 and added a Nationwide Series title in 2002.
"My deal is definitely not done," he told The Associated Press during practice at Sonoma Raceway. "I'm trying to negotiate an extension. Nothing has changed."
Biffle has maintained all year his priority is not to leave the organization. Roush President Steve Newmark tweeted Friday that the team hopes to have some news soon to announce on Biffle's No. 16 team "but nothing to report yet." One thing is almost for certain, if Biffle stays a Ford driver he'll probably never win the Sprint Cup title. You need Chevy power for that.
06/13/14 Jack Roush comments on 2015 driver lineup and performance: car owner Jack Roush participated in a press conference this morning announcing their involvement with EcoPower re-refined motor oil, produced by Safety-Kleen. In addition, team owner Jack Roush answered questions regarding the 2014 season and 2015, the transcript in part:
Q) WHERE DO YOU FEEL YOUR PROGRAM IS AT THIS POINT AND DO YOU HAVE ANY UPDATE ON YOUR DRIVER LINEUP FOR NEXT YEAR?
Roush: "In due time we'll have announcements for 2015. We've got a lot of 2014 in front of us and we're obviously focused on that. If you looked at our year we've been probably challenged more than some of the teams have with the difference in the ride height. I know that's changed the dynamic of the underbody of the car and it's been a revelation. How low is low enough and how low is too low. Too low is higher than we thought it might have been a month ago and we're sorting that out. We're committing to test as much as we can. We've got a test going somewhere virtually every week, either a tire test at a NASCAR race track – a sanctioned test – or a bootlegged race track test that's not on the NASCAR circuit, so we're testing.
"We're running our eight-post machine in the lab real hard and we're taking very careful note of the ride height changes on the race track and where we seem to have our challenge and our best result returned. I think that most of the answer for the things that we need are in our box of parts – it's the bump stops, it's a rubber, it's those spring combinations – it's the roll bars. We don't seem to have a kinematic problem. We don't seem to have a fundamental error problem. Certainly the Penske guys are running really well with very similar cars and we've just got to get back to where we need to be. This business cycles. We've had times when we've been the cars to beat for an extended period of time to everybody's frustration and now we're just struggling to get back to where we need to be." Ford Racing
06/09/14
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| Greg Biffle to stay at Roush |
While Carl Edwards is leaving Roush for JGR as reported by AR1.com, Greg Biffle and his primary sponsor, 3M, will remain with Roush Fenway Racing, multiple sources have confirmed to the Charlotte Observer. An official announcement of contract extensions for Biffle and the sponsor with RFR could come as soon as this coming week, sources said. A team spokesman said the organization would continue its policy of not commenting on drivers' contract status until an official announcement was made. Charlotte Observer
06/08/14 You read it here first where Carl Edwards will be driving in 2015 (JGR). However, any news outlet that doesn't read AR1.com are still sniffing around for clues. Team Penske owner Roger Penske was adamant that he has "no interest" in Carl Edwards. Penske, who is at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend for the NASCAR / IndyCar double-header told Catchfence.com that Team Penske is currently not in a position to field a third NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team in 2015, despite the chatter. "There's no interest," he said. "We don't have the sponsorship to do a third full-time team and he's under contract with Roush Fenway Racing. It doesn't make sense."
06/06/14 Part of this rumor is now almost 'fact'. AR1 sources tell us that long-time Ford driver Carl Edwards will definitely be moving to the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team in 2015 (as the 4th car in that stable) and Adam Stevens will be his crew chief.
06/04/14 From a FoxSports article by Larry McReynolds: Last week there was a lot of talk and speculation that both #16-Greg Biffle and #99-Carl Edwards would be driving for new teams in 2015, but now I [Larry McReynolds] just don't think that's going to be the case for both of them. I actually think Greg will be staying now at Roush Fenway Racing. Kept hearing that there was a possible deal for him to join Michael Waltrip Racing next year but it just couldn't come together.
With that said, I [McReynolds] do believe Carl Edwards will definitely be leaving Roush Fenway at the end of the season. There is a lot of speculation about him going to Joe Gibbs Racing which tried to put a deal together for him in 2013. That would obviously be a fourth team for Gibbs, should it happen. However, the closer I keep my ear to the ground, the more I hear that Carl will be going to Team Penske and they will field a third team in 2015.
06/02/14
Old DW may have just spilled the beans on where Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle will wind up next season. And if Darrell Waltrip's body language and hinting is any indication, neither driver will be back with Roush Fenway Racing. During Sunday's prerace show on FOX, anchor Chris Myers asked Waltrip if the two free agents are leaving RFR, and if so, where will their new home in 2015 be. The first part of Waltrip's reply wasn't totally surprising. But then Waltrip dropped an obvious bombshell. Reaching over to put his right hand on the shoulder of younger brother Michael, who just happens to own Michael Waltrip Racing, DW's body language and then verbiage said it all – and left Michael staring straight ahead almost in shock. "And Greg Biffle will go to some two-car team that maybe one time had a third car," Darrell Waltrip said.
In an attempt to quickly try and cover up what his older brother just said – and obviously deflect that scenario (probably because MWR isn't ready to make a potential announcement yet) – Michael gave his take on it. "Uhhhhhh, I think Carl goes and Greg stays," Michael Waltrip said. "I think the Biff stays at Roush, he's going to be the veteran, the anchor to that rookie lineup for the young guys that are going to race at Roush. So, he goes, the other cat stays." NBC Sports
05/31/14 This rumor is upgraded to 'strong' today. Sources within the Roush team claim that Biffle is "already shopping around" for a different team in 2015 and that he will be "anywhere but" Roush Fenway Racing next season.
05/27/14 While all eyes have been on Greg Biffle's teammate, Carl Edwards, to be the biggest domino to fall, could Biffle actually be the one to set everything in motion? As recently as April, the 44-year-old stated his intention was to stay at Roush Fenway Racing and that a new deal was imminent. "We've been working pretty diligently on that," he told Frontstretch back then. "It has been a pretty good negotiation so far. There are a lot of new people on both sides of the table, so everyone is kind of getting a feel for the program and learning it. We feel pretty good that we'll have something to announce before we get to summer." But as May rolled around, warm weather looming Biffle suddenly sounded colder, less confident in his status for the future. "I think there's plenty of opportunities in the industry to be in competitive cars," he said in an interview on SiriusXM Radio earlier this month. "I enjoy being at Roush Fenway. I love 3M. We have a great relationship and the program works really, really well for 3M … Plain and simple, I've got options. I know I'm going to be racing. I know I'm going to be driving a car. So I'm not worried."
Supposedly things have deteriorated from there. Despite saying two weeks ago in Kansas Biffle was "absolutely, 100%" not looking outside his current organization, I've learned that's not the case. Sources claim the driver's plans lie elsewhere for 2015, that he is actively seeking other employment and that the feeling is mutual. One link in particular, direct to the Roush organization who wished to remain anonymous said he's been told the future for Biffle involves "anything but" RFR, the only NASCAR team he's really driven for. If the driver, a Roush Cup full-timer since 2003, does not return next year, speculation has been rampant that he will take sponsor 3M with him. A red flag went up about that possibility on Saturday, when RFR announced that they planned to return their #6 to the track next year. Owner Jack Roush said that he plans for the new team, driven by Trevor Bayne, to be a fourth car, but it's also possible he's prepping to lose financial backing for 2015. Frontstretch
05/10/14 Greg Biffle has no desire to leave Roush Fenway Racing when his contract expires at season's end. "No, not a bit," Biffle said Friday at Kansas Speedway when asked if he was looking outside of the Roush organization. "Absolutely, 100 percent 'No.' " Biffle said earlier this week on SIRIUS/XM NASCAR Radio's "Dialed In" that negotiations are continuing with current sponsor 3M to extend the company's deal to back Biffle's #16 Ford.
While nothing is imminent in terms of finalizing a new contract, Biffle says talks are continuing in the right direction. "We have a great relationship. They're very happy with the program," said Biffle. "There is a bunch of new people trying to get their arms around all of the business. They've got a lot of business units inside that '3M' … which likes having all these sponsors in the garage part of one company. This is a big deal for them." Motor Racing Network
05/09/14 Greg Biffle told Motorsport.com last month at Darlington that it was his "intent" to stay at Roush Fenway Racing and he had "a feeling (he was) getting closer" to inking a new deal. However, following his conversation Wednesday night with Claire B. Lang on Sirius/XM NASCAR Radio, Biffle's plans didn't sound so concrete.
"I think there's plenty of opportunities in the industry to be in competitive cars," Biffle said. "I enjoy being at Roush Fenway. I love 3M. We have a great relationship and the program works really, really well for 3M … Plain and simple, I've got options. I know I'm going to be racing. I know I'm going to be driving a car. So I'm not worried about it." Motorsport.com