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I know that there are a lot of fans that are not Carl Edwards fans that are wondering why he can get four or five major companies from the United States to sign with him and the Roush Fenway Racing marketing crew can barely get one signed for Matt Kenseth.  It’s a simple answer – The Driver.

Edwards by far is the most marketable person in the sport.  There are a lot of fans that might disagree but put the winning equation together, he runs up front, speaks clearly, takes the time with the fans, and he is seen in more places than any other driver in the sport.  Next year it appears that Edwards will be showing a 4-5 sponsor system on his car with the likes of Fastenal, Kellogg’s Company, UPS, Aflac and possibly more if Subway returns to the car.  Here’s the facts……

When a company signs with a driver, they want someone that can advertise for them, that can get in front of the camera and support their product professionally and with respect.  The most popular driver in the sport is not the best for advertising and marketing, he’s not the best behind the camera and gets very nervous and agitated with interviewing and that hurts with advertising campaigns that sponsors put in place for drivers.  I have read a lot of remarks from fans commenting on NASCAR becoming nothing but a big marketing campaign for America’s companies, well it has to be to survive.

The days of one sponsor supporting one team the entire season is getting to slim down and they are going out just like single car operations are. Kellogg’s renewed their deal with Carl Edwards and added two extra races to their sponsorship for next season, and it is something that many were expecting when diecast were already being produced for next season with Frosted Flakes and Cheez It on the hood of the car for two races a piece.  Edwards is good because he do ads for four different style companies, he does it for an injury insurance company, a cereal/snack company, probably the top cereal producer in the United States, he will have UPS on his car next season, a delivery service, and then Fastenal which is a fastener/hardware chain.

Drivers have to be marketable to carry on such a load and keep these people coming back for more.  Fastenal was a company that not many people realized existed until they arrived into NASCAR.  They have expanded from being a part-time sponsor in Nationwide to growing into the role as the lead sponsor for Carl Edwards next season with a 17 race stint on the 99 car.   So when you put together the partnerships, its win-win, no question.

However, here’s the one thing that many fans do not understand with the racing market.  Team’s don’t decide who sponsors who, the sponsor plays the biggest part in where they can because they are forking out the cash to go on the race car.  And a good example for it is UPS, they were a full-season sponsor for David Ragan, however felt that their advertising would be better switching to a one race deal with Edwards because with Edwards, that one race would likely be one that sees the car up front.  Sponsors are clever when they sign with certain people and sometimes they make a bad decision, but question this to yourself, who would you rather have – a guy that wins races, competes for the title, is seen on a weekly basis in the top-5 competing for solid finishes, and came close to winning the title, or a guy that has won one event in 4 seasons, and hasn’t ever made the Chase?

UPS was happy with Ragan for how he handled himself behind the camera and doing their Expos.  However, they feel more comfortable with Edwards.

Besides a few on track incidents where Edwards has raised a few questions, and remarks, he’s been solid.  He’s exactly what a sponsor wants when they sign a driver.

Yeah, Yeah we all have heard the term thou shall not judge.  Well it is hard not to judge someone in NASCAR has been in the storyline for much of the season for negativity in the sport and not positivity.  Kurt Busch and Roger Penske Racing agreed to part ways with one another on Monday and it opened up a whole list of discussions.  Some fans are not understanding the decisions that Penske made in letting go of Busch, and even though it is said to be a mutual agreement I have a hard time believing that.  There was too much of a spark that came from statements after the incident in Homestead occurred.

Racing is a gigantic business.  It operates the same as most everyday businesses do, and you must have a supplier and backer to help keep things going in a large racing inviroment.  I have been following racing the early 80s, and seen the sport make a huge rise because of the help of a sponsor coming in, in the 1970s and helping it rise to its limits with Winston.  Now sponsors play an even bigger part in the race teams in how they are ran, and they do have a say in what the driver does while wearing their logos.  If a driver does something inside the car, or causes something that brings a notice of negative response to their company, there is a chance that the driver might be let go.  I believe M&M’s showed that when they took their name off of the race car of Kyle Busch, and then I believe Shell/Pennzoil didn’t like what happened with Kurt Busch and his foul language used against Jerry Punch at Homestead.

Questions are always asked on why a team can let a driver go for just taking someone out of a race, or a few words being said.  Most of the time there are clauses in contracts that leave openings for drivers, owners, and sponsors to have a say in what happens.  And if there is a breech in that clause of the contract, something can be done about it.  The first incident I recall where a driver was let go because of something was Jeff Green with Richard Childress Racing in 2003, after he and teammate Kevin Harvick had an incident where Green had a few choice words to say about Harvick, and Childress fired him.

There is no “speaking his mind” in this sport.  Wherever you are, whatever you say, someone hears and sees what you say and do while you are at a track.  And ask Brad Keselowski, NASCAR still can dictate what you say in the social media area as well.  NASCAR runs this big business, and there are major players in who decides what.  I think when you go back to the incident where Carl Edwards wrecked Brad Keselowski, his sponsor Scotts made a statement and said it would not happen again as long as they were on the car.  The fact is sponsors have a say to these teams more than anyone will ever really know because there are only a handful of people to see contracts when they are signed.

Kurt Busch represented mainly one major company – the Shell Oil Company.  It gets even harder when you are signed to represent four to five companies as Edwards is, with companies like Aflac, Subway, Kelloggs, Fastenal, and UPS, all are high dollar money companies that want to be represented in a well mannered way. 

Then there are car owners, the next major piece of the puzzle in decision making.  I listened to Busch today on Speed in a Phone Interview and he said his relationship with Penske kept him from having any fun.  Roger Penske is a tough customer to please, but that’s why he has had success in all forms of auto racing.  And when it is the second time that one of the most well respected owners in the business cuts you loose, there are major issues somewhere and it isn’t with the owners.  Jack Roush did it first in 2005, now Penske?  That says a lot there for Kurt Busch.

The fact is, there are drivers more deserving of a top ride than one of the drivers that can’t get along with any crew chief that he works with, cusses out the media, and has an argy spout every time something can’t go right.  Jack Roush has two young kids that are very well deserving of good rides in the future, they are young, hold their temper in check and have extraordinary talent behind the wheel.  If things go the way rumors are saying, another guy that raced for Jack Roush will get a second chance with Roger Penske and he has something Kurt Busch does not, a respectful manner, a good voice of support for his sponsors and his race team, and he’s a great role model, that would be David Ragan.  I think that there are a lot of fans that don’t understand how this business actually works, but they need to learn it. 

Racing has its setbacks, it’s highs and lows, but every driver needs to earn respect before it is given to them.  I think when you look at the two brothers from Las Vegas, there is one thing that is there, they demand it, but have not earned it.  And I said this to someone the other night, you can be one of the greatest race car drivers on the planet, but that doesn’t mean you are going to make it in this sport if you cannot handle yourself off of the track with a little bit of respect to fans, the media, and your peers.  This season both Kyle and Kurt Busch showed things that were uncalled for with the media, their teams and for fans that look up to them.  I will always say this, no matter who it is, the light doesn’t always overshadow the dark.  There is a lot of darkness within both of these drivers careers, and if it is cleared up, it will only go down hill. 

It’s just a little something that some of us call “RISKY BUSINESS.”

After finishing second in the title race, Carl Edwards’ crew chief and his team were rewarded with some off-season marks for their success.

Crew Chief Bob Osborne was named the DIRECTV Crew Chief of the Year after he helped Edwards score 1 win, 19 top-fives, and 26 top-tens and kept Edwards in the points lead for 24 of the 36 races this season.  Osborne was not at the banquet to accept the ward, however, Carl Edwards did it on his behalf. 

“Bob is like a brother to me and he’s probably the hardest-working guy in the business,” Edwards said.  “He’s actually back at the shop today preparing for 2012 so we can come back even stronger next year.”

The No. 99 Aflac Racing crew was able to pull off the Mechanix Wear Most Valuable Pit Crew award as well.  The team was also part of the effort this season on pit road as they helped keep Edwards up front during the season, as the team scored a top-ten finish in all but 12 events this season.  Pit crew coach Andy Ward accepted the award on behalf of the team consisting of: Kale Uphoff, front tire changer; Alan Troutman, front tire carrier; Dennis Killian, jackman; Dwayne Ogles, rear tire changer; Jody Fortson, rear tire carrier and Joe Karasinski, gasman.

“I want to thank Mechanix Wear and NASCAR for this award,” said Ward.  “I want to brag on these guys. This group has been a pleasure to work with. A lot of these guys are new and some won their fist race this year. I promised them we’d get to Vegas but we were one point short of staying for the banquet tomorrow.  We’re already looking forward to next year to come back and win this award again.”

People can say that they want to but NASCAR has its similarities to other sports in its off-seasons.  In pro football if a team has success, there is still changes made to them, I have been an pro football fan all of my life and have noticed that the major players are usually re-signed and then there are some unhappy team members that leave or get canned.  Racing is the same-way, no matter how you want to look at it.

There are several reasons that things happen in sports.  Injuries are one of the major reasons, losing, and money play a huge part in decisions that are made in the off-season in all sports and it will be this season.  There are some things that are going on at Roush Fenway Racing that none of us will know the whole story about, I have heard stories about people being cut loose because of Roush dropping to three cars, and people leaving because they were able to find better jobs somewhere else.  I think that what a lot of people forget is, every year that a team wins the super bowl, they usually make major cuts to their operation.  Now there is no “true” salary cap in NASCAR, yet, teams do have to put a base salary down every year to run a successful operation.

All I have heard this past week has been words of worry from fans.  However, notice that the crew chief is still there that led the team and that the driver is still there.  Jack Roush signed the two main components to a race team.  I do know that a new car chief and engineer are likely going to be put in place next season, however, both are for two different reasons I can’t say why.  One I wrote about a couple of months ago on a request by my best friend, and I wrote about Pierre Kuettel likely not coming back I would put now it is very likely and I would give it a 90 to 10 chance, that P.K. will not return, and I know that there are some guys that have parted ways with RFR because of other reasons.

However, where I think a lot of people are forgetting is the fact that changes occur and rebuilding process have to begin.  It is different for people on the outside of the sport to realize the reasons that we see changes made every year.  I mean think about this, who in their right mind would have expected Tony Stewart and Darrien Grubb to part ways after winning the title this season.   Changes in sports, including in NASCAR, are like the weather, they change everyday as people say.  I compare it to the Colts losing Manning at the beginning of this season, no one was really expecting it and they are the worst team in the book this year.  I don’t think the rebuilding process will be as bad as people are expecting,

This is just my opinion, there are a lot of guys in the organization that were expandable, meaning move from Nationwide up to Cup and can move into a tougher position.  I believe that it could take a few weeks to really notice things but Edwards and Bob Osborne know how to make things turn around.  I believe there is a confidence level between the driver and his crew chief that will help keep this team on top of its game.  But the changes being made in the off-season gives everyone a good comparison to what happens when teams win championships or are the runner ups in other sports. 

Changes happen, it is something people have to come with the understanding of.

It’s been two days since the race for the championship ended and I think it settled in on all of us Carl Edwards fans.  However, I have been hearing a lot of fans make comments that the loss to Stewart in the title race would hurt Carl Edwards when it comes to competing for the 2012 Sprint Cup Series championship.  I don’t think so and there are a few reasons why I believe this.

Carl Edwards commented when he re-signed with RFR he wanted to sign with a team he knew could compete for a title (Jamie Squire/Getty Images North America)

I have been hearing a few comments that Bob Osborne being the crew chief has been a major disaster for this team.  Osborne is a great crew chief and he proved it this season by keeping this team up front for most of this season and it ran consistently up front under the leadership of Osborne, he is a class act like the driver.  I had a debate with a fellow Edwards fans a few years ago that the right combo package for Edwards was having Osborne on his pit box.  The driver and crew chief have to have a mold together and I believe that these two guys have that same championship mold that Johnson and Chad Knaus have and it’s the type of chemistry that doesn’t break.

Listening to these guys over the last 6 or seven years seasons I have seen a lot of great conversations and the two have been able to win 18 races as driver and crew chief.  Now will come the part that matters.  I do know that when Edwards re-signed with Roush Fenway, his crew chief had signed before him.  It was a piece to help keep Edwards with the organization at the time.  It may have helped.  I did hear Edwards say after the race was completed that “Bob Osborne could be his crew chief as long as he wanted to be.” 

The second part is Edwards.  I have read a few people make the comments about him losing the edge because he lost, just as Hamlin did this past season.  I don’t think that you can compare two different drivers on how they will take losing.  Edwards took it like a real champion on how losing, and he has something he is setting his sights on next season, he learned a few things that will come up next season.  Edwards is a very determined and intense driver on the race track and I believe that he will be back in full force next season, because even with a few changes the 99 team will be able to perform at the same level. 

The third part is the Ford Racing FR9 engine.  That engine package is the best performer that Ford has produced in years, and with Doug Yates knowledge and everything else, they will perform on top of their game.  I know people were worried when the 9, 16 and 6 went out of the race on Sunday night but the 99 car held up because there was no experimental engine parts used on their car at Homestead.  The engine package has been great this season, as Roush Fenway Racing ended the season with two drivers in the top-five in points, seven victories, and on the Nationwide Series side they dominated.

There will be some changes coming at Roush Fenway Racing as most have already heard.  We could see that coming with the economy and the way that it has been going this year.  In my mind, I think dropping down to three cars instead of running the four will help Roush Fenway more than hurt them.  And I do believe that the 99 car will be back for some more title action next season.

Carl Edwards knew there was a chance that it could come out like this.  He was three points ahead of Tony Stewart in the championship race before the event started, and he knew that if Stewart won the race, the title went to the driver of the 14 car.  Edwards dominated much of the race, as he led a race high 119 laps and appeared to have the best car on the track until a caution for rain made the race a little different.

Edwards came in and took two tires and fuel and it changed the outcome after Stewart had pitted a few laps before the caution and took four tires.  However, that didn’t mean the Columbia, Missouri native gave up.  Edwards and Stewart put on the best show of determination in the final 40 laps anyone could ask for.  Edwards couldn’t catch Stewart and the tie breaker was Stewart’s five wins in the Chase.  No one had ever won that many races in the ten race Chase.  I give Stewart credit for what he and his team accomplished but for those that ever criticized Carl Edwards as being classless, they were shown the real Carl Edwards tonight.  The guy that came through the racing ranks and put his business card in a racing magizine almost 11 years ago, has come along in that short time and he showed pure class in his post race interview.

“We knew all the circumstances that could happen, but this was the least probable outcome,” Edwards said. “I was prepared for anything. I told my family before the race, whatever the outcome, win, lose or draw, I want to be a good example for my kids.”

Carl Edwards is a class act for this sport, championship or not, he garnered in what he had accomplished.  He came over the radio and told his team, “Guys, keep your heads up,” Edwards said. “Bob, you’re the best crew chief out here. I appreciate everything you guys did for me this year. We will go home, work hard and beat them next year.”

And when Stewart came onto the front stretch the first man to congratulate him – Carl Edwards.  I have listened to a lot of fans sit and criticize Carl Edwards in the past for being classless, for being two-faced, and for being too aggressive.  People accuse him of telling the media what they want to hear, however, tonight came straight from the heart.  I have watch this man come from the unknown guy from Missouri to being a superstar driver.  There are fans before myself that seen this guy come from that local short tracker to the guy that everyone knows as “Cousin Carl.” 

I was on twitter when Mario Andretti gave him one of the great compliments that anyone could ask for, coming from probably the greatest race car driver “”Winning like a champion is one thing. Losing like a champion is pure class. Carl Edwards, I haven’t seen anyone take second with more class” 

When Andretti compliments you, it is sincere and honest.  He is another driver and legendary role model that took a lot of what Edwards has.  Different styles of racing, but to get a remark like that should mean a lot for fans that really don’t know Carl Edwards.  I would put money on it that Kyle Busch could not have handled himself with the integrity and dignity that Edwards did tonight, and a lot of athletes should take a lesson on the way this guy handled himself, even after finishing second.  I said this on Friday to a lot of my friends, that no matter the outcome of this race, I would still be a Carl Edwards fan and I would give the guys credit, because call it how you want, Carl Edwards had the season that would have won the title any other year, he just had a guy that was a little better this season.  So this is to Carl, Bob Osborne, Pierre Kuettel and the rest of the team, you guys are deserving to be champions, and you are “our champions.”