Missing Rings: Carl Edwards 2011

Carl Edwards was one of the greatest drivers of this past generation. But, he never won a championship. This is the story of Carl Edwards’ closest miss at his illusive title. This is the story of Carl Edwards’ 2011 season.
Starts: 36
Wins: 1
Top 5s: 19
Top 10s: 26
Poles: 3
Laps Led: 903
Standings: 2
Average Finish: 9.3
Missing Rings Series Playlist
• Missing Rings NASCAR

[@whatincarnation95]

Carl, we miss you.

[@nutellaman6571]

What In Carnation? Yy

[@ghostfarmer358]

I don't...lol

[@BobbertYates]

@@rcracer8872 nah carl

[@Theel25]

The number of Daytona 500s don't determine who's better. It's overall how good they were. Edwards still had potential, while Jr. had finally given her all she got. If Edwards didn't retire, he'd probably win a championship.

[@BobbertYates]

@@Theel25 he would have won 2 Championships under the 2003 Era standings

[@ZIGAG1999]

missing ring or not the 2011 season was probably the best championship season in "The Chase Era"

[@MMCS07]

ZacIsGoodAtGames agreed

[@hunterolinger1059]

And 2014

[@Tommy23269]

2004

[@allprosportz686]

You gotta give credit to tony tho. Man was on a mission those final 10 races

[@larry8030]

Agreed. As much as i dont like the chase and how bad carl got hosed...this will always be my favorite chase/playoff. Tony was in a different planet

[@martenspitzner408]

@@larry8030 and Tony got thrown back a couple of times during the season and overcame his struggles quit good especially at homestead where a loose coming piece of a piston that got thrown out of Kurt Buschs delaminating engine hit his grill and damaged it severely. He restarted dead last and drove his ass off and worked his way through the field really great using all of his great talent, plus the right amount of risk in some situations to make it through really fast and he made his moves stick

[@RawGator]

This season still hurts me

[@creditonebonnie824]

Because of cars 2 lol

[@Brandon-xc2hk]

Same man....same......

[@calebh92]

this is the saddest nascar season ever

[@SackaryDaiquiri]

As a Tony fan I disagree, my favorite season/Chase haha. Carl is an absolute class act though gotta love him

[@evanwilliams6406]

It's also fitting that Tony wins the championship with Office Depot, the sponsor that came to NASCAR with Carl Edwards and left for Stewart Haas after Tony Stewart started his own team, and the sponsor that Edwards had when he had his 9 win season of 2008, even though AFLAC had time on Edwards car as well.

[@tomdalfonzo9959]

Despite winning the 2011 Cup Series title, why did Office Depot still leave NASCAR?

[@Alpha-nj8gn]

@@tomdalfonzo9959 late reply, but I guess they didn't wanna be in NASCAR anymore. Probably too much money being spent

[@DepravedCoTApologist]

I believe because of this championship battle at Homestead is why we have the current playoff format now. This was hands down the best championship battle of the chase period & in my life as a NASCAR fan

[@tomdalfonzo9959]

I personally felt it would've been even better if Edwards and Stewart did something like, trade the lead five times in the last ten laps of the 2011 Ford 400, banging fenders, trading paint, sparks flying all over. Every time one would take the lead, the other would take it back real fast. The cherry on top would be a recreation of Ricky Craven and Kurt Busch's historic photo finish at Darlington 2003.

[@combatking20]

Carls missing rings season stats: 2008: 9 wins, 19 top 5s, 27 top 10s, 1282 laps lead, 9.5 avg finish 2011: 1 win, 19 top 5s, 26 top 10s, 903 laps lead, 9.3 avg finish 2016: 3 wins, 9 top 5s, 18 top 10s, 918 laps lead, 13.9 avg finish. 2008 and 2011 are similar minus the lack of wins in 2011. 2016 is probably the weakest. Put his 9 wins with his 2011 season, Carl basically walk away from the field IMHO.

[@jonahpearson7588]

As a Tony Stewart fan, the last 10 races in the 2011 season were magic to watch.

[@stoneracing1778]

This is why we have to have a racing league with retired drivers during the off-season

[@TylerTinsley75]

They are retired for a reason lol

[@rowdysmoke1466]

As a hardcore Tony Stewart fan, I was very pleased with the outcome of 2011 😂. Awesome video.

[@chrisuncleahmad]

It’s amazing to think Carl was closer to a championship in a year he won 1 race than the year he won 9 times

[@jbucktheman]

To add insult to injury Carl finish 2nd 7 times in 2011

[@caleykruse9852]

Tony was on a mission that year Those final 10 races he was unstoppable

[@88fanforlife]

Man 2011 was such a huge tease. Dale Jr coming up short so many times a random winner for 2 crown Jewls’s and Carl Edwards just missing out on the championship. Still a great title battle and another of the many reasons why the round system is absurd. This race had way more drama and excitement than any of the homestead races in the playoff era except for this years

[@stephenpuglisi2946]

3 crown jewel random winners- people forget the whole "his family with such a long racing history- they'll kiss the bricks together now! Paul Menard wins the Brickyard 400!"...

[@tomdalfonzo9959]

There were 18 different winners in 2011, only one away from matching the all-time record set in 2001.

[@is0latedsepratist]

Missing Rings: Kevin Harvick 2010, 2015, 2016, 2018.

[@adambannon91]

Could throw 2006 in there too. Blew an engine at Dover with the points lead, then skipped Atlanta final practice to race the Busch race in Memphis. Finished 30 something that day too. Only lost the title by around 80 points, which wasn't much under the old system.

[@tomdalfonzo9959]

Kevin Harvick was as much a victim of the BS Chase as Jeff Gordon was.

[@nolandavis9040]

Tom Dalfonzo so was Jr in 2014 and 2015 and 2004.

[@AkYank98]

Oh great give me more ptsd thanks Jaret

[@Boneychuck]

Smoke was hungrier when the pay window opened up.

[@erichk101]

Was waiting for this one! Great video!

[@JustACorvetteGuy]

Carl Edwards should have 4 championships at most

[@doomusrlc]

2011 Homestead: one of the greatest races ever

[@Jake_Owens]

They say Mark Martin is the greatest driver to never win a championship. I think there’s a good argument that Carl Edwards is that driver.

[@thebcr1012]

Nah, Edwards blows more opportunities than Mark ever did.

[@dennyhamlinfan1148]

Jake Owens carl isn't even the best to never win a title in this era, Hamlin has had better stats and more consistency in less time. I still think Mark is by far the best to never win it, both talent wise and stats wise. Carl was essentially a less consistent version of Denny Hamlin with a bigger fanbase and more xfinity starts. Carl and Denny are just 2A and 2B. If Carl has trouble being better than Denny, no way is he above Mark. I think people have revisionist history with Carl since he was so well liked. Everyone forgets that Edwards had long winless droughts and had trouble putting back to back consistent seasons together. He'd dominate one season, then go winless the next. I liked Carl, but he was inconsistent.

[@dennyhamlinfan1148]

Carl definitely deserved 2008 and 2011 though

[@ghostfarmer358]

You are probably right

[@martenspitzner408]

NEVER EVER WILL CARL BE AS GOOD AS MARK!! Mark was consistant throughout his whole career and he never just gave up even though he lost a couple of friends on the track. That never happened to Carl so you can't compare Carl with Mark

[@OoNVGoO]

Great upload made my day!

[@NASCARFAN93100]

Fun Fact: Carl Edwards' 2011 stats not only beats Tony Stewart's 2011 stats It also beats Tony Stewart's 2005 Championship stats And that is his best season of his career

[@TheCusterFan]

Really good video man

[@lathanpankey2173]

Carl lost the title in every way possible He lost being the winningest driver He lost being the most consistent He lost a tie breaker He lost on a final restart He’s up there with Denny & Mark for the rotten luck award😭

[@MotorsportsFan17]

The same thing also applies to Edwards in 2016, if it weren't for Logano being so desperate for the Title in the 2nd-to-last Restart...

[@allabouthewaves4354]

Motorsports Fan17 Desperate? He was trying to win a championship. Cmon now.

[@caleykruse9852]

Ah yeah how dare Logano try to win a title Carl blocked him That's racin

[@mkwrockers0099]

Motorsports Fan17 Are you kidding me? If a race car driver is going to get desperate, going for a championship is the time to do it. It wasn’t Joey’s fault that Carl didn’t get a good restart and basically turned himself across Joey’s nose.

[@MotorsportsFan17]

@@mkwrockers0099 Well, that seems very abundantly clear looking back at what happened, but of course, I'm not as hard on drivers who want to spin others for a win or a Championship, which is why I didn't have as big a problem with what Austin Dillon did at the Daytona 500 this year...

[@ShotgunDolphin]

Oh yeah it definitely wasn’t because Edwards blocked Joey all the way off of the track. I agree with you that Edwards should have won it in 16. But he blew it because he couldn’t stand the idea of a Penske driver passing him.

[@stw3art14]

This was my favorite championship battle but also my hardest one to pick a side. Tony is my favorite driver and Carl Edwards is my second favorite. 2016 was also tough because Carl came close again but came up just short. Then both Tony and Carl retired. That was a rough day

[@allennixon4745]

I’m not a fan of Carl but seeing him not winning those championships and the 2011 championship I was really not surprised he totally deserves it.

[@larsongame4120]

13-14 yr old me was devastated at the title loss. But looking back 10 yrs later, Carl should’ve won more 😭

[@nc2827]

Amazing.

[@AgtWashingtub]

Wow, the feels.

[@braydenboesenhofer9718]

Are you gonna make a missing ring video for the KZbin pro series

[@sethhanson6412]

You forgot to mention that Carl had a 4.9 average finish in the chase the best ever.

[@kevinmeyer5485]

That homestead race was my favorite race ever as a Stewart fan

[@ChrisT.84fan.]

I miss the old format.

[@Nascar-zv9lh]

Hands down best championship battle ever

[@American_God]

Omg that beautiful multicolored car at 8:00 now thats amazing

[@stevebirchall35]

The best chase run of all 5 of 10 races.

[@alexgirolami83]

I really miss Carl, at the end(the middle of the martinsville race) looked like it was gonna be a battle between the 14,17, and 99, but kenseth kept getting stuck on the outside at martinsville on the restarts. It would of have been a hell of a between those 3 if it went that way

[@stevebirchall35]

Where was carl in the points at the start of chase that year?

[@GatoradeCupSeriesX94]

Miss those backflips...

[@DragonStar524]

And Carl doing a back flip. We saw plenty of those in the 2011 season.

[@Katomivt]

Someone needs to review the 2011 season

[@alexthesniper1952]

This was my dream season in nascar my two favorite drivers in a championship duel I was happy when Tony Won But I wouldn't have been mad if Carl won Either Happy Either Way.

[@jacobred00]

This and 2008 was definitely his years.

[@jacobred00]

@Camtheman 33 More like Harvck actually.

[@caleykruse9852]

@@jacobred00 Harvick would be 2015 He had an insane amount of top 2 finishes Lost to a guy who missed 11 races

[@jacobred00]

@@caleykruse9852 2015 and 16.

[@Shawn6751]

2012 Dale Jr since he held the points lead at one point till Walkins Glen. He had a points battle with Matt Kenseth for the majority of the season.

[@chrisbarnett4719]

I miss carl edwards

[@stoneracing1778]

Missing subscribers: The Iceberg 2000 subs

[@OjamaLemon]

This was almost kenseth 2

[@Frankie4002]

Carl edwards 2016

[@Nathan-dm9wr]

Man I miss the backflips

[@awesomeladen1166]

Missing rings Kasey Kahne 2006?

[@chromediesel444]

Not counting the chase format, Carl Edwards could have been the 2 time Cup Champion. 2008 and 2011.

[@scottchapman6754]

Thats my favorite excuse that people STILL use, haha. "Not counting the chase format"......but we are in the Chase Format, stop living in the past, we are in 2019 now.

[@nascarfan9724]

So Carl Edwards and the Vancouver Canucks have something in common...

[@ghostfarmer358]

You could say the chase ended up killing roush fenway racing

[@YoshiFan961]

Missing Rings: Brad Keselowski 2014

[@areasevenpro]

Missing Rings: Harry Gant 1981, 1984-1985, 1991-1992 Terry Labonte 1982, 1987-1988 Bill Elliott 1983-1987, 1992 Dale Earnhardt 1988-1989, 1995, 2000 Rusty Wallace 1988, 1993-1994, 1998 Mark Martin 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2009 Ricky Rudd 1991 Dale Jarrett 1996-1998 Bobby Labonte 1999 Tony Stewart 1999 Kurt Busch 2002, 2009 Denny Hamlin 2006, 2014 Kevin Harvick 2010-2011, 2013, 2015, 2017-2018

[@ryannichols8315]

Carl would have a ring if not for Joey Legano.

[@scottchapman6754]

Joey did exactly what he had to do, hold his position, and Carl even said that multiple time in post race/ post Homestead interviews, hell he even told Joeys crew chief that Joey executed perfectly. "That’s 100 percent on me,” Edwards told his team over the radio- Fox Sports News. I dont like Joey at all but he cant be blamed for that one, unfortunately.

[@rosschastainfan1851]

Ryan Nichols Carl would have had a ring if not for Carl Edwards.

[@evannuh-koo-la4054]

Carl would have a ring if it wasn't for Dylan Lupton

[@JSkitt]

Really stinks Edwards left. He was the most classiest guy, never got mad, even when turned at homestead.

[@dennyhamlinfan1148]

Anti-France I'd say he got pretty mad when he flipped Brad at Atlanta because he got upset over something petty. Lol

[@f1fanatic333]

Hi

[@evanwilliams6406]

If Carl Edwards was under the old season long system, he would be a champion. He was a champion driver, and he scored just as many points as Tony Stewart, he just lost in a tiebreaker but sometimes I wish they just gave them both something because they fought so hard and Tony Stewart used every bit of his experience to nail that one down, and he really got under Carl Edwards skin that whole run, and he backed up what he said, he made it hard for Carl to make up any ground. But Edwards gave a great effort and he was the most consistent driver all season in that season of 2008 and 2011. Those were Carl's best shots at a title as well as 2016.

[@tyman1014]

This season just showed how messed up the chase is! By the way, the new format is even worse, as it showed in the 2018 season.

[@Stuffyoucantunwatch]

What if There was no reset for the championship after 26 races? What if Stewart's team continues to be a non factor in the last 10 races like he was in the first 26? He barely got in and said they were a wasted car taking up space in the chase.

[@DaytonaPrototypes]

Carl Edwards was the classiest guy I ever watched compete.

[@bubbaluv0286]

I still think Carl let Smith win at Darlington

[@jessiehenry5405]

Missing Ring Kyle Busch 2018

[@MotorsportsFan17]

Missing Ring: Greg Biffle 2004

[@JackCallSports]

Motorsports Fan17 2005*

[@allabouthewaves4354]

How is that a missing ring? Smoke clearly was the best driver after the middle of the season. Biffle was consistent but not as much as Stewart.

[@ghostfarmer358]

Carl was a real good driver. Glad he didn't win a championship. Because of the way he punked kenseth. And tried to punk harvick

[@VGF80]

Or what if the chase did not exist?

[@CBF65]

Missing Rings: Kyle Busch 2018 Missing Rings: Matt Kenseth 2013

[@allabouthewaves4354]

2013 was Johnson’s year. He was by far the most consistent driver that year. Nobody was touching him when it come to consistency.

[@truenorthcanadian5628]

Missing rings: Dale Earnhardt Jr: 2004

[@TheIceberg]

B M Already gotchya covered bud kzbin.info/www/bejne/fnfMZmlvrJ2jhpY

[@Stuffyoucantunwatch]

Under the original system, Stewart doesn't have a chance in he'll of catching Edwards.

[@DanielGonzalez-yg2zr]

Missing rings Greg biffle 2005

[@tamezzodiac2862]

He should have 3 championships but the chase stole them.

[@NASCARFAN93100]

Actually Carl should have 2 Titles Kevin Harvick is the driver that should have 3 Titles

[@TotoDG]

As much as I love Regan Smith’s win, it was one of the things that cost Carl Edwards his title.

[@mattr.8470]

Missing Rings: Kyle Busch 2018 -totally not biased at all-

[@tannermoreno3117]

Missing rings: Greg biffle 2005

[@IBangedUrMom69420]

Maybe a hot take but this season is better than 1992