Dream season ends in disappointment for Joe Gibbs Racing
— -- HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Joe Gibbs Racing fielded two of the four entries competing for the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup championship crown Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and the JGR Toyotas driven by Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch appeared to have the speed necessary to win the Ford EcoBoost 400.
Then the stock car team owned by the Hall of Fame football coach fumbled late in the contest.
Edwards was running second in the race and leading the four championship contenders as the field lined up for a restart with 10 laps remaining, with Busch not far behind.
But Edwards' attempt to block a fast-charging Joey Logano triggered a nine-car wreck and instantly took him out of the championship equation. Busch was then called in for a questionable stop for tires that left him too far behind for the green-white-checkered overtime finish to challenge race (and championship) winner Jimmie Johnson.
For much of the 267-lap contest, Edwards looked like the driver to beat in terms of the championship, usually holding the upper hand over final four challengers Busch, Logano and Johnson. He led eight times for a total of 47 laps.
Edwards and Busch were disputing second place (and the lead of the championship) behind race leader Kyle Larson in the closing stages when Dylan Lupton grazed the Turn 2 wall to bring out the caution on Lap 253.
Larson maintained the lead in the pits and Edwards lined up on the inside of the front row for the restart. Meanwhile, a slow pit stop dropped Busch to sixth place.
When the green flew to start the 258th lap, Logano immediately shot to Edwards' inside. Edwards steered hard left, forcing both cars off the racetrack toward the inner wall on the approach to Turn 1.
Logano caught his fishtailing car and continued into the corner. Edwards wasn't so lucky. After pounding the inside wall, the orange Camry shot up the track and was collected at near full speed by Kasey Kahne's Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, shoving it slightly airborne and into hard contact with the outer wall.
Six other cars were swept in, including the Furniture Row Racing Toyota of Martin Truex Jr., which briefly caught fire. None of the drivers was injured, but Edwards' championship hopes were as badly damaged as his mangled race car.
Five years removed from when he ended up second to Tony Stewart in the most memorable championship finish in Chase history, Edwards once again came away from Homestead empty-handed.
"They put it in my hands and that's all you can ask for," Edwards said. "[Crew chief] Dave Rogers, my guys, everybody, they did a good job. It didn't work out. This is life. We performed well. We did our best. I just risked too much.
"Dave told me before this race that it's a pretty big reward [the championship] and remember risk gets reward," he continued. "I just had to push it. I couldn't go to bed tonight and think that I gave him that lane."
Edwards stopped at Logano's pit to share a few words with Logano crew chief Todd Gordon. Despite the accident, there was no animosity from Logano or his team.
"It's cool that Carl came up and said that because I don't blame him," Logano remarked. "It was great racing. I understand why he had to throw the block and he understands why I had to make the move because that was for the win. That was the only shot that I had. That was for the race and with 10 [laps] to go, what do you expect? It's for a championship.
"That's just racing," he added. "It hurt both of us, ultimately Carl a little bit more, but it's unfortunate."
While Edwards was out of the race, classified 34th, Logano and Busch were still in the thick of the championship battle -- and Logano indirectly influenced Busch's race.
Logano pitted for minor repairs and fresh tires after a 31-minute red flag to clean up Edwards' wreck. On the subsequent restart, he shot through the field from eighth place to third, flying past Busch in the process.
The yellow flew again, and crew chief Adam Stevens called Busch in for tires. But he was mired deeper in the pack than Logano was, and while Logano finished fourth in the race, second among championship contenders, Busch could work his way back up only to sixth.
"We had one straightaway on our tires, and they [Logano] came in and put tires on and they just blitzed right up through the middle and got to us before we even got to Turn 1," Busch said. "That just kind of killed it and ruined our race.
"All in all, we fought hard tonight," he added. "We gave it everything we had. We didn't have the greatest race car today, but we had enough of one that we could run with those guys. All things considered, we had a really good run tonight -- just not good enough."
It was a disappointing end to the 2016 campaign for the Gibbs organization, which at times during the season looked like it might put all four of its drivers into the Chase final.
JGR cars led the most laps in 12 of the year's 36 races, with the satellite Furniture Row Racing entry driven by Truex Jr. adding four more.
But the Toyota attack fell short at Homestead. After Edwards and Busch led the race for the championship through 90 percent of the race, Johnson and Chevrolet snuck away with the title.
"They [Johnson's team] were nowhere all day, and just kind of ran around in sixth but never really showed their hand at all," Busch said. "They didn't really show any speed, never led any laps until the last one -- and that's the only one that really matters."
Busch at least has the satisfaction of knowing that he has a Cup Series title on his résumé. For Edwards, who has finished second in the standings twice (2008 and 2011), the wait -- and the weight -- continues.
He vows to return stronger than ever.
"I was so proud of my guys and so happy with the performance," Edwards said. "That run to catch Kyle and pass him, that was everything I had. That was the drive of my life and it didn't yield a championship, but I have a lot of pride in how we performed.
"I am telling you, this team is going to be on fire next year," he added. "You watch out -- this is going to be awesome."
