CHARLOTTE, NC - OCTOBER 09: Carl Edwards, driver of the #19 Stanley Toyota, sits in his car during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on October 9, 2015 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images)
Of the 12 remaining drivers in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, none has been closer to a championship -- only to walk away empty-handed -- than Carl Edwards.
In his first season with Joe Gibbs Racing after spending his entire career pre-2015 with Roush Fenway Racing, Edwards has enjoyed a solid and at-times downright stellar campaign in JGR's No. 19 Toyota Camry.
With wins in two of NASCAR's biggest races -- the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte and the Bojangles' Southern 500 at Darlington -- Edwards will no doubt look back on the season with mostly fond memories.
But can he bury his past heartbreaks once and for all by hoisting the elusive Sprint Cup Series championship trophy?
He are five reasons why Edwards will go the distance and finally claim NASCAR's top prize in the 2015 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup:
5. He's come so close: They say that to win one, you have to lose one. Well, Edwards has twice been a bridesmaid for the Sprint Cup championship -- including in 2011 when he lost the title on a tiebreaker to Tony Stewart.
4. His crew chief: The man atop Edwards' pit box is Darian Grubb, who you might remember was the crew chief for Stewart during Stewart's amazing run to the championship four years ago. It's quite ironic that Grubb now has a chance to win a title with Edwards -- the man he and Stewart beat on the basis of a tiebreaker in 2011.
3. He's peaking at the right time: It took awhile -- about a half a season in fact -- for Edwards to really find his mojo at Joe Gibbs Racing, after spending the first decade of his career in a Roush Fenway Racing Ford. But Edwards' No. 19 Toyota has been fast just about everywhere as of late -- a good sign for him, and a bad one for his competition.
2. He drives for JGR: No organization has been as dominant this season as Joe Gibbs Racing, winners of 13 of the season's first 30 races. The simple fact that Edwards is in a JGR Toyota all but guarantees him a lot of speed for the stretch run.
1. He's been here before: Although Edwards has never closed the deal on a championship, the experience he's gleaned from having been in close championship battles multiple times could go a long way -- especially if he's one of the four championship finalists heading into the winner-take-all season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
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