Updated

(Editor's Note: In the week leading up to the start of the Chase for the Sprint Cup at Chicagoland, we will be profiling each of the 16 Chase drivers.)

Driver: Carl Edwards

Seed: No. 5

Team: Joe Gibbs Racing, No. 19 Toyota

Crew chief: Dave Rogers

Best finish: 1st, Bristol 1 and Richmond 1

Age: 37

Hometown: Columbia, Mo.

Still searching for elusive first championship, Carl Edwards has a great shot to get the job done in this year's Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Edwards added to the Joe Gibbs Racing domination this season with consecutive victories at Bristol Motor Speedway and Richmond International Raceway earlier in the year.

The driver of the No. 19 also has a total of seven top fives and 15 top-10 finishes so far this season, along with five poles and a 12th-place average finish.

Five defining moments:

1. Daytona 500 -- Edwards started the season on a strong note with a fifth-place finish in The Great American Race.

2. Good Sam 500 at Phoenix -- Edwards was barely edged out by Kevin Harvick by a narrow margin of .010 seconds in the second race of the season -- the same margin of victory between Daytona 500 champion and Martin Truex Jr. two weeks prior.

3. Food City 500 at Bristol -- Edwards earned his first victory of the season and punched his ticket into the Chase at Bristol Motor Speedway back in April.

4. Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond -- The No. 19 driver backed up his win at Bristol with a victory the next week at Richmond International Raceway -- bumping Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch out of the way in the final corner coming to the checkered flag.

5. Quaker State 400 at Kentucky -- As both drivers were running on fumes on white-flag lap, Edwards came close to beating Brad Keselowski at Kentucky Speedway in July.