Edwards and Biffle Could Be Next to Join the "Dark Side"

Carl Edwards (L) and Greg Biffle could be waving goodbye to
Roush-Fenway Racing after 2014

At the end of the 2012 season, Matt Kenseth left Roush-Fenway Racing, his home since he began his full-time Cup Series career, to take over the No. 20 Toyota at Joe Gibbs Racing. Kenseth's former owner, and all-around Ford company man Jack Roush, said that his driver was joining the "dark side" because of JGR's affiliation with a Japanese nameplate. Now, it appears Roush's other veteran drivers will be joining Kenseth on the dark side of the garage.

There has been a lot of speculation lately as to whether or not Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards would return to their RFR Ford's next season. Biffle joined the Cup tour in 2003 and Edwards in 2005, and both have only ever driven Fords for Jack Roush in that time. But fans watching the NASCAR on FOX prerace show from Dover International Speedway this past Sunday might have been given a sneak peek into Biffle's Sprint Cup Series future.


FOX analyst Darrell Waltrip was asked by anchor Chris Meyers were discussing where Biffle and his teammate Carl Edwards would end up next year, as both their contracts expire after 2014. Waltrip said he thought Edwards would land at Penske Racing, and then peculated that, "Greg Biffle will go to some two-car team that maybe one time had a third car." While the response seemed harmless enough, he put his arm around his younger brother, fellow FOX analyst and owner of Michael Waltrip Racing, Michael Waltrip when he said it. MWR was a three car organization until last season when they lost sponsor NAPA after the Richmond cheating scandal and were forced to scale back to running two cars. (This wouldn't be the first time Ol' DW let the cat out of the bag. He tweeted that Dale Jr was running a throwback Wrangler paint scheme in the July Nationwide race at Daytona in 2010 before the team could hold a press conference to announce it).
 

How much longer will Greg Biffle be at Roush-Fenway Racing?

 The younger Waltrip looked at the camera almost in shock that his brother had let some top secret information leak, then tried to do a little bit of backpedaling. "Uhhhhhh, I think [Biffle's teammate] Carl [Edwards] goes and Greg stays," he said. "I think the Biff stays at Roush, he's going to be the veteran, the anchor to that rookie lineup for the young guys that are going to race at Roush."

While this is still speculation and it always seemed that the Biff bled blue and would retire with Roush and Ford Motor Company, the idea of him leaving Roush for MWR does actually hold water. The only reason MWR lost their third team was because of the cheating scandal that haunted them after the Richmond race last Septermber that caused sponsor NAPA to jump ship and join JR Motorsports and Chase Elliott's Nationwide team this year. Biffle has been with sponsor 3M for years and the two have become fairly synonymous. If he left for MWR, 3M would no doubt follow the Vancouver, Wash. driver to back him at his new home. This would provide the funding for Biffle to run a full-time schedule, just as they do for his No. 16 team now. The only question mark is if the Richmond scandal is still on the minds of 3M executives and if such a large company would want to be associated with a team that tried to manipulate the outcome of a race. NAPA Auto Parts sure didn't.

Both of MWR's current drivers, Brian Vickers and Clint Bowyer, have been extremely inconsistent this year and the organization hasn't won a race since Martin Truex, Jr won in the team's now shuttered No. 56 car at Sonoma in 2013. But Biffle's team has also had some trouble finding victory lane, with no victories so far this year and only one win last year. While this seems like something of a lateral move at best, the rumors surrounding Edwards have him driving for a much more consistent team.

Edwards may be flipping for a different team next season

Like Biffle, the Columbia, Missouri driver can always be found talking about Fords, their great fuel mileage and how much he loves driving his Fastenal Fusion because of it. But Edwards also thinks himself a modern day Michael Waltrip; a great pitchman who could sell ice to an Eskimo. Gibbs would need to expand to four cars to accommodate Edwards, something the team has said they would do if the funding could be found to do it competitively. So should current sponsors like Fastenal, Aflac and Subway follow  that could prompt JGR to start a fourth team. But if they can land Edwards, his skills as a salesman could also help the team land a corporate backer as well. But this seems like the least likely of the two options. There has been talk at some point over the last several seasons that Edwards would be leaving his familiar No. 99 in favor of the "Dark Side" and a JGR Camry, so if they were banking on signing Edwards and finding a sponsor for his car after the ink dried, they probably would've done that the last time his contract expired.

We still need to wait and see where all of the cards will fall and whether both these drivers stay or go come next season. Fans may have seen a glimpse into Biffle's future this past Sunday, but where Edwards lands could be a little bit more difficult to figure out. While Roush might not want to see two of his current drivers piloting foreign nameplates next season, it might behoove Edwards and Biffle to join the "Dark Side." Kenseth won three races and finished seventh in points in 2012, his final year at Roush, he won seven races and finished second in the standings, almost winning the Sprint Cup championship for Gibbs the next year in 2013. Whose to say his former RFR teammates wouldn't experience the same level of success?