"I'm curious to see if that's it": When Carl Edwards reflected on toughest decision of his career joining Joe Gibbs

Ahead of his debut for Joe Gibbs Racing in the #19 entry, Carl Edwards touched upon why he made the monumental switch from Roush Fenway Racing. After spending 10 years at the Jack Roush co-owned team, it was finally time for him to move elsewhere, something he did in 2015.

Edwards made his Cup Series debut with Roush Fenway Racing in 2005, and ever since he has been a driver to look out for. However, he could not clinch the ultimate trophy a NASCAR driver wishes to hold, the Cup Series championship.

On two occasions Edwards finished the season as a runner-up—in 2008 and then again in 2011. First, he lost to Jimmie Johnson and the second time, he lost to Tony Stewart. Besides these two years and 23 race wins, Edwards did not have anything to show for his long stint at Roush Fenway Racing.

After the conclusion of the 2014 season, there were rumors that Edwards could jump ship and join Joe Gibbs Racing to take charge of the #19 entry. However, it did not take long before the rumors turned into a reality as Edwards made the toughest move of his career by switching from a well-known environment at RFR to a challenging environment at JGR.

“I looked around, and all these guys are making changes and doing very well,” Edwards said on why he decided to jump ship and land himself into a very new team, and atmosphere. “I didn’t understand that until we first made the announcement."

"I got that feeling we talked about earlier, that feeling, ‘Man, I’ve got to go prove myself’ — that little bit of insecurity that every driver walks around with a long time. I haven’t had that feeling for a while. I’m curious to see if that’s it. But either way, I hope I can do the same thing those guys have done and have a great year," he added. (As per nytimes.com)

Carl Edwards joined the new charter alongside existing drivers Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, and his former teammate from Roush Fenway Racing, Matt Kenseth.

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Carl Edwards aimed at championship after the JGR move

Despite trying his absolute best, Carl Edwards failed to win the championship in his 10-year-long stint with Roush Fenway Racing. As a result, he decided to part ways and join Joe Gibbs Racing in search of the title, something he termed as his sole goal.

Carl Edwards (19) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry racing during the Kobalt 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series - Source: Getty

Here's what he said about it:

"For 10 years, I've worked as hard as I can... everyone has worked as hard as they can to go win championships," Edwards said. "And that is my goal. I felt like, at this time in my life and career, a change might be something that would let me reach that goal." (As per ESPN.com)

Unfortunately, Carl Edwards failed to get close to any championships in his two years at JGR. The Columbus-born driver's notable achievements in 2015 were the two crown jewel victories—the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte and the Southern 500 at Darlington.

Edwards claimed three more race wins in 2016, but he was nowhere close to winning the championship. The JGR driver finally decided to retire from the sport at the end of 2016 and put an end to his illustrious NASCAR Cup Series career that spanned over 13 years and 445 races.