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In a recent interview with The Athletic, Toyota Racing executive David Wilson talked about the biggest NASCAR regret. According to him, it was seeing Carl Edwards barely miss out on his maiden Cup championship in 2016. This was mostly because of one particular race at Homestead-Miami. Unfortunately, circumstances did not work in their favor and the title went to Jimmie Johnson for the seventh time.

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He said, “The one that haunts me to this day. There is nothing even close, is Homestead 2016 and Carl Edwards’ championship loss. That was his championship, he was going to win the championship, but there was a bullsh*t caution that was thrown at the end of that race because the race more or less had been decided.”

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“Here’s my silver lining: We raised Holy hell with the sanctioning body over that incident. And I believe, if you were to plot on a graph the change in treatment of the way the sport was regulated during the course of the race, you could trace it to that singular event.”

What else did he say about the Carl Edwards’ championship loss?

In the wake of the controversial moment, Toyota criticized how NASCAR called the various debris cautions. At least he was glad that NASCAR accepted the criticism and promised to work on the issue. According to Wilson, things have improved a lot from the past, where scoring has sometimes been manipulated.

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In the end, poor old Carl Edwards could do nothing but rue a missed opportunity for a maiden title. That 2016 race would be the former Joe Gibbs Racing and Roush Fenway Racing driver’s final season. This was because he elected to hang up his boots and retire from NASCAR racing entirely. With the departure, he leaves behind a legacy of 28 Cup Series wins, 38 Xfinity, and 6 Truck Series wins.

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Dhruv George

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Dhruv George is EssentiallySports’ foremost authority on motorsport and a founding member of the outlet’s NASCAR desk. A Journalism graduate fluent in English and French, he brings over eight years of motorsports journalism experience covering everything from high-octane NASCAR battles to the finesse of Formula 1 and MotoGP. His extensive paddock access has earned him exclusive interviews with top names such as F1’s Pierre Gasly and Moto2’s Tony Arbolino, cementing his reputation as a trusted voice among racing fans. Known for his candid opinions, Dhruv isn’t afraid to tackle contentious officiating calls, most recently defending Joey Logano after the DYL penalty in Phoenix. Before focusing on NASCAR as a Senior Writer, Dhruv contributed extensively to EssentiallySports’ coverage of F1 and NASCAR, building a versatile and impactful sports portfolio.

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Ranvijay Singh

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