#99-Carl Edwards said Friday he has committed to racing the full Nationwide Series schedule next season. Edwards said he will drive the full season in NASCAR’s second-tier series even if he’s not eligible to race for the Nationwide championship. NASCAR is currently discussing rule changes to the Nationwide Series to develop its brand. One of the proposals is making full-time Sprint Cup drivers ineligible for the title. Edwards is in his sixth season running a full Nationwide schedule. He won the championship in 2007 and is currently second in the standings behind Brad Keselowski. Like Edwards, he’s also a full-time Sprint Cup Series driver. Edwards doesn’t like NASCAR’s proposal of eliminating Cup drivers from Nationwide title contention because it only really affects a small handful of drivers. Edwards and Keselowski are the only two running the full schedule this year, although Cup drivers Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Paul Menard are all ranked inside the top 10 in standings despite running only partial schedules. And, the last driver who was not racing in the Cup Series to win the Nationwide title was Martin Truex Jr. in 2005.(Associated Press)(8-21-2010)
