Greg Biffle re-signs with Roush Fenway; Carl Edwards won’t be back

The good news for Roush Fenway Racing is that Greg Biffle will remain with the team as the organization’s veteran leader, after re-signing with RFR.

On the flip side, Carl Edwards told the team more than a month ago, according to owner Jack Roush, that he will drive elsewhere next year.

The high likelihood is that Edwards will join former RFR teammate Matt Kenseth at Joe Gibbs Racing, though both Edwards and JGR brass have been mum on the subject.

The reality for Roush Fenway is that the organization will have lost two championship-caliber drivers in quick succession, as both Kenseth, the 2003 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champ, and Edwards, the 2011 title runner-up in a tiebreaker to Tony Stewart, have opted for other rides.

On the grid before Sunday’s Crown Royal 400, Edwards preferred to focus on the task at hand, rather than his departure from Roush at the end of the season.

“We’ve just got to get everything together, and then we’ll make the announcement when it’s the right time,” said Edwards, who acknowledged in a television interview that he already has his next deal “worked out.”

“Trust me, we’ll do it as soon as we can. But like I said, the focus is today and winning this race. I’ll talk about it in the next couple weeks when we kind of finalize everything. I think right now is not the right time to reflect on it, because we’ve still got a championship to win.”

There was no announcement on Sunday regarding an extension for Biffle’s primary sponsor 3M. However, Roush did announce that Fastenal, which primarily has sponsored Edwards during a long relationship with RFR, would anchor Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s No. 17 Ford next year.

Biffle, Stenhouse and Trevor Bayne will constitute RFR’s Sprint Cup lineup next year and beyond.