Carl Edwards said he felt it was an accomplishment to finish second in both the NASCAR Nationwide and Sprint Cup standings after failing his bid to secure both titles at Homestead.

Edwards went into the final round of both series' with a chance of securing the titles, but despite winning both races, lost out to Clint Bowyer and Jimmie Johnson to the respective crowns.

However, he refused to be too downbeat about not taking the titles and admitted it was still a good achievement to have been able to run double-duty all season and take second in the title races.

“It feels good,” he said. “It's neat to be able to race both of them. It's very enjoyable. I really appreciate Jack giving me the opportunity to do it and the guys that he's put with me. Right now, Drew Blickensderfer, he already told me. He looked me square in the eye and he said, 'Man, we are going to be better next year. We are going out to win every single race,' so I know he's got the killer mindset right now.

“I'm sure Bob feels the exact same way and I do too, so, yeah, it's a good year. Second in both is an accomplishment. It's great, but we hope we can do a little better next season.”

Edwards' Sprint Cup success in Homestead concluded a season where he won on nine occasions – two more than title winner Johnson.

Admitting that that win would make the off-season easier, Edwards said he felt the gap to Johnson had been closed despite the Hendrick man taking the crown for the third successive season.

“I'm sure glad we won today's race because it will make it a little bit easier to deal with the off-season and coming so close to that championship,” he said. “We ran really well this season and it's something I wanted to make sure my guys understood is they did their jobs.

“They did a great job and there were two races where we lost points. One was my mistake and one was a complete coincidence or freak accident with the ignition system, so my guys performed well enough to win a championship this season, and considering how well Jimmie performed, I don't think that's a small feat.

“I'm glad that we won the race so that we can go into the off-season knowing we won more races than anyone else in this series. I think that's a big accomplishment, especially considering how well Jimmie and Kyle both ran all season, so that feels good and knowing how well we ran. That gives me a lot of confidence for next season, so it was a good weekend. Second in both series is not first, but it's definitely not something to be ashamed of. I'm proud of what we did this year.

“I personally feel like we closed a big gap this season. I feel we ran very well at the road courses, at Martinsville, at some of these tracks that haven't sometimes been able to keep up with them. So, yeah, hopefully, I know they'll enjoy this championship, but they knew we were here. You know what I'm saying? That's good.”