Getty Carl Edwards celebrates a win at Texas Motor Speedway.
A fan-favorite NASCAR driver from Missouri has secured another honor. Carl Edwards has been named to the stacked list of the 75 Greatest Drivers.
NASCAR announced the news on Monday, April 24, and confirmed that the driver known for his signature backflip now has a spot on the prestigious list. Edwards will now be part of the big celebration planned for Throwback Weekend at Darlington Raceway on Sunday, May 14.
“Carl is not only one of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers, he’s also a great friend and a friend of Kansas Speedway,” Kansas Speedway President Pat Warren said in a press release.
“Our fans embraced Carl as one of their own from the very beginning, and he reciprocated in kind by always putting our fans first on and off the track. We’re overjoyed he’ll forever be recognized on this list of all-time NASCAR legends.”
Edwards is the latest driver to join the list as NASCAR moves to 75 names. He follows Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne, Mike Stefanik, Greg Biffle, Sterling Marlin, Kyle Larson, Ryan Newman, Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Randy LaJoie, and Jeff Burton.
Edwards Celebrated Dozens of Times in NASCAR
GettyCarl Edwards does his signature backflip after a win at Richmond Raceway.
Edwards had a shorter career than many of his peers due to his sudden retirement after the 2016 season, but he made the most of his opportunities. He captured dozens of wins while winning a championship in one of the three national series.
Edwards won six races in the Craftsman Truck Series, which he split between his full-time seasons in 2003 and 2004. He was one of the select few drivers to celebrate at Nashville Superspeedway before the track went on a 10-year hiatus.
The Missouri native added another 38 wins in 245 Xfinity Series starts. He won the championship in 2007 and finished second in the standings in 2006, 2008, 2009, and 2010. As further evidence of Edwards’ ability to contend for wins, his worst finish in the standings as a full-time Xfinity Series driver was third in 2005.
Edwards continued to deliver exciting moments during his time in the NASCAR Cup Series. He raced full-time from 2005 until 2016, and he won 28 points-paying races. This includes a nine-win season in 2008 when he finished second in the standings behind Jimmie Johnson. He also finished second behind Tony Stewart in 2011 after a one-win season.
1 Race Played a Potential Role in Edwards Leaving NASCAR
GettyCarl Edwards celebrates a win at Darlington Raceway in 2015.
Edwards’ closest brush with winning a Cup Series championship came during his final season. He was running second behind Kyle Larson and was within 15 laps of winning the title in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2016, but NASCAR officials threw a caution for “debris” and bunched the field back up once again.
Edwards lined up on the front row with Larson for the restart, and he took the green flag with the goal of staying ahead of the other championship-eligible drivers. However, he spun off the nose of Joey Logano while trying to block the No. 22, and he crashed hard into the wall before spinning back up into the field.
Edwards ended the day 34th overall and fourth in the championship standings. Jimmie Johnson went on and won the race, which gave him the opportunity to celebrate his seventh Cup Series title.
One month prior to the 2017 season, Edwards suddenly announced his retirement from NASCAR. He walked away from the sport at only the age of 37 and turned his attention to farming.
Edwards has indicated in the years since that he had other things that he wanted to do in his life and that he needed the time to do them, but names such as Kenny Wallace and Toyota Racing Development President David Wilson have expressed the opinion that the phantom caution and the subsequent wreck also played a role in his sudden retirement.
Regardless of the reason, Edwards certainly made an impact on NASCAR during a career that spanned from 2002 to 2016. Now, he is receiving recognition by being named to the list of the 75 Greatest Drivers.