Latest / Kenny Wallace Media / Carl Edwards Explains Why He Left NASCAR Unexpectedly

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Carl Edwards Explains Why He Left NASCAR Unexpectedly · Kenny Wallace Media

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I mean, I stepped away from the sport.
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Obviously I did it because I didn't think that was at that
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time. That's not how the best way I
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want to spend my life. I want to focus on my family and
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go do all of these things outside of the sport.
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But the longer I've been away, I appreciate the sport more and
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more. Last year, the just the honor of
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being part of those 75 drivers, it shocked me at how much fun it
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was to come back to Darlington to be a part of that.
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And, and I guess what I'm trying to say is the longer I am away,
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the more I appreciate it. And this honor is over the top.
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I, I did not expect this in any way.
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I was shocked. I, I actually wasn't available
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at 4:00 PM when they announced it because I thought there's no
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reason to be. And, and it's been a huge deal
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to me, much bigger than I ever would have expected.
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Hey, Carl, how many of the countries?
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Behind you Have you been to since you retired?
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OK, yeah. So we could do a little.
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Actually, we took a boat from here all the way across, all the
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way to the boot heel of Italy, which was really cool.
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I got to be the captain on that, which is a huge responsibility.
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But we've been to a bunch of countries who traveled a ton and
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and that's been really amazing. You know, you guys are in the
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sport every day. Everybody in the sport knows
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what it takes. I talked to Ricky Rudd about it
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last night. You know, both of us gave
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literally everything and to step away is almost a it's a really a
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shock. And it, it took myself, took me
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a couple of years to, to get a balance right.
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And and it was, it was neat talking to Ricky.
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He said the same thing. But yeah, it's been great.
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I just feel like that the last few years have have been
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wonderful and last year's inductee Jimmy Johnson is still
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racing. So do you have?
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Any chance that you will the you will get back behind the wheel.
1:54
Thank you. No, no, thank you for asking
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though, Bob, I not of a cup car. I don't think I I did enjoy
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running the SIM a little bit last year and I think I'm going
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to go do a little bit more of that just to try to understand.
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I mean, I love driving cars and I'm very curious.
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I did get the chance to talk to Jimmy recently, and I mean,
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Jimmy's Jimmy. He's like, I mean, he's just,
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he's a race car driver and he's going to be doing it forever.
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But yeah, for me, no plans right now.
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You know, you have an age, man, So this living the non racing
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life, dude, the sailing life looks like it's it's so good to
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you. It's so good to see you.
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We miss you around the sport. And and to kind of follow up on
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what Bob said, no, you're not going to get in a cup car again.
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That's that's great. But could we see you?
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Back in a track on a kind of a semi regular basis in some form
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or fashion. Yeah, I'm, I'm, yeah.
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First, it's man, it's great to see you, Greg.
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I had more fun than I thought I would have last year at
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Darlington, up in the booth with Clint and Mike and it, it really
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was enjoyable. You know, that shocked me.
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I I went there thinking, OK, it's a huge honor and it's
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something I need to go and respect the honor.
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And I left thinking, man, this is that's fun.
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And so I, I think if I were to come back in a regular capacity,
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what I enjoyed was being up in the booth.
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I enjoyed kind of calling the race to whatever degree I did
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there for 45 minutes or whatever.
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That part I enjoyed. So maybe something like that,
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but, but I don't have anything lined up right now, but
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definitely much more open to that than I ever have been.
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Like I said, I just I had a good time.
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Part of that was was I know when I was in the military and I'd be
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away from my kids when they were younger and they were 456 and
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and 10 and the and and those ages, it was tough.
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I mean, my God, I those little babies now of yours are, are
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soon going to be teenagers. Is that kind of helping fuel
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this? Yeah, I want to get back on a
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regular semi regular basis, maybe not in a car, but in some
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other. Capacity, Yeah, I, I really, you
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know, you, you guys are all everybody's working on
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something. You know, we talked about this
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earlier today, just everybody's got a project, something that's
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driving them forward. And for me, for 20 years of my
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life, it was racing. That's all I wanted to do.
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It's all I thought about. And I felt like, you know, all
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these blessings were just laid at my feet.
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This path, you know, the guys at the dirt track, Mike Mittler,
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Jack Roush, you know, Joe Gibbs, all the wonderful people.
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And then when I woke up one day and I said, hey, like there's
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there's some serious other things, you know, my life, the
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things that are laid in front of me, the things that no one else
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will do, you know, that's to be the best husband I can be, the
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best father I can be, you know, to steward, you know, all the
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things that have been given to me.
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And so that's what I've been doing the last seven years.
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But you're right, Greg, if as time goes on, I mean, you know,
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there's a whole other world after, you know, hopefully after
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successfully raising kids and who knows?
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But but yeah, definitely I have a little more time and attention
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and bandwidth now. Thanks pal, it's really good
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seeing you. I hope to see you again in the
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future. Thanks.
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Hey, Carl, you know, you said that you weren't available
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because you just didn't even anticipate this and you were
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shocked. So why, why were you so
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surprised? What why didn't you think that
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this was a possibility? I the, the paradigms we live in,
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guys. I mean, we all have our like
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what we think of ourselves, how we see ourselves and I, I can't
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help but to just I, I see myself as someone who I won the lottery
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and racing. I mean, I wanted to drive race
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cars more than anything in the world and I got to do it.
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I felt like these things happened, you know, and, and
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then when I, I stepped away, I felt like, I guess looking back
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on it, I, I feel like, man, I hope the people in sport don't
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think I'm being disrespectful. I hope they know how much I
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appreciate it. But I guess my point is, I
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always felt like a guy who just got to come be a part of it,
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that the sport gave me so much. The people in the sport gave me
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so much that I don't know, I think of a Hall of Fame person
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as maybe someone who someone who gave more.
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And so I guess that's why it shocks me.
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I just I don't know, it's hard to explain.
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Hey, Carl. Hey, Jim.
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How's it going, dude? Great.
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Good to see you. Good.
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Just to kind of follow up on what Jeff was asking you like
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when you first came into the sport, I mean, you were, you had
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like you were trying everything to get into the sport, right?
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You didn't even the business cards and all that.
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I mean, when you look at now, do you even envision even even
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regardless of the way that you know, how you laugh, would you
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ever envision that you would be like a Hall of Fame nominee
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alone, an inductee? No, not not even a no, not in a
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million years. And so, yeah, I guess, yeah, a
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couple things. Like I said, I, I cannot
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describe how much I wanted to drive race cars.
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I mean, you, you just said, I mean, I was passing out business
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cars. I was just traveling over, all
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over, everywhere, you know, giving out, telling everybody
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what I want to do, getting laughed at.
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And then it happened. And then I got the chance to
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just pour myself into this thing.
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And and I, I had so much fun. But yeah, I, I never, this is
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the first time that I've truly been able to look at my career.
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And I guess the way that the, the, the, the voting panel at
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the Hall of Fame looks at a career and it's, it's a
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different way to look at it. And, and the word is just
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grateful. I'm so grateful that all this
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worked out. And I, I hope that through this
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whole process, I get to share with people how much I
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appreciate them. I mean, all of you guys, you
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know, delivering the, the, the sport and the things that we
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were doing on the track to the fans.
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I was telling somebody, you know, I was walking out of bass
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pro this morning or into Bass pro.
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This guy came out and he's pumped.
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You know, everybody, it's there's so many neat things that
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I I think this puts them all under one umbrella as a career
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for me. And there's a moment like this,
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and I think we or others have asked you this before, but this
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is a specific moment like this. Make you have the what if
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thoughts. Are you well past that now?
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I mean, there's all like, I'm a competitor.
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You're always thinking about ways that you could be better or
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could have done better. But for me, Jim, I like, I mean,
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literally, I feel like some sort of plan got laid out for me.
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You know, now I see, you know, it's, it's probably, you know,
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definitely by God, I don't I wouldn't change a thing.
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I mean, it's awesome. I I I wouldn't go back.
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I wouldn't, you know, have one more point in that tie with Tony
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Stewart. I wouldn't change anything in
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2016. I mean, I feel just like
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completely blessed things are great.
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And so no, no, no regrets. Of course, I'd like some more
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trophies, but I wouldn't change anything.
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Thanks very much, Carl. Good to see you.
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Hey, thanks, Jim. Hey Carl, I got two questions
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for you. The first one is, you know,
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you've mentioned several times you spent 20 plus years trying
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to be a race car driver and, and it was your whole goal and your
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whole life and your whole dream. And then one day you just walked
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away from it. What, what, what do you do to
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fulfill that competitive need in you and, and why, why do you not
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want, you know, you, you devoted all this time trying to be a
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race car driver. Why do you not want to get in a
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car again and and do it anymore? OK.
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Thanks for asking Jenna. I'll so I'll answer them in
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reverse. So the second question, so the
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reason I don't get into a car now and go do it is because I
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absolutely respect how tough it is.
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I know how tough it is. And so to go do it as a fun
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thing. I have fun personally trying to
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do very well at things. And so for, to go do it as a fun
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thing, I don't think I would be as good as I should be.
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And 2nd, there's a real risk involved.
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And, you know, that's one of the things that I think, you know,
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I, I touched on a little bit when I stepped away, but it's a
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serious thing. I mean, the, the head injuries
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and the potential for, you know, long term stuff there.
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I, I don't feel like that risk is the best thing for me.
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Now the first question, what do I do to fill that drive?
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I'm, I'm a very driven person. I'm trying to just literally be
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the, the best husband, the best father I can be.
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And then for me, I really like, I like a little bit of a
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competitive challenge. So I've been practicing jiu
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jitsu a bunch. That's been a lot of fun done,
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done a couple competitions. They terrify me.
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So. So you know when I really need.
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To join any. What's that?
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Have you won any jiu? Jitsu coming from the yes, of
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course, I, I, I, I learned way more from the ones I've lost.
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But but yeah, it's so that's really fun and and that's kind
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of, you know, really helped me to stay in tune with the, you
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know, an outward, a challenge, a physical thing that's difficult
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with other people. And so that's been good.
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And I, I don't know if you're aware of, of how the voting
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process goes and and how the whole discussion happens, but.
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Obviously there's drinking involved, obviously I.
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Mean there was no drinking, I can promise, but but someone in
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the room advocated very strongly for you and and they spoke very,
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very passionately about the 262 2016 finale.
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And it it came a little bit of an issue and because the person
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felt that you were wronged you, you were wronged and you know
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you, you, you left the sport right after that.
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And I think a lot of people have always felt that you, you
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believed also that you were wronged in 2016.
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And I'm wondering if all these years later, if you have
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anything to say about that, if the way that that race ended
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played a role in your decision to walk away.
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Thanks for asking that. Definitely, I, I would rather
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not have had a caution come out. But you, you never know the
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outcome of that. And like I said to Jim Utter, I,
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I wouldn't change a thing. You know, I, I doubt, yeah, I
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think things would have been a lot different if we would have
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won that championship. And I really like how things
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have gone since then. So I, I don't, I wouldn't change
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it. As far as the the bigger picture
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though, I mean, I think what you're really asking is, was I
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very frustrated how NASCAR ran that event?
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And I can answer that by saying NASCAR is in the business of
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creating a sport that serves the fans.
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And I know from some conversations that were private
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that NASCAR is doing the very best they can to do that.
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And I respect that. The outcome for me at certain
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points in my career that race and is a good example.
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I did not like it, but I 100% I respect the sport.
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I respect the people that run it.
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It gave me a life and opportunities that I could never
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have imagined. But as far as being a, an
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impetus for my stepping away, I'll go right back to what I
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said not clearly enough when I did it, obviously, I just needed
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time. I realized I woke up and I, you
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know, right towards the end of my career, I realized I'm not
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spending any time doing really anything other than racing.
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And that time I never get back two, I really felt that I had
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done everything I personally wanted to do in the sport.
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You know, we talked about jujitsu.
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I felt like I was a black belt at racing.
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I understood basically that I was the best that I could be.
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And, and 3rd, I, you know, I escaped without any big
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injuries. And the more we looked at that
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stuff, that's a serious thing. You know, the stuff that Dale
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Junior so bravely discussed, the things that NASCAR has been
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working on lately. You know, I felt like I, you
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know, I was very fortunate there.
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So yeah, you know, I, I think that it, my favorite way to race
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is a whole season for a championship, not one last
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restart. That's that's me.
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I like cars to drive a certain way.
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Maybe other people's don't. People don't.
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But yeah, no, like I'm 100% grateful to NASCAR.
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No hard feelings there. But did you feel wronged or
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cheated in 2016? I don't, I don't believe that
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the you know, I'd like to just say that I officially respect
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NASCAR running the sport. They went they need the way they
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need to run it. I I don't want to bring that up
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and say anything negative. OK.
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Thank you very much, Carl. Good to see you.
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Yeah. Thanks a lot, John.
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Just a reminder, if we could try to keep it to one question so we
15:20
can get everyone in, that would be great.
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We'll now go to Dustin Long and then we'll follow by Davey
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Siebel and I've got time guys. I, I really appreciate this.
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So don't rush anybody. If on my behalf, unless it's Jen
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and she wants to talk about that restart or that caution some
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more, we can rush her. Thank you, Carl.
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Hey, I'm curious when you a lot of athletes when they leave,
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they still have a presence and you were able to, you know, walk
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away and kind of break that chain and and did not show up
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for a long time. And I'm curious in coming back
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to Darlington and Kansas and some other places, some other
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things, what brought you back? Why, why did you come back?
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Because I know you've had all these great experiences, but
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obviously the way that ended, you know, there certainly was
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the the obvious sense of frustration.
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And that can be a very bitter pill that for some people, they
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don't, they don't, I don't say get over, but they don't move
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past. And what, what brought you back
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to be a little bit more involved in this in, in this way?
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Sure. I, I may have been unclear.
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I I want to be very explicit, like I want to say that I did
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not leave the sport because of the way 2016 ended, period.
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That's that's not not the. Is that what you were implying
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there? I I'm just out there were a lot
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of things. Obviously you had a great
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career, but you you made you made a break from the sport and
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you know, a lot of times we see people come back.
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You There was a long stretch where you were kind of this
16:55
Bigfoot character that you always heard about, but never.
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Saw I had the beard. I saw the beard.
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So I'm just curious what brought you back or what, what brought
17:03
the interest back? Because you didn't have to come
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back. You didn't have to take a part
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in anything else in the sport. You didn't.
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Have to go back to dockland. No I think.
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OK, SO2 parts when I stepped away from the sport, this is
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very hard for me to do. OK, there are so many and this
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is I've learned this. This is how life works in my
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world. There are a lot of shiny things
17:23
out there that compete for attention.
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What I realized though, they're only there are very few things,
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you know, all of us on this call, there are certain things
17:31
that if if you don't show up, nobody else is going to do OK.
17:35
And so for a large part of my career, I felt like I needed to
17:38
show up and I need to be in that seat driving those race cars.
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I felt like that's what I was supposed to be doing around
17:44
2015, sixteen, really 2016 is the first time I looked around
17:49
and thought, wow, there's some other things that I really need
17:51
to tend to in life. You know, my family is nobody
17:57
else is going to take my role there.
18:00
So to be able to step away from something as shiny and as
18:05
exciting as NASCAR, right, it's there.
18:07
I mean, still to this day when people call me and ask me to
18:09
drive race cars, there's a little, there's like a a young
18:11
man in me that says this is the greatest thing ever.
18:14
It's Christmas to call me to drive a race car.
18:16
If I go down that path, I'm not going to do it halfway.
18:20
So for me, I had to make a very clean break.
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And that's just me. I know that was taken by some
18:27
people as disrespect for the sport.
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I'm I'm certain it was to some degree, I could have done it
18:32
better. I wish that part I could do
18:34
better. But the impetus for coming back
18:36
was after a number of years, so many people reached out to me.
18:40
They were so kind to me. And and to be honored was
18:43
something like that, that NASCAR 75th, you know, or 75 driver
18:47
program that they those were such giant honors.
18:50
I thought, you know what? I've got to go let people know
18:52
how much I appreciate this. And, and so that was the impetus
18:55
for coming back. But people reaching out to me
18:58
with such kindness, such grace for the way, you know, I've done
19:02
things that really was special to me.
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And I feel like I, I have to respect that.
19:07
Thank you. Oh, thank you man.
19:09
Hey, Carl, thank you for the time.
19:12
How much do you watch and listen and pay attention to kind of the
19:16
inner workings of what's going on on a week to week basis in
19:20
the sport nowadays? And if you do pay enough
19:22
attention to it, is there somebody that's caught your eye
19:25
and you think, can you know, really do something or maybe
19:29
even reminds you of? Yourself, I mean, I don't pay a
19:34
ton of attention, but a couple people have really stood out to
19:37
me. You know, Dave Rogers and Denny
19:40
Hamlin and all the stuff they're doing is, is really interesting
19:44
to me how much success they're having.
19:46
You know, I've heard some behind the scenes stuff about how hard
19:49
Denny's working, how much that's paying off.
19:51
And that's really neat to see a guy, you know, I have to admit,
19:54
like I'm, I'm an older guy now. So I see somebody like that
19:57
doing it. It's fun to watch, you know, at
19:59
that level. Justin Marks at track house is
20:03
someone who the last, oh, five years or so.
20:06
I've got to know him a little bit better as a friend and watch
20:10
how he does things. And I I'd say that's.
20:13
That's the person that stands out to me and the sport that,
20:18
you know, really is just, he's moving forward, he's doing it
20:21
the right way. He, he cares about the sport.
20:23
He tries to do things right. And I, I, I'd say that's the
20:26
person that you know, really I, I'm, I'm just glad to be able to
20:30
keep in touch with the most. Thank you.
20:34
Perfect. We'll go to.
20:36
Claire and then Kelly, great and congratulations, Carl.
20:43
It's good to see you again. And you know, a lot of people
20:45
were talking about you being so young and vibrant and that as a
20:49
Hall of Famer you can do good things for the Hall of Fame
20:53
that, you know, when people enter, they're like, well, I
20:56
want to represent well. Have you thought about what you
21:00
can contribute or what kind of a Hall of Famer you'll be?
21:02
And do you think being young as a Hall of Famer is something
21:05
that. Will help you to do great.
21:08
Things and help the Hall of Fame.
21:12
Yeah. It's so good to see you Claire.
21:13
That's yeah. We had a lot of fun together
21:16
after the races doing those interviews.
21:19
OK so I told Randy Fuller I said this when we talked about this a
21:25
few days ago. This could not come in a better
21:28
time for me. I think my mission here is and
21:30
and I hope I'm doing it well here.
21:32
You guys can help me with feedback or guide me towards
21:35
doing it better. I want to express my gratitude.
21:38
I want to express the people how much I appreciate the time I
21:43
spent in this sport, how much people were, how much work they
21:46
did for me, how kind they were to me, how much grace you all
21:49
showed me. And then just the enjoyment that
21:53
I got from it. And so I my mission is to just
21:57
make sure all of you, everybody, the fans know how how much I
22:02
appreciate it. And now from afar, I appreciate
22:06
the entirety of it more. So if I can use this, this honor
22:10
and this, this, you know, time that I get to speak to just let
22:13
people know how much you know, how, how I feel like in in those
22:17
terms and gratitude, then that's my mission.
22:20
Good to see you again, Carl. Congratulations.
22:22
Thanks, Claire. Yeah, call you Kelly.
22:27
Thanks, Brianne. Hey, Carl, You talked earlier
22:30
about the perspective you've had on the sport since you've been
22:33
away the last couple years. What about your career and how
22:37
much have you thought about your career since you left?
22:41
And in a way, does this kind of officially, like give you
22:44
closure or kind of close the book on it now going into the
22:47
Hall of Fame? OK, man, that's that's actually
22:51
a good question. No, it doesn't close the book
22:54
what it does to for me, and I didn't expect this at all.
22:58
I mean, I I it it like it opens the book.
23:01
It makes me remember and realize and put into perspective what I
23:06
was just trying to describe imperfectly.
23:09
I'm sure it it's, it's how much went into this, how much energy,
23:15
you know, was, was put by all, all the guys that worked on
23:18
cars, built the cars, you know, sold the sponsorship, the media,
23:21
the fans, everyone. And I got to be in the driver's
23:24
seat. I mean, I got to be, you know,
23:27
live my greatest, wildest dreams as a kid.
23:30
And so I don't even remember what your question is now, but
23:35
oh, it does it put a does it close the book?
23:37
I think it really, it opens it for me to be able to just look
23:42
at this and understand that it's not just something that I did
23:46
and it's done. It's something that, you know,
23:49
this sport lives on the spirit of everyone striving and trying
23:52
to be the best they can and competing and, and I, I just,
23:55
I'm so grateful to have been a part of it while I was.
23:58
Thank you. We will go to Steven and then
24:03
Jonathan. Carl, a part of your career I
24:07
wanted to ask you about was you ran 7 full seasons in the NASCAR
24:12
Bush Series, Nationwide Series, Xfinity Series while you raced
24:16
full time in Cup and you did both in each of those seasons.
24:21
I was just wondering what do you think that added to your career?
24:25
What do you think it add to your Hall of Fame resume and did it
24:29
have any effect on your longevity at all?
24:32
And how was your work life balance while you were doing all
24:35
that? All right.
24:37
Great questions. I remember when Jack and I were
24:40
sitting in his airplane and he kind of challenged me.
24:42
So you think you can run both series full time?
24:44
And I think it was 2004, we had this discussion.
24:49
I was like, are you kidding me? I mean, this is my dream for the
24:52
first three years of my career. I thought, man, these races are
24:55
great, but they're not long enough.
24:56
I mean, I, I love driving race cars.
24:58
And so those seven years, you know, everybody at, at at Roush
25:03
Fenway Kozlowski. What, what is the name of it
25:05
now? Is it R?
25:06
Is it Roush, Fenway. Kozlowski.
25:07
It is. It's RFK.
25:09
OK. So everybody at Roush, then
25:11
Roush Fenway, now RFK, they, I mean, they put so many resources
25:15
into that. You know, me being able to run
25:19
full time. And so seven years of that, I
25:21
think that's something like almost 500 races.
25:24
And for me at that time, it was perfect.
25:27
Looking back, I probably should have focused on the cup car
25:30
more, but man, I was having fun. We won so many races.
25:34
We won that championship. And as far as a work life
25:37
balance, I fought hard for that balance.
25:40
I mean, I'm, I lived in in Missouri and but there, but
25:45
there was no balance. I mean, I thought about racing
25:47
24 hours a day and, and that's what I wanted to be doing at
25:50
that time. So I as far as affecting my
25:52
longevity, I, I don't think so. It's a very hard decision to, to
25:57
focus on one series later in my career, but it was the right
25:59
thing. And but yeah, that was that was
26:02
a cool, that was a cool time. And if there was any in Cup, a
26:08
lot of people think about, you know, your first win in Atlanta
26:12
Cup, you know, 7500 and 2015 copies, 100 and 2015.
26:15
But is there any win in Bush or Xfinity that stands out among
26:21
the ones who won? OK, in the Xfinity, yeah, it was
26:24
it was Montreal with Marcus Ambrose, who I still think, I
26:28
mean Marcus Ambrose is one of the best drivers I've ever been
26:30
around, period. And the day before I had messed
26:35
up our our other race program that he invited me to be a part
26:39
of. I wrecked the car and, and
26:40
before the race even started, it was awful.
26:42
It was just one of the dumbest things I've ever done.
26:44
And then I got to chase him down and just by fluke, he just, I
26:49
got by him in the last corner and won that race against, like
26:53
I said, one of the literal greatest drivers ever.
26:57
And, and that was a very special one.
27:00
Thanks, Carl. Congratulations again.
27:02
Thanks, Steven. Go ahead, Jonathan.
27:09
Thank you very much, Carl. Jonathan be able to raise some
27:12
experts here. I got to ask you, you know,
27:15
expectations versus reality when it comes to retirement.
27:18
What did you kind of think of retired life would look like,
27:22
you know, going into it versus. How it actually has been.
27:27
So at first I thought, man, I've got a lot of free time and that
27:31
was interesting and it was very odd to not be going to the
27:35
racetrack. But after I felt and I, I was
27:38
just mentioning to someone I got the chance to talk to Ricky Rudd
27:40
last night and we both felt the same way It was it's like you,
27:44
you hopped off of a bullet train and and things change.
27:49
But now after a number of years, I really, I'm very grateful to
27:55
the time I spent in the race car and the time I spent around
27:57
NASCAR because it allows me to apply a lot of those principles
28:00
and strategies for success and all these things now that albeit
28:04
are much calmer, they're just as important.
28:07
So I guess the point is a little bit of an adjustment period,
28:10
but. But now everything's running
28:13
pretty smoothly and somehow I've filled all my time and I feel
28:17
just as busy, but just on different stuff and.
28:20
When you watch races nowadays, who are some younger drivers
28:24
that kind of stand out to you? Well, I think they're all
28:29
younger, but I don't know. It's, it seems it seems
28:34
different now. It seems to me, just watch it
28:37
seems, you know, really aggressive.
28:40
A a lot different in the sense that the championship is
28:43
determined. You know, it's a it's it's a
28:47
really short championship season towards the end of the year.
28:52
But yeah, I mean, no one driver in particular.
28:55
The little bit I've been around, I do notice and have heard from
28:58
people that, you know, there's a lot of work involved at this
29:01
point and it's a different type of sport.
29:04
You know, I was talking to a veteran just the other day and
29:09
he was telling me, hey, it's not, it's not how you thought of
29:12
it anymore. It's not that you, you know, you
29:15
got kind of light workload. You show up and you just go do
29:17
your thing. It's all about prep.
29:19
And so I have a lot of respect for all of these guys and girls
29:21
in the sport who are, you know, coming up through the ranks and
29:24
they're practicing on the SIM. They're understanding the
29:26
engineering. You know, they're really good at
29:28
managing their time. And, you know, I think it's a
29:31
different sport now. It takes a different approach.
29:34
Thank you, Carl. We will go to.
29:38
Trey and then Bill and then Nate.
29:41
Hey Carl, you've mentioned that people still call you to drive a
29:45
race car. I know you said you don't see
29:46
yourself getting in a Cup car, but how often since you've left
29:51
have people tried to get you to come back?
29:53
And did it ever get close? So I've had a couple phone calls
29:57
that were just as as honored that they even called to ask.
30:05
You know, I was telling somebody earlier, there's still that
30:07
young man in me that just can't wait for the phone to ring and
30:10
somebody to be talking about driving a race car.
30:13
None of them are actually very close.
30:15
You know, I, I was describing to someone, I don't know if if you
30:18
were on earlier, but to go drive a race car now for me, it would
30:22
mean that I really, I wanted to be the best I could be.
30:24
I want to pour my heart and soul into it.
30:26
And like we just talked about that's going to take a ton of
30:28
time. You know, there are real risks
30:30
involved. And I when I weigh all of that,
30:32
it's like, man, I that's that time has passed for me.
30:36
That was a, a part of my life that I poured everything into.
30:40
And now to go do it halfway or to do it for quote fun, it's
30:47
going to have to be something that I really wake up one more
30:50
and say, Hey, this is what I want to do for me to go do that,
30:53
even if it's a A1 off race. That's what I've realized.
30:56
And then a lot of the questions on this, I haven't just asked
30:59
you about possibly coming back. A lot of when your name has come
31:03
up in recent years, a lot of it have been, oh, why did Carl
31:06
really step away? Or is Carl ever going to going
31:11
to come back? Does that ever get to you?
31:13
Does that ever get frustrating that that's kind of the topic of
31:16
conversation when people talk about Carl Edwards?
31:19
And now do you think that this Hall of Fame induction can kind
31:22
of turn the page and people can more celebrate what you've done
31:26
as opposed to focusing on those two things?
31:28
Well, so I definitely felt misunderstood to begin with when
31:35
I stepped away, but I, I think that's basically inherent.
31:38
And, and it was so abrupt when people are going to go, what the
31:41
heck's going on here? And then two, I didn't, I didn't
31:44
do a good job of explaining myself.
31:47
And I think part of that was because I wasn't sure how, what,
31:51
what I was going to do. I didn't know if I wanted to
31:53
come back to the sport in a year.
31:54
And so I, I just tried to basically, you know, politely
31:59
say this is what I need to do right now.
32:01
But now looking back, you know, I hope people can, can
32:06
understand. For me, it's really simple.
32:08
I, I needed time. I needed, you know, I talked to
32:11
somebody earlier, we were talking here about, you know,
32:14
what's my role in life. I need to be a good father and a
32:17
good husband. I was not able to do that
32:20
personally. I realized I wasn't doing a good
32:22
enough job of that #2 I felt like I'd accomplished all I
32:25
needed to accomplish in the sport for me.
32:28
And, and 3rd, it's really a risky sport.
32:30
And so I escaped without, without any lasting injuries or
32:34
acute things that were, you know, and, and I well, and I
32:38
just felt fortunate. So that timing for me was
32:41
perfect. But yeah, I definitely, it was
32:44
hard to understand and definitely I could have done a
32:46
better job. And so hopefully, you know, I
32:49
run into a lot of people who it does make sense to.
32:51
But hopefully through this process with the Hall of Fame, I
32:53
get to answer any of those questions for people who still
32:56
either don't understand or they they'd like to.
32:59
That would be nice. Thank you.
33:05
Go ahead, Bill. Yeah.
33:07
Thank you, Carl. Greetings from Mid Missouri.
33:10
I'm. Sure, Bob Priddy would send his
33:12
regards. Yeah, how's he doing?
33:14
Yeah, he's doing well. He's retired, still does a
33:16
little, little stuff with us. Yeah.
33:17
But, you know, Michael Jordan couldn't do it.
33:20
Tom Brady couldn't do it. I know you justified all the
33:24
reasons why, but was there ever a point where you were like, I
33:31
could come back and do this? Yeah, I was just telling
33:35
somebody I have dreams about racing about every three nights.
33:37
And I mean, I'm, I, I wanted Las Vegas the other night.
33:40
I was doing great. So I think about it all the
33:42
time. But wait, wait.
33:45
Your question is specifically what?
33:48
Yeah, yeah. Was there ever a, a point soon
33:50
after you retired and stepped away where you're like, oh, I, I
33:55
I do have to get back in the car?
33:56
Did you have to reconvince yourself?
33:58
Yes, it's very difficult and still to this day, I think, man,
34:01
I feel this is something I put a lot of time into.
34:03
I'm good at it. The opportunities do pop up
34:05
every once in a while. It's very hard to for me to have
34:09
the discipline to set that aside and say no, OK, I'm, I'm, I'm, I
34:13
have other things in my life that as time ticks by, I'll
34:15
never get these opportunities again.
34:17
So that's what I need to focus on.
34:19
Yes, it is difficult. And you know, for me in 2016 or,
34:26
or I guess it was 2017, you know, after the 2016 season, you
34:29
know, I stepped away and someone asked me, they said how, how did
34:32
you do that? I mean, I and I and for me it
34:35
was if money wasn't an issue and I didn't care what anybody
34:38
outside of my family thought, it was the right decision.
34:42
Now it was a difficult one and I know it had an impact on a lot
34:44
of people. And for I'm forever grateful to
34:47
Joe Gibbs, to all of our partners because they let me go
34:49
do that. So but yeah, it's, it's not easy
34:53
and, you know, but we all, everybody's dealing with it.
34:57
Everybody's got to make life decisions and career decisions.
35:00
And, you know, I just feel fortunate that I was able to
35:03
make the decision not have made for me.
35:04
Hey. Carl, thanks for thanks for
35:08
doing this. I appreciate it and thanks for
35:10
going overtime here. I want to go back to what you
35:13
were saying. Well, you know, we usually only
35:15
get 1520 minutes. You're giving us 35 so far I
35:18
think. I I have a lot of time now.
35:20
I got to be honest, that's great you said it.
35:24
Not me. So anyway, what you were saying
35:26
there about how you kind of wanted to like make sure people
35:31
understood why you left and and what you were saying about the
35:34
risks in NASCAR. And I heard in your answer to
35:37
Jenna, you mentioned head injuries.
35:39
Yeah, which I think is the first time I, I kind of heard you say
35:41
it like that forthrightly. And, you know, knowing that your
35:44
wife was a doctor, knowing that I'm sure a lot of that was going
35:47
on. There was a lot of kind of
35:47
speculation back then, Carl, about I think concussions were a
35:51
hot topic in 20/16/2017. How much of that played into
35:55
your decision to step away? Yeah, that that was definitely a
35:59
part of it and that's that's the part of it that that you kind of
36:06
you can't mitigate, right. So if if a person is going to go
36:09
participate in something that has those risks, I mean, those
36:12
risks are there period, whether you're whether you take it
36:14
seriously, whether you don't. And so so yeah, for me that was
36:20
that was that was a big part of it.
36:22
I mean, I felt like I was so fortunate, all the safety stuff
36:27
that, you know, the part of my career, sorry, the largest part
36:31
of my career, you know, involve Hans devices and safer barriers
36:35
and all of this data. And so I felt like I was very
36:39
fortunate to be a part of the sport when it was safe.
36:41
And but still, you know, guys, people have had, you know,
36:45
lasting impacts from those things and you've got to be able
36:49
to weigh that. And for me, I was like, man,
36:51
that's not that's one thing. That's not worth it right now
36:54
for me. Did being married to someone in
36:57
the medical profession influence?
36:59
That yeah, it sure, it sure helps to understand medical
37:03
things when you have a doctor living with you.
37:05
But. But now Kate's 100% supportive
37:08
of me doing whatever fulfills me the most as a person.
37:12
So, you know, definitely no pressure from her.
37:16
Gotcha. And one more for me, Carl, you
37:18
know, there's a lot of talk about, like, what's the criteria
37:21
for being a NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee?
37:24
And the truth is, like, as voters, we are given no
37:27
criteria. But one thing that we hear about
37:30
a lot in the discussions in the room is like, you know, it's
37:34
important, You know, Winston Kelly, I've heard him say this
37:38
publicly is it's important to have inductees who represent
37:41
NASCAR well, who are sort of ambassadors during that year
37:45
long process leading up to the induction ceremony.
37:47
So I'm wondering like, have you thought about it from that
37:49
perspective? Have you talked to Winston?
37:51
Like is there going to be kind of a more concerted effort to
37:53
have you erases or to be a part of like spreading the word of of
37:56
NASCAR again? Thanks.
37:58
Hey, thanks, Nate. I haven't talked to Winston
38:01
about that in particular, but absolutely I'm up to that task.
38:06
You know, the, like I said earlier, the more I look back on
38:09
my career and all the wonderful things and wonderful people,
38:12
the, the, the more I'm, I'm happy to share my love for the
38:16
sport, my gratitude to everyone involved.
38:18
So yeah, if I can, I'll try to do the best I can.
38:23
And it's, it's, it's so interesting for me, the timing.
38:26
This is just the time where I feel like I feel like I have a
38:31
much better perspective on, on things.
38:33
Maybe I don't, but, but I feel that way.
38:36
And if I can share, you know, share just, I guess, the joy
38:40
that I had in the sport with people, that'd be great.
38:42
Thank you. Congratulations, Carl, and
38:45
thanks for taking the time today.
38:46
Yeah. Thanks, Ashley you.
38:48
Spoke a little bit about not really expecting to receive this
38:51
Hall of Fame honor. Where were you?
38:53
What were you doing when you got that call?
38:55
How did that sort of unfold? And did the unexpected nature of
38:58
it maybe first make you think someone was messing with you?
39:01
Yeah. So it was very unexpected and so
39:05
much so that I, I, yeah, I just wasn't even, I was in the air at
39:10
4:00 PM when I was supposed to be by my phone, obviously.
39:13
And I didn't, I didn't. But I, I really, I thought about
39:16
it that morning. Amber Wells from NASCAR or from
39:19
the Hall of Fame, you know, sent an e-mail and said, just where
39:21
will you be at 4:00 PM, just in case.
39:24
I thought about it. And I thought, man, I can't
39:25
build my day around that because it's not going to happen.
39:27
And, and then I, I landed at about 6:00 PM and my wife said
39:34
you need to check your phone. And I, I called Randy Fuller and
39:39
yeah, I was just blown away. So yeah, I knew Randy would mess
39:43
with me like that. But but yeah, just I, I was
39:46
shocked and I still am at how much it means to me.
39:49
I mean, a lot of you have been around me a lot.
39:51
You, you probably know me as well as anybody in the sport,
39:55
but yeah, I don't know. I just, I wasn't expecting to
39:59
feel this way. It's a it's a very humbling.
40:03
Carl, the, the little bit we do see or hear about you is two
40:07
things. You're either like showing up at
40:09
some tornado cleanup and and pulling cars out of ditches and
40:14
stuff like that, or you're a potential candidate to run for
40:18
office in Missouri. What's driving you right now?
40:23
Like, do you want to be in politics or do you just want to
40:27
be a normal guy who's helping his community and, you know,
40:31
getting involved in these clean up activities?
40:33
You know, where are you in that? Man, thanks for asking, Jenna.
40:39
I, I, I think I try to ask myself that every morning, like
40:44
who am I and what am I doing for me?
40:48
What I'm, what I'm starting to realize, and maybe this is
40:52
silly, maybe a lot of people already understand this, but I'm
40:54
trying to realize where are the parts in life?
40:57
Like what's the path that's being laid out for me?
40:59
What's obvious? Like where, where is like God
41:01
knock on the door saying, hey, this is what you're supposed to
41:03
be doing. And then #2 am I answering that
41:06
call? Am I, you know, helping the
41:08
person that needs to be helped, You know, am I, you know, being
41:13
kind to myself the way I need to be?
41:15
Am I able to serve the community, serve, you know, my
41:18
family? And so, you know, you mentioned
41:21
the tornado response stuff, the Gideon Rescue folks.
41:25
I ran into them down in the Bahamas and have been just blown
41:29
away that there are people in the world who will risk their
41:32
lives. I mean, right now there are
41:34
people somewhere crawling under a, a building that fell down a
41:37
tornado trying to help people. And that's what these Gideon
41:39
rescue guys are doing. You know, those things have
41:43
changed my life. They've, they've let me
41:45
understand how good people can be out there.
41:48
They give me something to aspire to as far as politics, you know,
41:54
there's no place on earth or in time where a guy can get to do
41:58
what me and all of us have got to do to other than the United
42:02
States of America. It's unbelievable.
42:05
The longer I live, the more I realized that this is not the
42:07
norm. We have to protect this.
42:09
So when politics come up, it comes from the place that, you
42:12
know, inside of me that cares so much about how great this
42:16
country is that they're someday, you know, it probably be after
42:20
my kids are grown up. If I can participate in that
42:23
more, I want to. And so that conversation, that
42:26
opportunity and that possibility is always on the table.
42:29
But I guess you asked what motivates me, It's just to try
42:32
to go out and enjoy the gifts that were given, try to do the
42:34
best I can. And if I can help somebody else,
42:38
that's that's there's nothing better than that.
42:41
Great. See you on our ballot soon, All
42:43
right? Thanks a lot.
42:48
Thanks everyone for joining. Thanks again, Carl for joining
42:51
and doing this for us today. Just a reminder, if you need the
42:54
link, please let us know and we'll get it to you.
42:56
So thanks everyone. So good to see all of you.