Carl Edwards named to NASCAR's 75 Greatest Drivers
Carl Edwards, the popular Missouri native who punctuated his wins with a backflip, was named to NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers list on Monday.
Edwards won 28 times in the NASCAR Cup Series, beginning in 2005 at Atlanta Motor Speedway for owner Jack Roush and ending in 2016 at Texas Motor Speedway for Joe Gibbs.
Between that time, Edwards finished as high as second in the Cup Series standings twice — in 2008 and 2011. Edwards’ thrilling battle with Tony Stewart in 2011 came down to a tiebreaker, with Stewart clinching the championship based on more wins that season.
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Edwards won the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship in 2007 for Roush and finished second in the Xfinity Series standings four times. Edwards won 38 times in the Xfinity ranks and added six more victories in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
Some of Edwards’ wins in the Cup Series came on the biggest stages, including two in the Bristol Night Race and one in the Coca-Cola 600. Edwards’ most wins came at Bristol and Texas Motor Speedway, where he had four victories apiece.
Edwards advanced to the Championship 4 in 2016 at Homestead-Miami Speedway and was on the front row for a restart with 10 laps to go, but a wreck took him out of contention when he tried to block Joey Logano. Edwards memorably stopped by Logano’s pit box on the way to the infield care center and shook hands with several members of Logano’s team.
That show of class was the last time we saw Edwards in NASCAR competition as he retired during the following offseason. Today he joins a classy list befitting of his talent.
