Columbia native Carl Edwards made history
in the Nextel Cup Series last month,
and for NASCAR’s rising star,
attitude is everything.
Carl Edwards had just spent more than three hours driving Jack Roush’s No. 99 Ford around Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Ga.
The 25-year-old Columbia native was stiff and sore, but excited.
He had just done what no other driver on the circuit had ever accomplished: won his first Busch and Nextel Cup Series races on consecutive days.
After he pulled into Victory Lane, Edwards began to get out of the car to greet his cheering fans. His exit was anything but ordinary.
Edwards balanced himself on the window ledge of the car and backflipped onto the track in celebration.
“It’s really pretty easy to do,” he said.
Years of practice on his best friend’s trampoline started him off on the trademark.
He did not think to bring the backflip to the racetrack until he saw Tyler Walker, now on the Busch Series, perform one following a World of Outlaws race.
He practices the flip at a gym a couple times a month. The added height of the car makes it easier.
“The next one’s gonna be awesome,” he said.
Edwards couldn’t help but laugh when he talked about the backflip. He’s a confident young man who is clearly enjoying his place in the world, and his attitude is part of the same high-spirited outlook he has kept throughout life.
He smiled when he drove on dirt tracks in Moberly as a teenager. He smiled during stints as a substitute teacher and construction worker to make money while he drove on weekends.
Now, he smiles as NASCAR’s newest star.
“I think that’s something that’s missing in sports — guys don’t make it clear that they’re having a good time,” Edwards said.
He thinks that should be easy in NASCAR, a sport that is growing and receiving more television exposure this year than ever before.
“It’s entertainment, and it’s fun,” Edwards said.
Happy to be here
Carl Edwards didn’t mean to do it.
It happened during the Hershey’s Take-5 300 at Daytona Motor Speedway Feb. 19, when Edwards was racing as normal.
His car got caught up in traffic on lap 95.
Edwards maneuvered out of the jam as best he could but still ended up clipping NASCAR veteran Tony Stewart’s rear bumper.
In racing there are two kinds of bumps, the intentional and the unintentional.
If the contact were planned, a racer would move on and let some of the bad blood fester.
In this case, Edwards had no intent. So he approached Stewart after the race to let him know as much.
He also wanted to congratulate the winner of the race.
“That’s just racing courtesy,” Edwards said.
For Edwards, just being able to compete on the same NASCAR track as his fellow racers delights him.
“To be racing with any of these guys is an honor,” Edwards said.
The Busch and Nextel Cup Series on the NASCAR circuit are a long way from the dirt tracks Edwards grew up on.
His father, Carl Edwards Sr., raced locally when Edwards was a boy. Edwards always wanted to do what his father did.
When he was 14, Edwards started building a racecar with his father. A year later, it was ready for action.
After a few years, he was dominating races in Moberly, Jefferson City, St. Louis, and other places in the Midwest.
He graduated from Rock Bridge High School and moved on to MU after that.
He is currently enrolled in the distance education program and takes three hours per semester.
During college, he balanced working low-paying jobs with his education and the beginnings of his professional racing career.
In 2002, Edwards competed in seven races for Mittler Bros. Motorsports in Foristell. He signed with Jack Roush Racing in 2003, primarily participating in the Craftsman Truck Series for the next two years.
Feeling success
Kenny Edwards couldn’t be happier for his big brother.
“I knew he was capable of doing something like this,” he said.
Though Kenny Edwards, 22, doesn’t see his brother too often during the season, he watches him on TV and tracks his progress.
The younger Edwards also reaps some financial benefits of his brother’s name.
Kenny Edwards works at IB Nuts & Fruit Too, a Columbia store that specializes in gift baskets and other seasonal items.
Now the store also sells Carl Edwards and No. 99 paraphernalia, including hats, shirts, baby bibs, and car window decals.
Sales have been steady since the NASCAR season began in late February, but they really peaked during the week of March 21, when Carl Edwards made history in Hampton, Ga.
His win in the Nextel race, the Golden Corral 500 on March 20, was particularly thrilling as he dueled with Jimmie Johnson in a fierce last lap.
Carl Edwards had worked all race to catch Johnson and battled with him for outside positioning at the finish.
Johnson tried to keep Carl Edwards from passing, using his Chevrolet to try to block him.
Edwards, who had enough Nextel races last year to no longer qualify as a rookie, kept looking for an opening.
When he did get free of Johnson and surged to the outside, he had won more than just a cat-and-mouse battle.
Carl Edwards’ first victory on NASCAR’s leading circuit came by .028 seconds.
Kenny Edwards estimated that IB sold $500 worth of his brother’s merchandise a day the next week.
“After Atlanta, it was a zoo in here,” Kenny Edwards said. “It was awesome.”
Followers in Columbia and nationwide have found enjoyment in Carl Edwards’ success.
When NASCAR had the week off for Easter following his sweep at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Edwards spent some time back home.
He was overwhelmed by the supporters he encountered in his stay. He was especially surprised since he felt NASCAR had a nonexistent following in Columbia when he started racing ten years ago.
“It was just a surreal experience,” Carl Edwards said. “To come back there and see how excited and happy people were was just awesome. It’s probably the neatest feeling in the world.”