Carl Edwards said his promotion to Nextel Cup racing surprised him as much as everyone else. Credit: Autostock

Conversation: Carl Edwards

RICHMOND, Va. -- Carl Edwards came out of nowhere and burst onto the NASCAR scene with a few wins and some spontaneous acrobatics.

He's the unassuming, aw shucks type. He's just happy to be here. Actually, he was just happy to be in the Craftsman Truck Series. He's still pinching himself about the promotion to Nextel Cup. That wasn't supposed to happen for two years.

CARL EDWARDS •   Driver page •   Ford Driver's Eye •   2004 Cup stats •   2004 Truck Stats

But now here he is, just 18 months after his first race on pavement, driving the No. 99 Ford for Roush Racing. And driving the wheels off of it.

Saturday afternoon at Richmond International Raceway, Edwards hung out with NASCAR.com's Marty Smith to discuss that meteoric rise, college years that were never supposed to happen and, of course, the back flip phenomenon.

Q: First, man, this has been a whirlwind for you. Has there been anything that has snuck up on you, that you didn't know was coming?

Edwards: The whole thing. It snuck up on me like a damn freight train. I didn't mean to say 'damn freight train,' don't wanna sound bad. But it was crazy. They called me up and it was like, 'I don't believe this is happening.'

It's just unbelievable. It's the neatest thing in the world, though. I just can't describe it. It's like, I'm trying to take it all in and get used to it, but it's hard to get used to something this neat.

Q: I guess you almost have to pinch yourself, because as recently as, maybe two years ago, what you racing, Late Model cars?

Edwards. Yep. I guess two years ago was the middle of 2002, and I'd just started driving for Mike Mitler, and, man, lived at my Mom's house, in the basement. It was the coolest thing in the world to be driving for Mike Mittler in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

That was a huge opportunity, but really I was just driving back and forth to his shop every day and kind of getting along and hoping something would come about. I never dreamed it'd be something like this so soon.

Q: Were you chasing racing from high school on?

Edwards has three top-10 finishes in four Nextel Cup Series starts. Credit: Autostock

Edwards: Oh, yeah. I started racing when I was 15, with my Dad, full-time, in little four-cylinder dirt cars. I mean, we worked on the cars in the parking lot of the shop, out in a gravel lot. It wasn't like we had a racing operation of any kind.

It was just that my Dad was an amazing racer, and he's really smart, and he got me going and from then on, that's really all I... I went to school. I didn't plan on going to college, and I got a scholarship to the University of Missouri, though. So I went to college...

Q: For?

Edwards: It was just an academic scholarship.

Q: Man. That's cool.

Edwards: Yeah, thank the Lord for standardized testing. For some reason that worked out. So I went to the University of Missouri, and it was really neat. Got to go to school, had odd jobs, you know, and worked on my race cars constantly, to the detriment of my schoolwork.

Anybody could drive by our house at any time of the day or night and I was out there working on race cars with my buddies. We won two track championships like that in modifieds, IMCA cars, on dirt, and then started working with Mike Mittler.

But that was a real shot in the dark. His race team is a big deal where I'm from. I never thought I'd get to drive for him. When I first went to the shop, the first time I walked in Jamie McMurray was working on one of the trucks in there.

I was like, 'Man! That's Jamie McMurray!' This dude's huge. So Mike gave him his break, and I looked at it as a big opportunity so I spent as much time as I could with Mike.

Q: What'd you get on the SAT?

Edwards: ACT. A 31.

Q: Isn't 17, or so, average?

Edwards: I don't know! All I know is my grades were not representative of my ACT score. It's a really neat program, where they try to keep students in state, and if you do well they'll help you pay for in-state college. I'm telling you, I was like -- it was crazy. I couldn't believe that (college) deal worked out. I'm really thankful for that program.

Q: You were talking about Jamie being huge. Was he in the Busch Series at that point?

Edwards: No, he was driving Mike Mittler's truck. He'd just gotten into that ride and was running pretty well, making a name for himself and that's exactly what I wanted to do. But I'd never even driven on pavement.

Edwards has a pair of sixth-place finishes in the Nextel Cup Series. Credit: Autostock

I don't know that I'd ever really even been to a pavement race. So I started just kind of volunteering, and (Jamie) left, and Tony Roper was driving when I first started working for the team.

And finally Mike took me a to a test, which is a whole other story. It went really well. Then Tony, unfortunately, was killed in the crash at Texas. Then Larry Gunselman drove for like a year, year and a half, and I helped on that deal. Then, finally, Mike let me drive.

Q: Did Jamie have the really bad hair when he was driving for Mike?

Edwards: He had a lot of hair. Funny thing is, I had the same haircut as Jamie.

Q: Was that the look in Missouri? The part down the middle deal?

Edwards: It worked for me! I don't know. I was kind of reluctant to cut it off, but I'm glad I did.

Q: I think Jamie is, too. Back to the 99. You finished sixth last weekend at California, awesome run. And at Bristol, when you and Matt (Kenseth) got together, you were so apologetic. Almost like it was your fault. But it wasn't your fault.

Edwards: Well, the front end of my car hit the rear end of his car, and any time that happens, most of the fault would be the guy with the front-end damage. I feel like I'm responsible for the front half of my vehicle. The back half is everyone behind me's responsibility.

I felt kind of bad. I was like, 'Who is this on my radio?' (Matt) was still sideways, steering, and the radio clicks on and he's like, 'Man, you've got to watch out for that!' I was like, 'Is that you, Matt?' So I felt bad. That's the Nextel Cup champion reprimanding me on the radio, which I appreciate him for that. He takes time to help me out like that.

Q: So explain to me the back flip phenomenon. When did this start, and have you ever cracked your head open?

Edwards: No, I haven't cracked my head open. And I decided yesterday --- I did (a back flip) on Trackside Live (on SPEED Channel) yesterday, and I'm not doing any more back flips on TV unless I win a race.

Q: Really?

Edwards: It's over after that. That was the last one. It's only going to happen in Victory Lane or private gatherings for charity or something. But I'm not doing them on TV. I'm not going to be a back flip sellout.

Q: So we should start the Carl Edwards back flip for Victory Junction Gang?

Edwards: Yeah! Hey, that'd be awesome. See, I'd do them for the Victory Junction Gang Camp. I'd do them all day long. But I don't know, it's hard when they're chanting and yelling. It's like, well I guess I'll do one. It's pretty easy, and they like it, so hey. But I think I'll save them for Victory Lane.

Q: I think you should speak for yourself, there, on it being easy. I think there's a vast minority of folks that can do that. But you've really injected a lot of life into this team, because they were running in the back. Now you're running up front. Is it a chemistry thing? What's the story there?

Edwards has three wins in the Craftsman Truck Series so far this season. Credit: Autostock

Edwards: Must be. You look at how well Jeff Burton's doing with the 30 team. They say (chemistry) is a really big deal. And I never understood that until I got here to NASCAR and realized how many people put ... a race win does not come from the driver being extraordinary by himself. Or the crew chief.

It's a team effort. That has to be the answer. I mean, Jeff Burton goes over to the 30 team and he's awesome. They're running great. We're running well. And nothing's changed except the pairing up of individuals.

Q: There was talk earlier in the year, and I remember how giddy you were about it, when Jack (Roush) said you were the guy for the 6 car. How far out was that plan, and now you're already here. So where does that plan stand now. Do you know? Do you care?

Edwards: Really, no, I don't (laughing). I mean, I care, but I'm not focusing on that. I thought I had two years to prepare for this. I was kind of looking forward to that. But I guess there's no better way to learn than to just do something.

But yeah, I thought it would be 2006, full-time Cup if everything went well. And considering I've only been racing stock cars and trucks on pavement for 18 months now, I figured I'd know a lot more by then. I was looking forward to that, but hopefully I can do well enough during the period while I'm learning the most that it's not detrimental to my career.

I hope I can progress fast enough to maintain a Nextel Cup ride.

Q: It's interesting you've only been on pavement for 18 months. It seems like a lot of guys that came from dirt are excelling now. Is it because you guys can drive cars so loose?

Edwards: I don't know that it's really the dirt. I think the thing that helped me the most, the one thing in my career that helped me the most was the USAC Silver Crown Series. I ran a couple pavement races in 2001, and that was my first time running pavement in these Silver Crown cars.

They're just so powerful and they have solid front axels so they don't react exactly like you'd like them to all the time. I think that helped me the most.

So I think when you see guys like Ryan Newman and Jeff Gordon running so well, I think it has a lot to do with them driving these 850 horsepower open-wheel cars. I'm really happy we went that direction and drove those cars for a while.

Q: Do you think we might see a Victory Lane back flip before the season's over?

Edwards: Man, that'd be huge.

Q: You reckon?

Edwards: It'd take a lot.

Q: Jamie won in his second start, you know?

Edwards: I know. I know. We were really fast at Bristol and I thought about that. It just takes a lot to win these races. We've got all the ingredients. If I do my job perfectly and everything goes right one night or one day, it could obviously happen. Man, I don't even know what I'd do. That'd be pretty huge.

Q: Actually, one more thing. I did see where you guys are ready to go for next year, sponsorship-wise. It's done?

Edwards: I don't think it's done, but I think they've got something really, really close, which is exciting for me, man. To go into the winter and know that all I've got to focus on is being a better, that'd be awesome.