Conversation: C. Edwards

Since the 2008 season ended Carl Edwards has been keeping fairly low-key, even while participating in a couple pretty high-profile events, like the season-capping Sprint Cup awards banquet in New York and the annual international Race of Champions in London.

Edwards did slip in a final test session of the '08 season, but most of his time was spent on personal things, like a long-anticipated trip to Thailand, a quiet holiday season and then, right after the New Year, his wedding to Kate Downey.

On New Year's Eve, Edwards sat down to talk about all that's been going on in his life, from racing to personal.

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Q: How was the 2008 holiday season for you?

Carl Edwards: The holiday season was adventurous -- a lot of fun. It was really busy leading up to Christmas. We went testing [the Sprint Cup car] in [Las] Vegas, which went really well. And that was a lot of fun because my dad and I went out there and it was really cool just to see all my guys at the track.

I hadn't driven a car for a little while so it was just fun to be able to drive something. I noticed how long it had been because my neck hurt! The second day I woke up and thought, 'man, I must have slept on my neck funny.' And then I realized it was just from holding my head up in the car, and I hadn't done that for a while. So it was cool to be back in a car.

But it was pretty wild after that. I flew back from Vegas on Thursday afternoon and got up Friday morning in Columbia [Mo.], and took my fiancée and her friend and two of my buddies -- we all flew to Atlanta and I got to speak to about 2,000 people for Aflac.

That was nerve-wracking, because I had to give a 30- to 45-minute motivational speech. And I did zero preparation. It ended up going really well, but I was nervous about that. We got that done and jumped on an airliner to go to London for the Race of Champions, did that and got on another plane and went to Thailand, spent a week there and then came home.

So it was, like, this huge whirlwind trip that actually went all the way around the world, so it was pretty cool.

Q: Did you ever stop to think about the fact that you were going all the way around the world or did you just do it?

Edwards: We kept going east the whole time, [from London] over Eastern Europe, Russia and India to Bangkok. Actually, all I did was sit in the back [of the plane] and eat the food, but it was still pretty cool. I don't know [how significant it was]. It was pretty neat, but to be clear, we just got airline tickets and went from place to place -- I mean, I wasn't flying the airplane or anything. Maybe someday [I will].

It was cool, but to me the neatest thing was to be somewhere [devoid of motorsports]. I did not see one picture of a stock car, not one racing thing. I mean, it's a totally different culture, and I only bring up the racing because it's something that we see all the time.

But there were so many things that were different about the culture. The people were really nice and it was neat. On the way back, we flew over Alaska because the shortest route was to go over the top of the earth, kind of. And it was cool to look out the window in the dark and see just a couple lights here and there over Alaska and Canada. I'd never been near that area of the planet.

Q: With all the political unrest in Thailand at the end of November, and not to throw Jimmie Johnson under the bus for cancelling his trip to Thailand, which had nothing to do with yours -- did you ever consider not going?

Edwards: Oh yeah, for sure, and Jimmie and I talked about it. Jimmie was on a different [agenda]. My trip was me and three of my buddies. I think his trip was more something with his family, you know? I think if I were taking my fiancée or my mom or something, it probably would have been a little harder for me to go there considering that they had just a little bit of unrest.

Saying 'I Do!'

Carl Edwards' marriage to Kate Downey weren't the only nuptials in NASCAR -- in fact, not even at Roush Fenway Racing. Dave Rodman looks back at a memorable November and December.

• Complete story, click here

But once I got there and I saw what was going on anybody that is thinking about going there should go. It's the most -- it's an amazing place. The people, in general are so peaceful and kind. We were driving this van, and we had a 750-kilometer trip -- whatever that is in miles.

I'm driving along the road and people drive exactly how you wish people would drive -- everybody just goes as fast as they can and generally gets out of everybody's way. It's just a free-for-all -- it's awesome. So we're driving along, and I couldn't even figure out what the speed limit was.

So Lonnie [Clouse] from MRO [Motor Racing Outreach's lead chaplain in the Nationwide Series] was with us and he's reading the little tourism guide that we've got, and he says 'it says right here that the traffic laws are generally liberally interpreted.' So [laughing] I'm like, 'awesome,' and we just drove like maniacs.

But my point is, that you could be driving down the road and the few police officers that we saw -- it didn't matter how you were driving -- they just smiled and waved. They were just happy to be there and happy that you were driving. So I was surprised at how nice people were and I didn't feel that once we were there for a few days, that we were in any danger whatsoever.

I'm not going to throw Jimmie under the bus because I think he was probably the smart one to be cautious -- but it worked out, luckily, for us.

Q: Overall, what was your take on Thailand?

Edwards: Well, we landed in Bangkok, and the plan was to ride bicycles -- we were not going to rent a car -- just ride bikes, roughing-it and packing all our stuff on the bicycles. So we landed, and certain guys in our party, I'll not say who, they're like, 'there's no way in hell we're gonna ride our bicycles out of this airport.' It's a zoo in Bangkok.

So I went and rented a van and we just drove out of the airport. We got the GPS unit, we got this van and loaded all our stuff up and we head off down the road -- and you can't read half the road signs, they don't have any English on them.

So we're just headed down the road and we decided, 'let's drive to Phuket,' which is the resort city in the south of Thailand. We drove 500 miles in the course of two days down to Phuket, and just had a blast -- it was really fun.

Q: So you just threw the bikes in the van?

Edwards: Yeah, we did. We didn't ride the bikes until we got all the way back to Bangkok, and then for two days we rode all around Bangkok on bicycles, and it was crazy. The videos, which people can go to carledwards.com to take a look at, are really neat. We saw a lot of things that were just crazy.

There are not a lot of Americans over there. We did not meet any Americans until about the fifth day of our trip, when we got back to Bangkok. So it was really neat, in that respect, because we met people from all over the world.

Everything that was going on [politically] had nothing to do with Westerners. And I'm telling you, everything was really cheap and everybody was really nice. Even the people selling stuff on the beach were nice -- even one of those guys who gave me one of those fake watches, when I tried to give him some money as a tip, he wouldn't take it. That was pretty cool because most people wouldn't do that.

Q: I know you're careful about your diet, so what was the craziest food item you had over there?

Edwards: We stayed at some places that had some normal [food] like eggs and stuff like that in the morning. But the craziest food item that caught me off-guard was on the plane on the way back. We were on Korean Air, because we went to Seoul and then back to Atlanta.

Seperated at birth? One kid in Thailand thought Carl Edwards was Michael Phelps.

So they came to bring you dinner and asked, 'do you want the Korean dish or the beef dish?' Lonnie was sitting next to me and he said he'd take the beef, but I said I'd have the local fare. It looked good and it looked normal enough -- it was like, veggies and meat.

But I didn't realize, until I'd taken a couple of bites, that part of the veggies weren't veggies, they were little bitty fish; like, the whole fish, with little eyes and the whole bit. So I was like, 'oh, my God.' There were like a hundred fish in a little pile on your plate.

That was pretty interesting and I didn't expect that -- but it was real good and I was starving so I ate the hell out of 'em. I'd already eaten some, so I figured, 'why not?'

But there were a lot of things that I didn't know a lot about, like fruits and stuff. I had always heard of papayas and had had papaya-flavored things, but I'd never had sliced papaya and there was a lot of that. And the coolest thing was they had coconuts everywhere. We'd stop at a gas station and this little girl, like nine years old, was cutting the tops off coconuts with a butcher knife and putting straws in 'em and selling 'em for like 50 cents or something. It was just crazy, but pretty cool, I thought.

Q: I know you were concerned about keeping your coach-driving buddy, Tom Giacchi, out of trouble; so were there any close calls?

Edwards: No [laughing]. Let me think. Nothing too crazy -- just probably stuff in the van. I didn't realize until a few hours in [to the trip] that they only had seat belts in the front seat. I'd been driving like a moron and Lonnie and Tom didn't have seat belts. They didn't say anything until it got real bad and then I toned it down.

But I never felt like I was close to being in big trouble -- never.

Q: Maybe a stretch, but did you run into anyone who knew you?

Edwards: One person; and it was really funny. We were in Bangkok the two days before we left, at this hotel where there were a lot of Westerners. We were down at the pool just hanging out, and there was this little kid who was just staring at me. We had no one who'd recognized me -- we probably didn't see anyone who knew what NASCAR was the first six days.

So this kid's staring at me and I told my trainer, Dean -- that kid's been staring at me and he looked at me real strange, like he might watch NASCAR or something. He's looking at us and looking at us, and Dean finally starts messing with this kid, asking him if he ever watched NASCAR.

His name was Will, I remember that, and he said yeah, he did. I think he said Tony Stewart was his favorite driver, but Dean asked him who did the back flips, and he said 'Carl Edwards.' Now I had introduced myself to the kid already and Dean said, 'now what did he say his name was -- Carl?' And the kid goes 'Carl Edwards!' And I said 'yeah.'

So he goes, 'I thought you were Michael Phelps [laughing].' I'm like, 'what the hell are you talking about [laughing]?' But that was hilarious. I guess he just hadn't seen an American for a while and he thought I was Michael Phelps. So I can say I was not recognized, but he thought I was Michael Phelps, which was pretty interesting and we laughed pretty hard about that because I'm sitting there thinking this kid recognized me, and not quite.

Q: What's your next international excursion going to be, now that you've got Thailand out of the way?

Edwards: Our next trip is going to be Africa. I don't know if it would be a safari or not, but we were thinking about South Africa because Tom's friend knows some people down there -- he used to play rugby there. But I'm thinking safari, because that would be fun.

Q: What was your overall impression of the Race of Champions?

Edwards: It was very well-organized and cool to be a part of. There were so many guys there that to me were just world-class drivers, there were a ton of fans there and it was all just first-class. I hope I get to go back again.

Unforgettable

Carl Edwards gained some international racing respect at the 21st annual Race of Champions in London and it made a career moment for Edwards as well.

• Complete story, click here
• Audio: In England for the RoC
• Audio: Close, but no cigar

Q: How much interaction did you have with the other racers, and who made the biggest impression on you?

Edwards: We had a lot of interaction. There were a couple guys I really enjoyed talking to, like Troy Bayliss, the motorcycle racer, was really cool. Tanner Foust, the other American that went and I got to hang out after the race. We went to dinner and then they had a party and he is a really cool guy -- a class act and a real professional, so I'm a fan of his.

A lot of the Formula One guys were really neat. Jenson Button was a real fun guy and I enjoyed talking to him.

David Coulthard was one of the guys that made the biggest impression on me. In the little amount of time I had to talk to him, he kind of reminded me of Mark Martin. [Coulthard] just seemed like a guy who took racing for what it was -- he enjoyed the racing but he had his wife and his new kid there and it just seemed like he was having a good time. It was cool to see a guy who was that big of a name and who had achieved so much to have that much fun.

Mattias Ekstrom, the [Swedish] touring car driver was by far the wildest guy there -- a hilarious guy and the full-on entertainment for the weekend. I think him and Jimmie Johnson got to spend a lot of time together, too. But Mattias wants to drive in NASCAR competition really badly, so we talked a lot about NASCAR and things he could do to come experiment over in the United States. I think he's a guy who could do it for sure -- at least he wants to, extremely badly so it was fun to talk to him about that.

One of the most eye-opening things for me was I got to ride in a car with [RoC winner] Sebastien Loeb and I'm telling you something -- that guy can drive a race car. The only other guy I've driven with that made me kind of pucker like that was Boris Said, when I rode in the two-seater with him at VIR [Virginia International Raceway]. But [riding with Loeb on a wet track in a KTM X-Bow] was a neat experience -- he has amazing car control.

After I rode with him I thought 'now I've got something to work towards -- I know what I need to be doing' and it was cool.

Q: You beat your trainer's hero, Michael Schumacher, in a head-to-head race in Abarth rally cars; and Schumacher spoke well of you afterward. What was that all like?

Edwards: [Beating Schumacher] meant a lot to me. I don't know if it should or not, but it did. I was not necessarily a Michael Schumacher fan because I didn't watch a lot of Formula One when he was racing, but my trainer, Dean -- who was with me -- is a huge Michael Schumacher fan so I hear a lot about him.

When they told me I was going, they said they'd do their best to get me in a race with Schumacher, and Dean was so excited it got me excited. We got through our first races and I thought 'here's my chance -- I get to see where I really stack up.'

The neatest part, that I'll never forget, is when we rolled out from under the grandstands, to where you are before you get on the track. I was going back and forth really hard, warming up my tires, and I could see Michael look in his mirror and he started going back and forth, doing burnouts as we warmed up our tires and brakes.

I didn't give him a lot of room -- I kind of forced him to have less room, so we're back there playing mind games with each other. We both wanted to win pretty badly. Then we got out there and got to racing and just to be able to beat him -- I don't know if he missed a shift and he didn't get as much practice in that car as I did. But just to see how excited Dean was, was cool.

That [Abarth] was fun to drive, really small but it had a ton of power; and it was front-wheel-drive so it was really different to drive. The head-to-head format was fun. You could tell where you were in relation to the other guy and whether you needed to pick it up or not. As much as I tried not to do that, you did it -- and I even looked across the track and up at the scoreboard and you could see if the other guy had wrecked.

Other than that, you just drove hard and the track was so tight you didn't really have a chance to look at much.

Q: The in-house change, where your Nationwide crew chief Drew Blickensderfer was promoted to the Cup Series with your teammate Matt Kenseth's team, was announced when you were in England, so how did it come down?

Edwards: It's a good move for [Drew] and in the back of my mind, I knew that this was a big possibility for a long time because I just knew that Matt and Drew had had success together on the Nationwide side and I thought 'if Drew and I go out and do really well, that's the logical next step,' as long as Chip [Bolin, Roush Fenway engineer who was serving as Kenseth's crew chief] was cool with it and it would work out like it did.

Swap at the top

Drew Blickensderfer is leaving Carl Edwards and the No. 60 Roush Fenway Nationwide team to replace Chip Bolin as crew chief of the No. 17 Ford in the Cup Series.

• Complete story, click here
• Stillman named No. 60 chief

I thought it could happen, so in a way I half expected it. But it was cool. Robbie [Reiser, Roush Fenway general manager] called me and said 'this is what we're thinking, are you OK with this?' I was totally OK with it because it's an opportunity for Drew and if that's what Matt wants, that's what we have to do because it's important that Matt and Chip and those guys win races. And it meant a lot that they asked me if it was all right, because they didn't have to do that.

Q: How do you feel about working with Dan Stillman, and will you do any testing to ease that transition or just wait for Speedweeks?

Edwards: Honestly, I think it'll be better off for Drew and I not to be together because to get Dan, with everything I've heard about him, it's going to be a positive move. I don't know if we have a plan to test, but if we don't test I'm sure we'll sit down and have a good talk and I hope will be available on Saturdays during the races to help us out. I'm sure he will.

But Dan's a professional. With what I've heard about him, and just the short time we've spent talking on the phone, I don't think we're going to have any trouble.

Q: With testing mostly being eliminated, how are you looking at this January?

Edwards: I don't know if it'll be the best January I've ever had in my life, but it'll be the least busy one I've had in the past four or five years, and that'll be nice. There's not a solid test on my schedule that I know of, yet [because] I believe we're still trying to adhere to the spirit of the no-testing policy. I hope that doesn't hurt us, but I think the least testing we can do in the sport as a whole is good. We've got to test as much as everybody else does, but I don't think the idea at Roush Fenway is to test as much as we can.

I'm excited about getting to spend some time and getting to do some things we won't be able to do throughout the year -- maybe go some places or spend some time with people that I won't be able to see throughout the season.