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Carl Edwards walked onto the stage all alone at the Joe Gibbs Racing shop Wednesday morning then briefly took the fixed microphone into his hand and began interacting — smiling and joking — with the large crowd gathered to hear this popular driver’s big news.
After putting his audience at ease, Edwards delivered one of the most stunning announcements in recent NASCAR history. This fantastically talented, fiercely driven 37-year-old championship contender is stepping away from NASCAR competition — effectively immediately, a little more than a month before the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season-opening Daytona 500.
As other NASCAR greats Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart have done in the past two years, Edwards was also careful to reiterate he was not “retiring” — and went so far as to leave the door open to NASCAR competition should the right situation arise.
Still, Edwards’ decision not to compete is both gripping and grappling.
Edwards is in the prime of his career, seven weeks removed from coming within a few laps of securing his first premier series title. So to quite suddenly announce he is climbing out of the car is relatively unprecedented. No one saw this coming.
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He has certainly not “aged out,” assuring the masses Wednesday that he is not injured. And although the well-spoken Edwards said he’s absolutely open to doing some television work, NASCAR’s broadcast partners were as stunned with his news as everyone else. They say no plans currently exist to use him on air. Yet.
Edwards reiterated frequently that he has no formal “Plan B” after hanging up his helmet, saying only, “I’m not sure and that’s OK.”
He confirmed politics was something he was interested in, reminding us that he enjoys driving tractors on his Missouri property and stressed that family is his No. 1 priority.
The former substitute teacher-turned-NASCAR star gave the gathered press three distinct reasons for stepping away.
First, he said, he was absolutely satisfied with his career, insisting “I don’t race just for the trophies.”
Secondly, he said he wanted to “devote time to the people and things that are important to me, things I’m passionate about,” such as his family (his wife, Katherine, and young children, Anne and Michael).
And third, he said, “I can stand here healthy,” — insisting this move is not a result of injury but of introspection.
His team owner Joe Gibbs said he was as surprised by Edwards’ decision as anyone.
“Honestly, it was a total shock,” Gibbs said. “I could really tell in his face that it was something he’d really thought about, but he was kind of emotional and it was something he really felt like he needed to do. So I sat there and looked at him and said let’s take some time here because if we start down this path, there’s not a turning back on this. When you start visiting sponsors and stuff, it’s going to be huge.
“We did that. We spent four days, but I could tell. I think Carl’s very much — out of anybody in our NASCAR world — he’s his own man, and you could tell he’d thought through it.”
Throughout Wednesday’s nearly 35-minute press conference, Edwards quoted the movie Forrest Gump, dropped sponsor references and thanked a literal lifetime of people from his earliest supporters in the Midwest to his current Joe Gibbs Racing teammates.
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Most touching, an emotional Edwards had to step back from the podium at one point when asked about how he thinks he will be remembered. He wiped away tears as his voice cracked, finally offering up a joke while composing himself.
His absolute sincerity throughout was both telling and compelling. Edwards was at ease — introspective and wide-open at varying times.
“Going through that whole process and becoming a better person, a stronger person, a better competitor, a better teammate, a better friend to people, that’s a big deal to me and I feel accomplished,” Edwards said of his 15 total years of NASCAR competition.
“I know when I sit in that race car that I am the best race car driver I can be. So whether or not I have a championship, I’m really satisfied with that.”
As he should be — Edwards‘ is a popular and admirable tale of determination and grit, earning entry into the NASCAR garage by working on a truck series team before getting the chance to drive himself. And he wasted no time making good.
Edwards won six times in the Camping World Truck Series and 38 times in the XFINITY Series, including the 2007 championship sandwiched among four championship runner-up years.
His ascension in the Cup ranks — first driving for Jack Roush and then Gibbs — included 28 wins highlighted by an amazing nine-win 2008 season when he finished runner-up in the championship. He lost the 2011 Cup title in a heart-wrenching tiebreaker with Tony Stewart and this year led 47 laps and was challenging for the trophy when he crashed out in the season finale, nine laps from the checkered flag.
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“This is the same way people looked at me 20 years ago when I said, ‘Hey, I’m going to drive a race car for a living,’ like, you’re crazy,” Edwards recalled. “Literally, people laughed at me.
“But that same way of thinking applies now. I really believe this is the right thing. It’s a personal thing. I feel strongly about it. I’m very confident in it.
“I’m sure it’s the right direction for my life.”