"I'm becoming the friend I should’ve been": When Carl Edwards reflected on life after walking away from NASCAR

A year after his sudden exit from NASCAR, Carl Edwards returned to his racing roots to accept an honor that brought his story full circle. He was inducted into the Ozarks Area Racers Foundation Hall of Fame in 2018, which prompted a quiet realization for the Missouri native.

Before he was flipping out of Cup cars or his 72 race wins across NASCAR's top three divisions, Edwards was hustling through Missouri's short-tracks in Baby Grands and Modifieds. Raised in Columbia, Missouri, Edwards cut his teeth at the Lebanon I-44 Speedway, where dirt ovals and modest prize money shaped the driver he would become.

Edwards' early days in racing were defined by hustle. He was a relatively unknown local racer in the early 2000s when he crossed paths with NASCAR Truck Series team owner Mike Mittler. Desperate for a break, he pestered Mittler for a chance, eventually landing one that jumpstarted his meteoric rise. Both men were inducted together at the 2018 Ozarks ceremony.

In the weeks leading up to the 2018 reunion, Edwards revealed in an interview with the Springfield News-Leader:

"That was a pretty crazy pace there for about 15 years. I'm an all-or-nothing person, sometimes to my detriment. It's taken me about a year to actually wind down. I'm just now becoming the friend and the person I should be to a lot of people that I basically didn’t spend a lot of time with for a long time. It's an amazing opportunity and I've really been enjoying it."

For years, Carl Edwards had been a lone wolf in a team sport, pouring everything into performance while keeping life outside the garage at arm's length. The speed had finally caught up with him, and he was beginning to realize the cost.

"I had some of the most fun races in my career in those Baby Grands down there. I also had one of my most humbling moments in racing, in a Modified there," he recalled.

The Ozarks induction served as a bridge between Carl Edwards, who once was a young racer hungry for validation, and the man now learning to slow down and embrace the people who had been part of the ride.

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Seven years on, Carl Edwards focuses on gratitude as he joins the NASCAR Hall of Fame

Carl Edwards during the NASCAR Hall of Fame at the Charlotte Convention Center. Source: Imagn

Seven years after that emotional return to Lebanon and the Ozarks Hall of Fame, Carl Edwards stood on a different stage in Charlotte, this time as a NASCAR Hall of Famer. His induction in 2025 was a powerful moment not just for the fans who had missed him, but for Edwards himself, who had long struggled with whether he even belonged anymore.

"The most surprising thing is the realization that I can't separate my life from this sport. I walked away eight years ago... but for NASCAR to welcome me back like this and give me this honor, I guess that's been the most surprising thing, and really the most impactful part of all this," Edwards said during the Hall of Fame week.

That realization first hit him in 2023, when he was named one of NASCAR's 75 Greatest Drivers during the sport's diamond anniversary.

The 2025 Hall of Fame speech pulled back the curtain on Edwards like never before. He admitted to years of tunnel vision, to moments when fame blurred his identity, and to not always knowing how to be present beyond the driver’s seat.

Now a part-time broadcaster with Amazon Prime Video's NASCAR coverage, Edwards has found a role that keeps him close to the sport without pulling him back behind the wheel. As of now, a return to full-time racing remains unlikely. But in many ways, he has already come back, on his own terms.

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Edited by Luke Koshi