From Columbia to the NASCAR Hall of Fame: 13 years after thrilling Iowa Speedway finish, drivers reflect on Carl Edwards’ storied career
NEWTON, Iowa (KMIZ)
As Carl Edwards Jr. came barreling off of turn four in the final lap of the 2011 Nationwide Series race at Iowa Speedway he was greeted with a windshield full of smoke. The only thing standing between the Columbia native and a victory was his Roush Fenway Racing teammate Ricky Stenhouse Jr., whose engine was blowing up.
In a television interview after the race Edwards told ESPN that he was hoping Stenhouse would be out of the way by the time he got to him. Instead, he crossed the finish line sideways after crashing into Stenhouse’s back bumper. The collision propelled Stenhouse and his faulty engine across the finish line for the win while Edwards slid through the infield grass. It remains one of the craziest finishes in NASCAR history, despite happening in its second-tier series.
“Ironically, the race that we blew up and he ran into me here at Iowa we had actually kind of gotten into it throughout that race," Stenhouse told ABC 17. “Just racing hard so it was just a wild finish.”
Stenhouse says that race is the weirdest finish to a race he has ever participated in.
“You know, Daytona or Talladega wreck coming across the line, but something like that doesn't happen at normal racetracks,” Stenhouse said.
Thirteen years later Stenhouse was back in Newton for the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race at Iowa Speedway. Edwards was not. He faded from the public view after retiring from the sport in 2016.
A quiet retirement after a Hall of Fame career
Edwards' weekends behind the wheel of a stock car have been replaced with spending time with family, sailing his boat across the Atlantic, overseeing his farm in Columbia and flying airplanes, something he has been doing since getting his pilot license in high school.
Edwards has occasionally been pushed back into the spotlight. In 2018 he was inducted into the Texas Motor Speedway Hall of Fame. That same year his name was floated around as a potential political candidate to represent Missouri in the U.S Senate, but a campaign never materialized. In 2023, he hopped into the FOX TV booth for a few minutes in Darlington after being placed on NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers list.
However, public appearances are few and far between.
In May he made another public appearance when he achieved one of racing's highest honors: Being elected into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
It’s hard to argue with his resume. Between 2004 and 2016 he tallied 72 NASCAR National Series victories, most of which were usually capped off by his signature celebratory backflip. He even beat Formula 1 legend Micheal Schumacher during a Race of Champions event.
Edwards was a product of Mid-Missouri. He was born and raised in Columbia, graduated from Rock Bridge High School in 1997, and got his start in racing on tracks across the state. As he traveled from track to track he handed out business cards that read, “If you’re looking for a driver, you’re looking for me.”
At one point, while chasing his dream of becoming a full-time driver he worked as a substitute teacher on the side. Edwards' combination of talent and persistence earned him an opportunity with Roush Fenway Racing in 2004.
After some early success in the NASCAR truck series, team owner Jack Roush gave him a full-time ride in the Cup and Xfinity Series in 2005. Edwards returned the favor with a weekend sweep by winning his first races in each series at Atlanta Motor Speedway and quickly caught the attention of his fellow competitors.
“I remember the first time I was like ‘Wow, this guy is really talented.’ We were at California Speedway, and you know big long corners, and he just came blowing by me. I think maybe even three wide,” 93-time race winner and NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon told ABC 17. “That’s when we had the yawed-out cars and stuff but still he was just sliding it sideways and on the gas and going hard. I knew that day this is going to be a guy that’s going to be competitive week in and week out.”
Edwards went on to win the Xfinity Series Championship in 2007 and finished in the top two of the standings for five consecutive seasons. During his seven full seasons in NASCAR’s second-tier series, he collected 38 wins.
In the span of 13 seasons in the Cup Series he won 28 races, including two crown jewels. In 2015 he captured both the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte and Southern 500 in Darlington. Stenhouse, who was teammates with Edwards at Roush for three seasons in the Cup Series, says he had a lot of fun racing against him.
“For me, I learned a lot racing, you know, obviously being a teammate with him. Felt like we had a lot of the same characteristics behind the wheel,” Stenhouse explained. “He was a cool teammate to have and we had a lot of good battles and I was always impressed with what he could do behind the wheel of a race car.”
Along the way, he also emerged as a fan favorite.
“He had a great fan following,” Gordon said. “He was great to the fans, great to the media.”
Many wins but no Cup Championship
One of the few things missing from Edwards' resume is a Cup Series championship. But it wasn’t for a lack of effort. He finished runner-up twice. The first second-place finish in the standings came in 2008 when the championship was still decided by points and not a final all-or-nothing race between the top four drivers. He won the final race in Homestead that year but still lost the title to Jimmie Johnson.
In 2011 he entered the final race of the season, clinging to a three-point lead over Tony Steward. When the checkered flag flew for the final time in the 2011 season, Edwards was tied with Stewart in points. Unfortunately for Edwards, Stewart's victory in Homestead earned him the championship through a wins tiebreaker.
Carl Edwards was part of one of the craziest finishes in NASCAR history @iowaspeedway.
— Mitchell Kaminski (@MitchKaminski99) June 16, 2024
In honor of his recent induction into the #NASCARHOF, I spoke with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. who talked about being his teammate, and Joey Logano, who reflected on the 2016 championship. pic.twitter.com/fcHEPHnBkI
In 2016, Edwards was still at the top of his game. A year earlier he left Roush after eleven seasons to drive the No. 19 car for Joe Gibbs Racing and picked up two race wins. He carried that momentum into 2016, winning three races and earning a spot in the championship four. But a few months after the season ended the 37-year-old abruptly walked away from the sport.
Many have speculated it was because of how the championship race ended. Edwards has insisted that is not the case.
With just 10 laps to go, he tried to hold off fellow championship contender Joey Logano. Logano says what happened next is the memory that rushes back to him the quickest when he was asked about his history racing against Edwards.
“One of the final restarts of the race I got underneath him and we just kind of got tangled. He threw a block and got tangled and were both in the inside wall. Honesty it was just kind of a racing thing. You really don’t place blame on either one of us,” Logano said.
In the blink of an eye, Edwards had gone from the championship leader to a 34th-place finish. After climbing out of his wrecked race car he walked toward Logano’s pit box to have a word with his crew chief, Todd Gordon.
“Honestly, I thought he did an amazing thing where he just lost the championship. It’s a really hard pill to swallow. Then he walked up to our pit box and instead of dog-cussing out my crew chief like the majority would, Carl took the high road and basically took half the blame for the wreck and said, ‘Go get 'em’," Logano said. "I think that’s a stand-up thing. It’s a typical Carl Edwards move. He just did things in a different way. He always took the big picture in mind and always kind of understood what was going on really well.”
Class never goes out of style. It’s one of the many reasons that Edwards is still beloved across the industry despite his self-exile from the sport. While he may not have won a Cup championship he did earn the respect of his competitors.
“We certainly missed him when he left. I think the sport was better off with him in it,” Gordon said. Very deserving to be in the Hall of Fame. I texted him as soon as I found out.”
“I actually texted Carl the other day once he got the Hall of Fame vote,” Stenhouse added. “Super cool for him.”
While fans may no longer be able to see Edwards back-flipping his way to victory lane he now takes his rightful place among stock car racing all-time greats.
“You work hard as a kid growing up trying to get to this level and I think once you get to this level you just want to earn the respect of your competitors, earn the respect of the fans and the media, and be recognized as one of the best,” Gordon said. “When you go to the Hall of Fame that’s exactly what that is.”
