NASCAR names Columbia’s Carl Edwards one of sport’s 75 Greatest Drivers

Carl Edwards, one of NASCAR’s most popular and colorful drivers of his era, has more reason to perform one of his signature backflips.

Edwards, of Columbia, was named one of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers on Monday as part of the sport’s 75th Anniversary Celebration.

The notification of his selection was particularly meaningful to Edwards, because it was delivered in a phone call from NASCAR executive vice chair Lesa Kennedy, who was a driving force in bringing NASCAR to Kansas Speedway.

“First, just to be included in that group and be considered in that manner is humbling to say the least,” said Edwards, who retired in 2017 after 15 years of NASCAR racing. “Lesa Kennedy did so much for Kansas Speedway and was a friend of mine from when I was racing at the local dirt track. For Lesa to call and tell me about the honor … I feel so grateful to the sport. … All the good things it brought me (were) amazing.”

Edwards, who rose from working as a substitute teacher in Columbia to one of the sport’s brightest stars, raced in NASCAR from 2002-2016. His eighth-place finish for Missouri team owner Mike Mittler in a NASCAR Craftsman Trucks race in 2002 at Kansas Speedway caught the attention of owner Jack Roush, who signed Edwards for 2003.

Edwards would go on to punctuate most of his 72 national series wins, which included a 2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory at Kansas Speedway, with his trademark backflip off the rear of his race car or truck.

In all, Edwards won 28 cup races for legendary owners Roush and Joe Gibbs and won 38 races in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. He won the Xfinity series championship in 2007 and a series-most nine cup races in 2008 only to finish second in the standings to Jimmie Johnson. He also finished second for the 2011 cup championship, losing a tiebreaker to Tony Stewart.

“It’s a special feeling to think about all the stuff I was able to do because of so many people,” said Edwards, 43, who owns a farm outside Columbia and does volunteer work in central Missouri.

One of Edwards’ few regrets was his inability to win a cup race at Kansas Speedway, though he gave it a valiant, last-lap effort in 2008 when he made a memorable banzai move on Jimmy Johnson, only to scrape the wall and finish second.

“Carl is not only one of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers, he’s also a great friend and a friend of Kansas Speedway,” said track president Pat Warren. “Our fans embraced Carl as one of their own from the very beginning, and he reciprocated in kind by always putting our fans first on and off the track. We’re overjoyed he’ll forever be recognized on this list of all-time NASCAR legends.”

Since his retirement, Edwards has been on the ballot for the NASCAR Hall of Fame, and his selection as one of the 75 Greatest Drivers can only enhance his candidacy.

“I am so lucky,” Edwards said. “I’m sure Clint Bowyer (of Emporia, Kansas) would say the same thing. I grew up racing at my local dirt track and didn’t even imagine I would get to drive in NASCAR. I couldn’t have imagined any of this stuff.

“So whatever list they want to put me on, that’s up to somebody else. I got to live the dream and do something that could happen only in my wildest dreams. Only in America, and only through something as wild as NASCAR, did I get this opportunity.”

NASCAR 75th Anniversary Celebration

Race fans at Kansas Speedway can join in NASCAR’s 75th Anniversary Celebration at its NASCAR Experience display in the midway during the race weekend of May 6-7.

The racecars of some of the sport’s greatest drivers, including the Richard Petty STP car and Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s Mr. Goodwrench, will be on display.