CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Carl Edwards knew there was a chance he would be voted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame last May, but a prior commitment meant he would be flying from Alabama to Missouri during the time when the results were announced. That commitment needed to be kept. Nor did he want to be presumptuous and assume he’d be voted in.
So instead, Edwards went ahead with his plans, even if it meant not immediately finding out whether he was going to be enshrined.
Sure enough, upon landing in Missouri, his wife, Kate, turned on her phone and saw the news. She told her husband that he better check his phone. Now. Then he learned the news that he was part of the Class of 2025.
“I thought the chance was zero, so I’m not even going to entertain that as a possibility,” Edwards said in an interview this week. “I just went on about my day.
“I couldn’t believe it. It shocked me.”
The honor was widely expected, considering Edwards won 28 races over 12 full seasons competing in NASCAR’s premier Cup Series and twice finished runner-up in the championship, including losing the 2011 title to Tony Stewart in a tiebreak. Known for backflipping off his car to celebrate his victories, he’s regarded as one of the best drivers to never win the Cup Series title.
Still, the honor…
