Carl Edwards: King of the Back Flip

Carl Edwards has become as popular for his victory celebration back flip as he has for his driving. He has had plenty of opportunities to show off that back flip during his racing career.

Edwards began his career on Midwestern tracks in 1993 driving four cylinder mini-sprint cars at the age of 13. For the next ten years, Edwards achieved championships on two NASCAR-sanctioned tracks, three Rookie of the Year titles, and seventy-five feature wins driving on both dirt and paved tracks across the United States. In 2003, Edwards joined Roush Fenway Racing to drive in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. During that season, Edwards won three races and was awarded the Raybestos Rookie of the Year award. He finished eighth in the points standings. In August of 2004-after winning the season opening Daytona race, the Kansas race and the Bristol race-Edwards was chosen to race in the NEXTEL Cup Series. He finished out both the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and the NEXTEL Cup Series with a fourth place finish in the overall truck series standings while achieving five top-ten finishes in the NEXTEL Cup Series. In 2005, Edwards raced in both the Busch Series and the NEXTEL Cup Series full time. He was once again awarded the Raybestos Rookie of the Year award, this time for his performance in the Busch Series. In 2007, Edwards became the NASCAR Busch Series Champion.

On June 6, 2007, Edwards won the 2007 NEXTEL Prelude to a Dream race at Eldora Speedway in Ohio. Prelude to a Dream is a race organized to benefit the Victory Junction Gang Camp, a camp for chronically ill and terminally ill children. The camp is located in Randleman, North Carolina and is a part of the Association of Hole in the Wall Camps. The idea for the Victory Junction Gang Camp came from the late Adam Petty, teenaged stock car driver and son of Kyle Petty. The Pettys began talks with Hole in the Wall founder Paul Newman in 2000. Adam was killed in a crash during practice at the New Hampshire International Speedway on May 12, 2000. Kyle and his wife continued their son's vision and opened the camp on Father's Day, June 20, 2004.

Off the track, Edwards keeps busy promoting his record label, Back40 Records, a company he started with his high school friend Aaron Naeger. Says Naeger, "Essentially the whole idea behind this was we wanted to give people here in Columbia more of an opportunity to express their dreams." Edwards not only supports the label financially, but his celebrity has brought the company national exposure.