NASCAR's Carl Edwards: Driver of the Ford Fusion AFLAC 99

I will admit that until about 4 years ago, I was not a NASCAR fan. I even made the same lame jokes I hear now about driving around in circles and only rednecks watching something like that. I never thought of it as a sport and I did not understand why my mom watched the NASCAR race every Sunday. All of that changed on March 19, 2005 while I was visiting my mom at her house.

Mom was just settling in to watch her race, and her driver, Ryan Newman. She told me to sit and watch the race with her and explained that it was taking place at Atlanta Motor Speedway. She also told me that you can't watch a race without picking a favorite driver. She was right, as usual. She told me that a young driver named Carl Edwards had won the Busch series race the day before and that he did a back flip off his car after winning. I thought that was pretty cool and unique and when they showed him in his 99 Scott's Ford, I was hooked. He seemed like a happy guy, likable enough, even though I essentially knew nothing about him. So, I decided that just for that race, I would root for him and appease my mom. What a race it turned out to be.

Carl Edwards was just 25 years old and although he was a young up and coming racer, he wasn't expected to win at Atlanta against the likes of Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr. amongst many other superstars of NASCAR. I like to think I was Carl's good luck charm that day, but it soon became apparent that he didn't need much luck with the amount of talent he had as a driver. My vivid memory of that race goes right to the last lap, and the wild finish. Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson were racing to the finish line, side by side with Johnson just slightly ahead in his #48 Chevy. As they approached the finish line, the 2 drivers were bumping into each other's cars, trying to get the other to lose just a little speed, and allow himself to grab the win.

Carl snuck by Jimmie at the finish line and beat him by just 2 hundredths of a second, faster than a human blinks their eyes. I actually jumped up and pumped my fist and gave a loud, "Yes!" in celebration. Carl pulled his race car over near the start/finish line, took his helmet off and stood on his driver side window edge with his arms raised. He was grinning and glowing and obviously thrilled at his victory. Then came the back flip off the car, with a good landing that he would perfect after many more victories. He won 3 more races that year and has won a total of 16 NASCAR Sprint Cup races, including 9 just last season. And as of March 19, 2005, I became a Carl Edwards fan, and subsequently, a NASCAR fan. I have been lucky enough to personally witness Carl do his victory back flip twice at the Texas Motor Speedway just last year.

The more I found out about Edwards, the more I liked him. He is a fitness buff and has been proclaimed as NASCAR's fittest driver. He even appeared on the cover of Mens Health magazine, showing off his abs. He had been a substitute school teacher and a Reserve Police Officer in his hometown of Columbia, Missouri, all while he was racing on dirt tracks and trying to get a NASCAR car owner to give him a chance. He passed out business cards to everyone he met. The cards had his picture and said, "If you're looking for a driver, I'm your guy." You have to have confidence and real desire to go out and make your dream come true. Carl has the confidence and got a chance at his dream by working hard and taking advantage of the break once he got it. Jack Roush is a top car owner in NASCAR and he was the guy that gave Edwards his break. He hired him to race in the truck series, and when Edwards won there, he moved him up to the Busch car series. Needless to say, Carl won there too.

As I watched the Talladega race on Sunday, April 26th, 2009, I was torn between admiration for the exciting racing the track brings and the extreme danger it entails. Carl Edwards' regular car sponsor is AFLAC but for this race he was sponsored by Claritin. The number 99 started 16th and spent a little time in front before dropping to the back purposely to try to avoid what is known as 'The Big One', the wreck that always takes out multiple cars. He did a good job all day of avoiding all the accidents, though he did get a little damage from the first multi-car pile up. Towards the end of the race, the Claritin 99 car started making his way to the front. He got a great push from behind by the driver of the 09 car, rookie driver Brad Keselowski and together they passed every car in the field.

When they were just 150 yards from the Finish line, Keselowski made his move to try to get around the 99 and get his first win. Unfortunately the 2 drivers made contact that sent Carl Edwards car spinning up the track backwards with his rear tires off the ground at nearly 190 mph. Ironically, Carls car hit my moms favorite drivers car, Ryan Newman in the Army 39 Chevy. That crash destroyed Newmans car but he was still able to drive the last few yards to take 3rd place. Carl was not so lucky as the impact sent his car flying through the air, all 4 tires off the ground in what seemed like slow motion. The 99 car slammed into the safety fence and safer barrier walls, sending debris into the crowd and throwing Carls car back onto the track in a burning crumpled heap. Thankfully Carl was uninjured and climbed out of his car to jog to the finish line less than 100 yards away, in what the announcer proclaimed was, "Shades of Ricky Bobby", from the movie Talladega Nights. He finished 24th, and Keselowski won his first race. The sad part is that 7 fans were injured from the debris, including a woman who suffered a broken jaw. But all of the injured will be fine and the good news is that the reinforced safety fence held up and kept Carls car from landing in the crowd.

Being the nice guy he is, Carl called the injured woman to send his best wishes and make sure she was really ok. He has since appeared on TV shows like Good Morning America, Larry King and the Ellen show giving his account of the wreck. When I see him on these shows, he makes me proud that he is my driver. He is well spoken and funny, and his passion for racing is easy to see. He represents NASCAR and the sport of racing very well. That's right, I called it a sport, and you can thank Carl Edwards for that.

Sources:

http://www.nascar.com/

http://www.carledwards.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Edwards