OPINION: Carl Edwards’ call to the Hall of Fame wasn’t only justified, it was overdue
by Ben Schneider / LASTCAR.info Staff Writer
Edwards celebrates after winning the 2016 AAA Texas 500, his 28th and final career victory in the Cup Series. (Photo: Getty Images)
Carl Edwards is a NASCAR Hall of Famer.
It’s a sentence we can finally type, text, post, and publish, because it’s finally a factual statement.
Some reacted to Tuesday’s news by asking why Edwards deserved such an honor. As for me, I’m asking a much different question: what took so long?
Let me be clear: this writer is not coming at this from the perspective of a biased Carl Edwards fan. Far from it. Readers of this website know where I stand on the issue of Cup drivers racing in the Xfinity Series, and Edwards was among the worst offenders at the height of the practice. I also grew tired of Edwards’ antics at Atlanta and Gateway during his feud with Brad Keselowski in 2010. While I have zero issues with Edwards today, there was a brief time during my childhood when I genuinely considered him to be among my least favorite drivers in the sport. The last thing I want to do is fall into the trap of “recency bias” - my argument here is based solely on his career accomplishments and their corresponding statistics.
And those things lead me to no other conclusion: Carl Edwards deserved to be voted in on Tuesday. If anything, we were overdue on getting him there.
Edwards celebrates his 2007 championship in the Busch (now Xfinity) Series (Photo: Speedcafe.com)
Let’s start with his Xfinity Series career. In seven seasons from 2005 to 2011, Edwards scored 37 wins and added a 38th in a one-off return to the series at Watkins Glen in 2012. In addition, he won the series championship in 2007 and placed second in the standings four more times in 2006, 2008, 2009, and 2010.
Keep in mind, those were the years that saw more Cup drivers in the Xfinity field than ever - years where then-Roush Fenway Racing Cup teammates Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Jamie McMurray, and David Ragan all made frequent appearances in the series. Despite my disdain for the practice, I also cannot pretend Edwards’ Xfinity competition was nothing but small team independents and inexperienced development drivers. He had plenty of fellow Cup drivers to beat on Saturdays as well.
With 38 Xfinity Series wins, Edwards ranks fifth on the all-time list behind Kyle Busch (102), Mark Martin (49), Kevin Harvick (47), and Brad Keselowski (39). He also ranks just ahead of Jack Ingram (31), Joey Logano (30), and Matt Kenseth (29). Martin and Ingram have been in the Hall for years, while Kenseth was also enshrined in 2023. The rest are all Cup champions who are a sure bet to be in the Hall one day. Because of this, I think a case can be made that Edwards’ Xfinity Series numbers alone merit Hall of Fame discussion.
And we haven’t even gotten to his Cup career yet.
Much like Martin, Edwards’ former Roush teammate, the only major boxes left unchecked on Edwards’ resume are a Daytona 500 win and a Cup championship. In 12 full-time Cup Series seasons, Edwards won 28 races, putting him in a tie for 30th on the all-time list. Once again, all but one of those ahead of him are either in the Hall already, active Cup champions, or recently retired Cup champions. (The lone exception is Denny Hamlin, who is still in hot pursuit of his first title and whose 54 wins make him a lock for future Hall of Fame honors.) Looking at those just behind Edwards, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Fred Lorenzen are also both in the Hall with 26 wins, as is Rex White, who shares 30th place on the list with Edwards at 28. The bottom line remains the same in Cup as it does in Xfinity: Edwards’ numbers place him among deserving Hall of Famers, a clear indicator that he is worthy of the same honor.
As for the sport’s two biggest prizes, Edwards nearly won both in 2011. He finished second to Trevor Bayne in the “500” and lost on a tiebreaker to Tony Stewart for the series title, meaning the bonus Chase for the Cup points from a Daytona win alone would have been enough to give him the edge over Stewart. Edwards also finished second behind Jimmie Johnson in 2008 and appeared to have one hand on the 2016 title in the closing laps before a late caution and subsequent restart crash left him fourth in the final standings.
That untimely block was ultimately Edwards’ final moment as a driver in NASCAR. A common argument against Edwards’ selection made by his critics on Tuesday was that he retired so abruptly. So what? While Edwards has always been a very private person (he has famously continued to avoid joining the overwhelming majority of his fellow drivers on Twitter), he did give a press conference shortly after announcing he would be stepping away, making it clear that he was satisfied with his career. Much like Nico Rosberg had done in Formula 1 a month and a half earlier, who are we to question his decision to retire if he felt the time was right? All it means is that he achieved everything that he did in an even shorter period of time. If anything, shouldn’t that strengthen his case for the Hall rather than weakening it?
It appears the majority of voters agreed, as Edwards received 52% of Modern Era ballot votes, enough to secure the second Modern Era spot in the Class of 2025.
I want to be completely fair to the other nominees - this year’s Modern Era ballot was significantly more competitive than last year’s, where the only surprise was that Jimmie Johnson wasn’t unanimous as he was voted in alongside longtime crew chief Chad Knaus. Ricky Rudd received 87% of Modern Era votes and is absolutely a deserving Hall of Famer. Harry Gant finished third and has a strong case of his own. Much like my editor-in-chief, Brock Beard, I too am frustrated that Harry Hyde and (particularly) Neil Bonnett are still not in the Hall. I consider it borderline criminal that Jack Sprague and Randy Dorton are only now just being nominated, and I sincerely hope they get the call one day as well.
I could go on. But in a crowded class with no potential unanimous selections, Edwards’ and Rudd’s 28 and 23 respective Cup wins lead the 2025 nominees, something The Athletic’s Jeff Gluck argued played no small role in his decision to vote for both of them.
Given the competition, if you’re still wondering why Carl Edwards was voted into the Hall of Fame on this particular ballot, then I completely understand.
If you’re still wondering why Edwards was on the ballot at all…well, I can only suggest you scroll back up and give this piece a second read.
