Former Joe Gibbs Racing driver Carl Edwards doubted that he would be selected as one of NASCAR’s 75 greatest drivers.
“I wonder if I would be on that list?” thought Edwards when he first knew about NASCAR naming 75 of its greatest drivers, in celebration of its 75th anniversary.
However, the driver who has 28 Cup race wins, 38 wins in the Xfinity Series, including the 2007 championship, and six wins in the Truck Series, became the latest driver to be included in the list.
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Speaking after the inclusion with the SiriusXM Radio channel, Edwards revealed how he knew about the decision.
“Randy Fuller sent me a text message. He said, ‘Hey there’s gonna be a Daytona number that’s gonna call you at this time and you need to answer it.’ I thought, man, this is cool. It ended up being more than cool.
“It was Lesa Kennedy, she has been a friend of mine since I was racing at Capital Speedway at the dirt track and for her to deliver that news to me.
“I sat down with my wife afterwards and I thought how fortunate am I to have done something that I love and to have met so many great people. I just feel so grateful… It’s a true honor.”
The driver who used to celebrate wins with a backflip shocked the NASCAR world when he decided to retire after the 2016 season when he was only 36 years old. He came close to winning the Cup Series championship in 2011, but lost to Tony Stewart on a tiebreaker, as Stewart had more wins that season.