Carl Edwards searching for NASCAR Hall of Fame induction

When the NASCAR Corridor of Fame nominees for the category of 2025 have been introduced earlier within the week, the title that stood out essentially the most wasn’t one of many three new nominees. 

No disrespect towards Greg Biffle, Jack Sprague or Randy Dorton — all of whom made a major impression on the game — however there’s one other nominee nonetheless searching for the mandatory votes who deserves to be enshrined earlier than anybody else is even talked about.

That may be Missouri’s personal Carl Edwards, who rapidly rose to prominence within the mid-2000s driving for legendary automotive proprietor Jack Roush. 

In a NASCAR profession that spanned 15 seasons from 2002 to 2016, Edwards rapidly turned often known as a perennial title menace within the NASCAR Cup Sequence, and he received the NASCAR Busch Sequence championship in 2007. 

Regardless of six top-five factors finishes in his 12 full-time Cup Sequence seasons, Edwards was by no means in a position to deliver house an elusive Cup Sequence championship, an accomplishment that might doubtless have put him within the Corridor of Fame a couple of years earlier. 

Edwards’ final NASCAR race ended up being the 2016 championship race on the Homestead-Miami Speedway. As an alternative of a deliberate spectacle, nonetheless, his closing begin ended up being his most crushing championship defeat but, as a late crash took him from the championship result in fourth within the closing standings. Jimmie Johnson hoisted his seventh and closing Cup Sequence championship as a product of Edwards’ misfortune. 

Edwards has seldom been heard from since his brutal championship loss in 2016. He is appeared at choose races via the years, together with final yr’s celebration of NASCAR’s 75 Best Drivers at Darlington, a listing Edwards was named to. 

The 44-year-old received 28 races within the Cup Sequence. Even with out a championship, that makes his profession worthy of a Corridor of Fame bid. Whereas he’ll have loads of future probabilities to be perpetually enshrined in racing historical past, he is the highest candidate on this yr’s Trendy Period poll.