When you are a fierce competitor, sometimes you tend to ignore your rival’s friendly advancements. It happened a lot in NASCAR and Carl Edwards knows it very well. The former NASCAR driver had a difficult career where he was in line to win the title, only to lose it to Tony Stewart after a tie. However, it was not Tony Stewart who put a hand of friendship forward.

Before heading into the Roval race, Carl Edwards revealed that a driver had approached him intending to be his friend. However, Edwards ignored the gesture because of the rivalry, and he claims to have missed out on a chance at a potential friendship that could have come from it.

Carl Edwards rejects Brad Keselowski’s friendship offer

To date, Carl Edwards is remembered in the NASCAR scene as a popular figure that many fans hope will return to the sport. During Edwards’ career, he managed to win 28 races; however, he fell short of winning the championship back in 2011, finishing second. Although many believed that the title was his missed opportunity, the former NASCAR driver revealed a story from when he was still racing.

Edwards made his way to the Cup Scene YouTube channel, where a video of the pre-race presser with Ricky Rudd was held. That’s where the former Roush Fenway Racing driver spoke about one of his biggest regrets. Revealing his regrets from the time he was driving, Edwards explained, “The regrets are really simple. There are two of them. First, I didn’t enjoy some moments that, now, I know I’ll never get again because I was so focused. I was just on to the next thing and moving forward.” Carl Edwards revealed that as a NASCAR driver, he would have liked to live in the moment more than focus on the next race.

Stating his other regret, Edwards said, “The other regret—I got to rectify a little bit of it because I ran into Brad Keselowski out there—is that I didn’t truly love and respect my competitors the way I should have.” When Brad Keselowski put forward a hand for friendship, Edwards did not respond the way he would like to today. Explaining his state of mind around the time he was racing, Edwards said, “I thought of them as, ‘Yeah, that’s my enemy, and we’re going to dominate you and we’re going to win.‘ Now, I see there’s a real brotherhood that I didn’t understand at the time.” 

The drivers were infamous for their duel on the track, a feud that went on for a year. It came to a head during the Kobalt Tools 500 when Edwards turned into Keselowski and sent his car into a flip. Some thought it was a way of Edwards getting back at Keselowski after an earlier incident between the two had left Edwards running 150 laps behind. It was an incident that earned Edwards a black flag and a meeting with NASCAR officials. It certainly was evidence of bad blood between the two racers.

Being a competitive driver, Edwards couldn’t look eye to eye with other drivers, and that’s the reason he left up on some strong friendships that could be formed. However, this is not the only thing that he has revealed in a recent interview. Everyone knows about Edward’s backflip celebration after winning a race. But has anyone wondered what the origin story is for it?

The origin of Carl Edwards backflip celebration

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By now the backflip off the car window has become synonymous with NASCAR racing ever since Edwards popularized it. However, the origins of the backflip come from a driver who used to race in the World of Outlaws race. Before heading into an episode of NASCAR Inside the Playoffs, Edwards breaks his silence on the origin story of his backflips. In the interview, Edwards explains that the first time he saw a driver do a flip from the top of a car was during the World of Outlaws race. It was Tyler Walker who pulled off the celebration in front of Edwards, and ever since then, the No. 99 driver has made it a point to add that to his victory celebrations.

When Carl Edwards saw Walker pull off the backflip, he couldn’t help but think, “So cool, so I started doing it at Capital Speedway in Holts Summit (Missouri) in the dirt car, and then was fortunate enough to win our first race in the No. 99 truck in Kentucky, and I thought, “Why not?”

This is how Carl Edwards’ backflipping came into the picture. So from the 3 things that Edwards revealed recently, which story is your favorite? Share your thoughts in the comments below.