As the 2025 season has kicked off, so has our anticipation for Carl Edwards’ return. The 28-time Cup Series race winner bizarrely disappeared after the 2016 season. After nine long years, he is back as a race analyst for Amazon Prime’s 5-race schedule. Now Edwards will share both his racing insights and stories – some of which he is treating to Dale Earnhardt Jr. at present.

We all know Carl Edwards as an extremely polite former NASCAR driver. However, it is hard to believe today that this racer once used to have flaring tempers during his prime. From grabbing Matt Kenseth by the collar to punch him to flipping over Brad Keselowski’s car into a fence at 190 mph, Edwards’ moves were wild. However, Dale Earnhardt Jr. once got back at him.

The two drivers used to be at each others’ necks as Cup Series rivals. Now as Carl Edwards and Dale Earnhardt Jr. look back on those wild times, they share laughs. However, one retaliatory incident is still imprinted on Edwards’ mind – although Dale Jr seems to have forgotten about it.

In a 2004 race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Dale Jr had a solid chance to contend for the championship. But Edwards did not let him. Cousin Carl recalled the event in a Dale Jr Download episode: “At Atlanta – which might have been your best shot at that championship at least up to that point – I was behind you. You came up and I remember making a decision. And I regret it…’Screw it, he’s coming up and I’m going to stay right here. I’m going to let him suffer the consequences.”

At the 2004 Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500, Earnhardt Jr. had a chance at the season lead with 15 laps to go. However, he clipped Cousin Carl on the backstretch and crashed right into the inside wall. As Edwards revealed, the move was intentional! Typical Carl, right? In the end, it meant one of Junior’s most solid chances at the championship vanished into the air. Dale Jr. stood 5th in the standings all thanks to Edwards.

But Dale Jr used to drive for his father’s team – Dale Earnhardt Inc. – and with the Intimidator’s blessing, he was not going to let it go easily. Dale Jr remembered what Carl Edwards did for two years. He finally got his opportunity for revenge in 2006. He won the Busch Carfax 250 race at Michigan International Speedway and got back at Edwards.

Carl Edwards continued: “All I remember is that it was off of Turn 2…You pushed me and I thought, ‘Oh he’s just going to touch me.’ Then I was like, ‘No, he’s sending me.’ I remember thinking, ‘Damn, that was serious.'” Back in Atlanta, Edwards did not offer Dale Jr a single inch – which is why he lost his championship bid. So the latter responded in kind two years later: “When you came up in front of me, I had to think, ‘Would this guy lift for me?’ … I thought that if you would do it for me and you did not. That was that, and I thought, ‘Damn!'” Yet surprisingly, Dale Jr admitted that he could not connect those two incidents! He expressed his surprise at Edwards’ revelation: “Oh man, I don’t know if I ever personally connected the two.” 

Carl Edwards recalled this wild turn of events recently, sharing laughs with the man he wrecked so violently. “I remember coming to pit road with a tore up car, you won the race. I was like, ‘Put some tires on.’ They were like, ‘Don’t you dare’…I went out there and I ran into you. It was ugly – I went to Victory Lane…really pissed. It felt a little out of control.”

Dale Jr may have gotten his revenge in 2006 for a foiled championship bid. He slammed into the rear of Carl Edwards’ No. 60 car, sending it spinning with one lap left. But Edwards was hardly done – he restocked his car with fresh tires and headed back after the caution. He rammed into the side of Earnhardt’s car when the latter’s hand was dangling outside the window. This risky endeavor landed Edwards a hefty $20,000 fine from NASCAR and a ton of criticism. Later on, he confronted Dale Jr for a heated exchange of words as the latter celebrated his win on Victory Lane.

At the time, Dale Jr. had revenge veiled. “I didn’t mean to spin him out. I don’t go around wrecking people. I wouldn’t have waited two years to get back at him for wrecking me in Atlanta in 2004 pretty much the same way. We got a run off that corner, and Carl just got sideways and he wasn’t in the gas. I guess he was pretty mad at me, but there wasn’t much I could do.” 

Other drivers also fell prey to Carl Edwards’ wild mood swings. That includes Matt Kenseth in 2007 at Martinsville, right before an interview. Edwards almost got into a fistfight with him. Kenseth talked about his rage: “You don’t know what to expect with him. One minute, he has so much respect for you and he’s real friendly and everything’s so much fun. The next minute, he wants to kick your butt and he’s swearing at you. It’s a little scary.”

Carl Edwards’ miracle return to the sport

Cousin Carl’s impact on the sport was clear. From aggressive moves to denying Dale Jr. a shot at the championship, the man has experienced NASCAR in full. And while he didn’t win a championship, his legacy wasn’t questionable. That’s why his abrupt exit at the end of 2016 stung fans. They wanted to see more of him. Well, for those fans you might have your wish come true.

While Edwards’ return to NASCAR won’t be as a racer, he will bring his infectious personality to the race booth for Amazon, as he joins his old rival turned friend Dale Jr. as a race analyst. And it wasn’t an easy feat bringing him back on board. Amazon and Dale Jr. came up with a careful plan, visiting Edwards in his home and persuade him to make a return to the sport.

Speaking about his return, Edwards explained, “Because the way I walked away, I went cold turkey. You know, I got a lot of calls. People say, Hey! Come do this… And I’ve said no to basically everything. Randy Fuller said, ‘Hey, Amazon’s going to do some of these races. It’s five races and they want to talk to you.’ And it struck me at the time, I thought, man, five races? You know, my kids are kind of getting into racing. My family is asking questions about what my career was like. Maybe this will be cool.”