Inexperienced Carl Edwards Declined Kyle Larson’s Extended Generosity Amid His NASCAR Return

“Make room Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt, there’s another 7-time champ,” This has got to be one of the most iconic calls in NASCAR. While Jimmie Johnson celebrated, that night became something Carl Edwards cannot forget. He was set to become a champion, but Joey Logano put him in the wall in the last stages. And that was it. Edwards never returned to NASCAR. We did not ever hear much from him in all these years. Not until he was recently nominated to be part of the Hall of Fame.

And come on, who isn’t a Carl Edwards fan? The man, in just thirteen seasons, won 28 races and five times finished a season in the top 4 rankings. And when he returned to NASCAR for the HOF, many only demanded to see that iconic backflip celebration again. Well, the 45-year-old fooled us by complaining about back pain. But Kyle Larson had something on his mind. He wanted Edwards to pilot his car, probably win the race, and then do the backflip. Well, Edwards has decided on that. He finally makes a return to the sport!

Carl Edward is coming back to NASCAR!

Well, the prayers have been answered. But this is not what fans meant when they asked for Edwards to return. Especially not Kyle Larson! Larson had previously said, “So, it’s not anything serious right now, but that’s who I would pick. I think that would make a huge splash in the sport and be great. Carl, if you happen to see this, please jump in the 5 car. We want you.” So, apparently, Larson wanted Edwards to pilot his car in the All-Star race at North Wilkesboro, while he is off to qualify for the Indy 500. Yup. He’s attempting ‘The Double’ again. Last year it was Kevin Harvick piloting the #5 during that time, and now he wants Edwards to do it.

And during the HOF ceremony, Edwards was on the fence, “It’s an honor, really. (Larson) is one of the fastest guys to ever drive one of these cars and for him to say that, I don’t know if he’s messing with me. I’m very likely to crash a car if I were to get in one right now.” But now he has made things clear! Recently NASCAR journalist Jordan Bianchi confirmed this on X: “I asked Carl Edwards about whether he’d take Kyle Larson up on this offer, and Carl said he was going to decline.” But Edwards is making a NASCAR comeback as a rookie in the broadcasting studio. He’ll be the pre and post-race studio analyst at Amazon Prime Video.

The streaming giants have 5 races that they will broadcast this season. Starting with the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 26th! So that’s when Edwards will take up his NASCAR duties. And this is also one reason why Kyle Larson wanted Edwards to pilot his car. Fox Sports’ Bob Pokrass recently wrote, “This is one of the reasons Kyle Larson was hoping Carl Edwards would practice his car for the all-star race while Larson is at Indy 500 qualifying. That way, Edwards would have a feel of the car before doing any analysis on broadcasts.” 

It’s no secret that a lot has changed since Edwards was behind the wheel. We got the next-gen car in 2022 and Edwards has no experience with it! And technically, being a pre/post-race studio analyst has a lot to do with knowing the car. Edwards would have to identify and analyze areas for improvement in the driving technique or vehicle setup of the teams. He would be reviewing performance data captured during practices and qualifying sessions. And the All-Star race is just before the Charlotte one. So Edwards could have gotten a hang of things better.

But anyway, it still calls for a celebration, as he is coming back to the sport! Maybe after the analysis, he’d feel like jumping in one of the cars and taking a few laps. Regardless, Edwards is pumped.

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Carl Edwards opens up on his new NASCAR role

The NASCAR community can be brutal to broadcasters, as they have their favorite picks and the voices that they like to hear. How Jamie Little got backlash for being a play-by-play announcer for the Daytona Truck Series race is probably the best example. Well, since Edwards’s role is not exactly being in the booth, fans might be kinder to him. He’ll be in the on-site studio with host Danielle Trotta and fellow analyst Corey LaJoie. And he might get brownie points for this being his broadcasting debut.

And clearly Edwards is excited about the opportunity. The Athletic in their recent report quoted him saying, “The thing I’m excited about, and I feel like I can hopefully accomplish, is to get to talk a little bit about — especially since I’m not competing anymore, I got nothing to hide — there’s no trade secrets I don’t want to talk about.”

Edwards is looking forward to bringing his analysis to the fans. And something we know from the cheers in the grandstands during his post-race interviews and the laughter during his Hall Of Fame speech…people love listening to him. And he’s hoping they’ll enjoy his analysis too. “I want to share with the fans what might be going on inside of that helmet, inside of that car. I want to ask the drivers, before, after, maybe away from the track, ‘What’s going on? What is really driving you? What are your fears?'” he added.

What do you think about Edwards’s new role? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.