Carl Michael Edwards Jr. (born August 15, 1979) is an American former professional stock car racing driver and a current analyst for NASCAR on Prime Video.
Edwards last competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, driving the No. 19 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. Prior to that, he drove the No. 99 Ford Fusion for Roush Fenway Racing from 2005–2014. He won the 2007 NASCAR Busch Series championship and nearly won the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title, but lost by a tiebreaker to Tony Stewart. Edwards is known for doing a backflip off his car to celebrate his victories. In 2023, he was named one of NASCAR's 75 Greatest Drivers, and in 2025, he was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
Edwards was born on August 15, 1979, in Columbia, Missouri. He graduated from Rock Bridge High School in 1997. Edwards initially did not plan to attend college, but he received some state assistance and decided to attend the University of Missouri in his hometown of Columbia. After three semesters studying engineering, Edwards decided that university attendance was not working as he pursued his career goals in racing. Prior to becoming a full-time driver, Edwards was working as a substitute teacher while pursuing his racing career.
Edwards' big break came in 2002, when he competed in seven NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series events for MB Motorsports. His best finish in the seven races was eighth at Kansas Speedway. He also ran one Busch Series race for Bost Motorsports, finishing 38th at Gateway International Raceway. However, it was enough to impress Jack Roush, and Edwards became a full-time Truck Series competitor for Roush Racing in 2003, driving the No. 99 Ford F-150, and won his first race at Kentucky Speedway. He won Rookie-of-the-Year honors in addition to three race wins, eventually finishing eighth in the points standings at the end of the season. In 2004, he notched three more race wins, including the season-opening Florida Dodge Dealers 250 at the Daytona International Speedway. At season's end, Edwards finished fourth in the points. In August 2004, he made his Nextel Cup Series debut, replacing Jeff Burton, who left the team, in the No. 99 Ford Taurus for Roush Racing, at the Michigan International Speedway. He finished tenth. He drove the No. 99 Ford for the remainder of the 2004 Nextel Cup. He also once again ran one Busch Series race; this time for Robby Benton's RAB Racing team at Bristol Motor Speedway.
In 2005, Edwards signed on and became a full-time driver in both the Nextel Cup and Busch Series, although he had already run races in each in prior seasons. Shortly into the season, on March 19, 2005, Edwards made history in the process of winning. First, Edwards won the Aaron's 312 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia, recording his first Busch Series win. The next day, he beat Jimmie Johnson by two hundredths of a second to win the Golden Corral 500 at the same track for his first Nextel Cup Series win. Until this took place, no driver had ever won both the Busch and Nextel Cup Series races in the same weekend at Atlanta, although the feat had been pulled off numerous times before at other tracks by other drivers. Also, Edwards became the first driver in NASCAR history to pick up his first career Busch and Nextel Cup Series wins in the same weekend and became the eleventh driver in NASCAR history to win races in all three of the organization's major racing series.
On June 12, 2005, Edwards picked up his second Nextel Cup win by taking the checkered flag at the Pocono 500 at the Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. The weekend was somewhat bittersweet for Edwards, as the Busch Series race at the Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tennessee had been rained out the night before, and rescheduled for the same day. Also, qualifying for that race had been rained out, and in NASCAR, when qualifying is rained out, the starting grid is set by owner points. Because of this, Edwards convinced car owner Jack Roush to let Hank Parker Jr. drive the car. Hank ended up driving the car to a 20th-place finish. Since Edwards did not start the race he was not awarded any points, and as such lost a 74-point lead in Busch Series points and dropped to fourth in the standings; Edwards never recovered from the missed race and finished the season third in points, well behind series champion Martin Truex Jr. Edwards got his third win of 2005 on October 30 in the Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, sweeping both of the Nextel Cup races at Atlanta for the 2005 season.
Edwards got his fourth win at Texas and became the tenth different driver to win at that track and the fifth to win there for Roush Racing. By finishing the remainder of the 2004 season in the No. 99 car, he was not eligible to compete for the Cup Series Rookie of the Year, but did win the 2005 Busch Series Rookie of the Year; he finished third in the Cup standings (with teammate Greg Biffle actually winning the tiebreaker for second by virtue of his series-best six wins).
2006: Missing the Chase and winless season
In 2006, Edwards and Roush struggled to keep up with the competition. Edwards did not win a race in 2006, but did manage to score twenty top-tens. His best finishes came at Michigan, Loudon, and Dover in the fall, where he finished second. At the Chevy Rock and Roll 400 in Richmond, he missed the chase by getting wrecked and finished 35th three laps down.
On May 18, 2007, Edwards won the pole for the 2007 Nextel Open, and while he led almost the entire forty-lap race, he faded to third in the last few laps, just missing the feature event. On June 17, 2007, Carl Edwards broke his 52-race winless streak in the Nextel Cup by winning the Citizens Bank 400. Shortly thereafter, on July 23, he dislocated his thumb in an eleven-car pileup at a late model race at Nebraska Raceway Park (formerly I-80 Speedway) near Lincoln, Nebraska. Edwards won his second race of the 2007 season, and sixth career Cup race, at the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 25. During the post-race interview on Victory Lane, Edwards commented on the race, saying, "This is the biggest win of my career". At the conclusion of the first 26 races, the 2007 "regular season", Edwards ranked sixth in overall standings, with 3372 points, 477 points behind overall points leader Jeff Gordon. Edwards entered the 2007 Chase for the Nextel Cup in fourth place, with 5020 points, based on his two wins in the 2007 season, clinching a spot in the Chase after his win at the Sharpie 500 at Bristol. Edwards struggled through the Chase despite winning at Dover during the Chase. The Hendrick duo of Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon dominated the Chase for the Championship, winning six of the ten races and finishing No. 1 and No. 2 in the final 2007 standings. Edwards finished ninth in the final 2007 standings.
On November 3, 2007, Edwards clinched his first NASCAR Busch Series Championship by finishing eleventh at the O'Reilly Challenge. This came despite struggling in the second half of the Busch Series season. Edwards became the nineteenth different Busch Series Champion in the 26 years of the modern-era series. Edwards would end up becoming the final Busch Series Champion as Nationwide would take over sponsoring duties of the second-tier series in 2008.
2008: First championship runner-up
The 2008 season was Edwards' strongest year, finishing second to Jimmie Johnson in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Edwards won the 2008 Auto Club 500, his first Sprint Cup win of the year. The following week, Edwards won the UAW-Dodge 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, his first back-to-back victories since 2005 when he won in Atlanta and Texas. These victories put Edwards at the top of the point standings for the first time in his career.
Following the Las Vegas win, on March 5, 2008, NASCAR penalized Edwards, owner Jack Roush, and crew chief Bob Osborne for violations found in post-race inspection. The No. 99 car driven by Edwards was found to be in violation of sections 12-4-A, 12-4-Q, and 20–2.1J of the 2008 NASCAR rulebook, specifically, the cover was off the oil tank. The violations were found during post-race inspection at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 2. The following penalties were levied by NASCAR: Edwards was fined one hundred driver points and stripped of his ten bonus points for the Las Vegas win, which would be used to seed him in the Chase for the Championship (should he make the Chase). Roush was fined one hundred owner points, and Osborne was suspended for six races and fined $100,000. Edwards was leading the Kobalt Tools 500, looking for his third consecutive victory, but on lap 274 his car began to smoke and his crew diagnosed the problem as a broken transmission. Edwards went on to finish 42nd. On April 7, he won the Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway for his third win of the season.