Former NASCAR Ford Driver Carl Edwards Voted Into HOF

Carl Edwards, an accomplished Cup Series driver and longtime member of the NASCAR Ford stable, was nominated for the Class of 2025 in the sport’s Charlotte-based Hall of Fame. Votes were cast on May 21^st, 2024, and now, after four years of being on the ballot, Edwards was finally voted in and will take his place among stock car racing’s greatest.

As per an announcement on NASCAR.com, Edwards was one of several drivers up for the honors in the Modern Era segment. He earned 52 percent of votes, second only to fellow Modern Era inductee Ricky Rudd, who gathered 87 percent. He also prevailed in the online fan vote, which earned him one ballot alongside the panel’s votes.

Named as one of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers during the sport’s anniversary celebration in 2023, Edwards amassed 72 national series wins, including 28 Cup Series victories, and he celebrated each one by backflipping off his race car. He first began competing in the Truck Series in 2003, driving the No. 99 NASCAR Ford F-150 for Jack Roush. He then graduated to driving NASCAR Ford race cars in the Xfinity Series (then Busch Series) and Cup Series in 2005, racing fulltime in both divisions.

Edwards does not have a Cup Series championship, but he came close. In 2011, Edwards was tied with Tony Stewart for the championship after the final race of the season, but ultimately lost out in a tiebreaker. Simply put, Stewart had more wins that season than Edward, who only went to Victory Lane once.

Edwards continued to drive the No. 99 NASCAR Ford Fusion for Roush through the 2014 season, when he parted ways with The Blue Oval to drive a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. He then shocked the racing world by stepping away from stock car racing entirely at the end of the 2016 season, and has since faded into relative obscurity.

Edwards and Rudd join driver-slash-engineer Ralph Moody, who was voted in as the Class of 2025 Pioneer Era inductee. All three will be honored in a ceremony at the Hall of Fame on February 7^th, 2025.