With his impending induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, legendary driver Carl Edwards wants to be more present and involved, at least in comparison to his ‘mystery man’ reputation from over the past seven years.
Edwards shocked the racing world when he suddenly retired in January of 2017, two months after a bitter championship race defeat at Homestead-Miami Speedway, one that his closest friends say left him frustrated and broken-hearted.
At the same time, Edwards also recognized that he spent too much time away from home in the pursuit of NASCAR greatness and has remained steadfast that his retirement decision came down to wanting to spend more time at home with his wife and their sons.
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Edwards reiterated that he was never going to drive a Cup Series car again, because he respects too much what what goes into being competitive at the highest level, but that he has enjoyed spending time at the Toyota Racing Development simulator over the past year.
He first went to the facility and drove the digital simulator because he was preparing to spend nearly an hour in the FOX Sports television booth at Darlington last spring and wanted to have an idea of what modern drivers deal with on a weekly basis.
He was invited to participate in the Throwback Race broadcast as he was just named to the 75 Greatest Drivers list earlier in the season.
As it turned out, he really enjoyed spending that hour with Mike Joy and Clint Bowyer.
“I had more fun than I thought I would,” Edwards said. “It really was enjoyable. It shocked me. I went into it thinking it was a huge honor and I need to go and respect the honor. I left and thought, ‘that was fun,’ so if I were to come back in a regular capacity, it would be in the booth, because I enjoyed calling the race to whatever degree I did there.
“That part I enjoyed, but maybe that if I were to come back, but I don’t have anything lined up right now. I am much more open to that than I ever have been. I had a good time.”
With TNT Sports and Amazon Prime joining FOX Sports and NBC Sports next season, there certainly could be room for additional analysts and broadcast booth combinations and the commitment could be as little as five races.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. signed a deal to serve as analyst for both TNT and Amazon next season for the 10 combined races they each have in the middle of the season.
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.