Carl Edwards reveals Joe Gibbs' powerful words that "changed his family's life" in a heartfelt honor

Former Joe Gibbs Racing driver Carl Edwards has been inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2025. During his acceptance speech at the ceremony, he thanked Joe Gibbs for changing the life of his family as he revealed the powerful words the Coach said to him in 2016.

Edwards is one of the greatest NASCAR drivers to never win a Cup Series title. In his 13-year Cup career, he took 28 race wins and more than 100 top-five finishes. However, after coming close to winning the Cup Championship for a second time in 2016, he decided to walk away from the sport.

Edwards was leading the championship race in 2016 and was on his way to claiming the title when a late race caution led to a restart and got wrecked, ruining his chances of victory. The 45-year-old Hall of Famer recalled his conversation with Joe Gibbs after he had decided to quit racing.

"When I told you what I wanted to do... you jumped up from behind the desk and said, 'This is important to you, I got your back and I'm going to make this happen for you.' And you didn't have to say that. You changed my family's life, you gave me permission to go do something that I needed to do," Carl Edwards said (17:35 onward).

"If you have ever questioned anything about how you were as a father I want you to know you are the model father. The way you had a relationship with your sons, I saw that, I try to emulate that, we talk about it every single day in our homes, thank you for everything you've done for me."

After he left in 2016, Edwards made his first appearance in NASCAR during the Darlington Raceway event in 2023 when he was named among the Greatest 75 drivers in the sport.

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Carl Edwards shares his thoughts on jumping in the #5 car of Kyle Larson

A week before Carl Edwards got inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Hendrick Motorsports star Kyle Larson handed out an invitation to the 28-time Cup Series race winner. Speaking about who he would like to replace him for the All-Star practice, Larson had a clear winner in his mind and told Bob Pockrass in an interview:

"I would love to have Carl Edwards do it. That's my pick this year. I think that would make a huge splash on the sport and be great, so Carl, if you happen to see this, please jump in the #5 car."

When Edwards learned about this invitation after the Blue Jacket ceremony held on February 6, he shared his thoughts on jumping into Larson's car for the All-Star practice.

"It would be so much fun to do the race for me, and then the realist is like, 'You haven't driven a car for 8 years, you'll screw it all up, it'll be terrible,' so I don't know what to do about that. It really is an honor. We'll see what happens," Carl Edwards said.

Edwards also joked that Larson was messing with him and he would get back to him in one way or another.