“I was the guy that showed up and left”: Carl Edwards reflects on the emotional family moment after sudden NASCAR retirement 

Fans were shocked when Carl Edwards abruptly announced his retirement ahead of the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series season. While Edwards felt great about retiring, people weren’t ready to believe that the Hall of Famer would no longer race.

In a recent episode of the Dale Jr. Download, Edwards spoke about retirement bringing him closer to his family. The first couple of months were the most he reflected on, saying (0:54):

“I was lying in bed with Kate. My son woke up, and I heard him running down the hallway and he jumped into bed with me; he jumped in my side of the bed.”

That was the first time for Edwards. Until then, he was a parent who used to come home for a while and leave shortly after because of duty calls.

“That's the first time that had ever happened 'cause I was the guy that kinda showed up and left and Kate was the parent. I thought, 'Holy crap!' Kate just said, 'This is what you've been missing. It's been a hell of a good thing since I stepped out of the race car,” he added.

Carl Edwards delivered 124 top-fives, 220 top-10s, and 22 poles in addition to 28 series wins, with the most recent at Texas Motor Speedway in 2016. He ended up being the championship runner-up twice, with his closest finish coming in 2011 when he lost to Tony Stewart by tiebreaker.

Edwards is reportedly returning to the sport in 2025, but as a member of Amazon Prime Video’s broadcast team. He will serve as a pre-race and post-race studio analyst for the online streaming giant from May 25 onwards. That is also when NASCAR’s five-race stint with Amazon Prime kicks off.

Carl Edwards reflects on upcoming gig with Amazon Prime’s broadcast team

In an interview with renowned journalist Jordan Bianchi, Carl Edwards revealed the most exciting aspect of his new job. He is no longer a driver under NASCAR's banner, meaning he doesn’t have to hide trade secrets from the fans.

Edwards wants to share with the fans what goes on inside a driver's head while racing. On that note, he told Bianchi:

“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? What are your hopes? What are the difficulties? What are the things that you’re so good at that maybe aren’t obvious for someone just watching the racing?’”

Host Danielle Trotta and fellow analyst Corey LaJoie will join Edwards. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Steve Letarte, and Adam Alexander will be seen calling races from the booth.

“Dale’s involvement in this is key. I didn’t get anything out of my mouth and the first thing he said to me was, ‘Hey, l want this to be a good team. We are going to support each other; we will build each other up.’ Hearing this I thought, ‘Man, this is just perfect’,” Carl Edwards added.

The first event on the list is the crown jewel Coca-Cola 600, held annually at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Fans can watch it live from 6 pm ET or listen to radio updates on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.