“I’m supposed to come back and be a part of this”: Carl Edwards makes feelings clear amid sensational NASCAR return with $2T magnate’s brainchild

Carl Edwards will join Amazon Prime’s NASCAR Cup Series broadcast team in 2025 as a pre-and post-race analyst. The Hall of Famer recently shared his feelings during a virtual interview with Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Dirty Mo Media.

Edwards didn’t take the job right away. After the guys at Amazon Prime had reached out, he called Dale Jr., wanting to know whether the latter really wanted him to be a part of the team. Dale Jr., also a star-driver-turned-TV-analyst with the $2 trillion streaming giant (as per Forbes), told Edwards exactly what he wanted to hear.

“The first thing you said is that ‘Hey, we wanna do this as a team, we wanna build each other up, we wanna be a family’ and it’s exactly what I was hoping. You took the words that I was hoping you would say and you just said them.” (0:17)

Edwards will be heard calling a total of five races this year, starting with the crown jewel Coca-Cola 600 on May 25. His family will be at the racetrack to share the experience, too. Recalling his return to NASCAR's 75th Anniversary celebration at Darlington Raceway in 2023, the NASCAR Hall of Famer said,

“NASCAR welcoming me back like that, the whole fam, you know, these honors, I could never imagine. It's all just perfect timing. For me, it's obvious that I'm supposed to come back and be a part of this. I don't know what it'll turn into, but it feels good." (0:54)

That day at Darlington, Carl Edwards was named one of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers of all time. He also joined the FOX Sports TV booth for Stage 2 of the ongoing NASCAR Cup Series race at the egg-shaped oval.

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Carl Edwards on “the thing” that he wants to accomplish in light of his upcoming role at Amazon Prime

Carl Edwards used to be one of the most competitive race car drivers during his prime. In 12 full seasons as a Cup driver, the Columbia, Missouri native picked 28 wins and finished twice as runner-up in the final point standings. He was known to celebrate his victories with an iconic backflip.

But now that Edwards doesn’t race anymore, his focus is going to be elsewhere. Speaking of which, the 45-year-old said in a statement (via Newsweek),

“The thing I’m excited about, and I feel like I can hopefully accomplish, is to get to talk a little bit about — especially since I’m not competing anymore, I got nothing to hide — there’s no trade secrets I don’t want to talk about. I want to share with the fans what might be going on inside of that helmet, inside of that car.”

“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?'” he further added.

Carl Edwards will be joined by host Danielle Trotta and fellow analyst Corey LaJoie. Also joining the roster will be Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Adam Alexander (play-by-play announcers), Steve Letarte (analyst) and pit reporters Trevor Bayne, Kim Coon and Marty Snider.