“I told Coach, ‘I’m done’”: Carl Edwards reflects on his intense feelings leading to early NASCAR exit

NASCAR Hall of Famer Carl Edwards recently opened up about his thought process that led to his retirement, including his desire to spend more time with his family.

Edwards shocked NASCAR fans when he suddenly retired in early 2017. The Columbia, Missouri native was one of the most popular drivers during the 2000s, and was the Cup Series runner-up twice. During the latest episode of the "Dale Jr. Download" podcast, Edwards shared the concerns and intense feelings that made him leave the sport at the peak of his career.

"After 2016, I went down to Key West, got a hotel room, tried to think through everything. 'I know I don’t want to race because I’m worried about not being around my family. I’m worried about getting hurt. I’m worried about losing, you know, doing everything and losing it on a final caution. I thought, that’s stupid, you’re a racer,'" Card Edwards said.

"And then I got halfway home to Missouri, and I could not stop this feeling. I turned right, went in, told Coach, 'Hey, I’m done.' It was the same intensity of feeling that I know what’s right for me, for my life as when I was 15 years old," he added.

Carl Edwards lost the 2011 Cup Series championship in a tiebreaker, and in 2016, a late caution during the Championship 4 race led to a crash that cost him the title. In January 2017, he announced his retirement, at 37 years old, after 12 full seasons in the Cup Series.

Edwards had won 28 races in the series, including the Coca-Cola 600 and the Southern 500.

Edwards was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in January this year and will be part of Amazon Prime Video’s NASCAR coverage in the summer.

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"Dale's involvement in this is key" - Carl Edwards on joining NASCAR's broadcast team

Carl Edwards will join Amazon Prime's NASCAR broadcast team as a studio analyst and JR Motorsports owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. played a part in encouraging him to take the job. Earnhardt Jr., who has worked as a broadcaster since retiring from full-time racing after the conclusion of the 2017 Cup season, had signed a multi-year contract with the streaming provider last year.

"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 said (via The Athletic).

Edwards will join the post-race show with Danielle Trotta and Corey LaJoie at the on-site studio.

"It's really cool for me to be excited about racing again in this way, the way I was excited about racing 20 years ago. It's just neat. It's fun. It's exciting and I get to share it with people. It’s a great opportunity," he added.

Prime Video will broadcast five NASCAR races this year, starting with the Coca-Cola 600 on May 25.