NASCAR insider bumps into legend Carl Edwards during the IndyCar practice session at St. Petersburg

NASCAR insider Jenna Fryer ran into legend and hall-of-famer Carl Edwards while covering the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (IndyCar Series) on Friday. February 28 marks the start of the action in Florida with qualification and practice sessions for multiple categories. Come Sunday, drivers will race 100 laps around the 1.8-mile circuit at 220 mph in an adrenaline-filled event.

On February 6, 2025, Carl Edwards was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame for his brilliant career as a driver and his influence on the sport. He won 28 out of the 445 Cup Series races he participated in, was runner-up twice to the championship and was crowned once as an Xfinity Series champion. He was also well-known for his backflip celebration.

Fryer, an Associated Press Sports division reporter, posted on her X (formerly Twitter) a picture with Carl Edwards, accompanied by the lighthearted caption:

"Dude, first ⁦@bobpockrass crashes #IndyCar and now this guy? Don’t see him for 25 years and now twice in one month."

This Sunday, March 2, the 2025 IndyCar Series kick-off will take place at St. Petersburg, Florida, and Alex Palou is looking to complete the three-peat after winning the championship in the last two seasons. He's also a fifth betting favorite to win this weekend's contest at +800 (via BetMGM), with Josef Newgarden at +400 and Scott McLaughlin at +500.

The track, which back in 2005 became the first-ever street circuit, will be celebrating IndyCar's 20th anniversary. It includes a portion of the local airport's runway as the start-finish line, the town's Central Avenue, and even part of the coastal driveway. Helio Castroneves, who recently participated in the Daytona 500, is the winningest driver here, with three wins.

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Carl Edwards invited to sub for Kyle Larson at All-Star practice

The 2021 Cup Series champion, Kyle Larson, recently invited Carl Edwards to take his place behind the wheel of the #5 Chevrolet at the All-Star practice. The hall-of-famer addressed this invitation after the blue coat ceremony and said that Larson is the "baddest" driver in the world and that he would "see".

"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," Edwards said in an interview with Bob Pockrass of FOX after the HOF ceremony.

It's still unclear if Carl Edwards is going to be in Kyle Larson's seat for said practice, but it would sure be fun to watch. Who would you like to see there if Larson and Edwards are both unavailable?