NASCAR insider reveals Carl Edwards will ‘decline’ Kyle Larson’s All-Star race offer

Carl Edwards has reporterly declined Kyle Larson’s offer to drive the No. 5 Chevrolet during All-Star Race practice at North Wilkesboro Speedway. The news was shared by Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic via a tweet. Edwards, who retired from full-time NASCAR racing in 2016, has chosen to stay out of the driver’s seat despite speculation about his return.

Bianchi’s tweet was a response to an earlier post by Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports, who explained why Larson wanted Carl Edwards to take the wheel. Larson, preparing for his Indianapolis 500 attempt, needed a substitute driver for the practice session. Kevin Harvick filled the role last year, but this time, Larson hoped for Edwards to step in. Here's what Jordan Bianchi wrote in response:

"I asked Carl Edwards about whether he'd take Kyle Larson up on this offer, and Carl said he was going to decline."

Here's a look at Pockrass' tweet which detailed Larson’s reasoning for approaching Carl Edwards:

"This is one of the reasons Kyle Larson was hoping Carl Edwards would practice his car for the all-star race while Larson is at Indy 500 qualifying. That way Edwards would have a feel of the car before doing any analysis on broadcasts."

Pockrass’ response was to Bianchi’s earlier report, which announced Edwards’ new broadcasting role. Jordan wrote,

"NEWS: Carl Edwards is joining Prime Video’s NASCAR broadcast team as a studio analyst."

Larson made his interest clear, stating he hadn't spoken directly to Carl Edwards but wanted him in the car. Speaking to Bob Pockrass about the same, he shared,

“I’ve mentioned it to Jeff Gordon and Cliff [Daniels], but nobody outside of that,” Larson said. “I think it would be great. Carl, if you happen to see this, please jump in the 5 car. We want you.”

However, Carl Edwards responded by confirming he would decline the offer. Speaking with Danielle Trotta and Jordan Bianchi on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Edwards explained that now is not the right time for him to return to racing.

“I’m going to turn down that really amazing offer for now if it’s a real offer. Nobody’s actually [extended the offer],” Edwards said. “If something—the stars align and I wake up and say, ‘Oh, I need to do this,’ then yes. But right now, it doesn’t fit with everything I’ve got going on and I’m not just dying to do it.”

A 28-time winner in the NASCAR Cup Series, Carl Edwards retired unexpectedly in 2016 and has not made a return to racing. The 45-year-old also admitted that he might regret the decision, given how strong Larson’s team is.

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Carl Edwards to join Prime Video's NASCAR broadcast team

Although Carl Edwards won’t be racing, fans will see more of him in NASCAR this season. He is set to join Prime Video as a pre-and post-race studio analyst. Jordan Bianchi first reported this news, confirming that Edwards will be part of Amazon’s NASCAR coverage.

Amazon Prime Video will broadcast five NASCAR races this season as part of the sport’s new media rights deal. The coverage begins on May 25 with the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Edwards will be working alongside host Danielle Trotta and fellow analyst Corey LaJoie. The main broadcast team will feature Dale Earnhardt Jr., Adam Alexander on play-by-play, and Steve Letarte as a booth analyst.

Speaking about his new role, Edwards shared his enthusiasm for providing fans with in-depth analysis. He shared,

"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." (via The Athletic).

“I want to share with the fans what might be going on inside of that helmet, inside of that car.” he added.

Although Carl Edwards is staying away from racing, he remains interested in learning more about NASCAR’s Next Gen car. He shared that he wanted to test simulators to get a deeper understanding of the car’s handling.

"100 percent,”

“Any team that has a sim that will let me come drive it, I wanna drive a little bit. I want to understand these cars. … I drove the TRD sim, and I don’t know if the fans know how hard these cars are to drive. Think it was two years ago I drove at Charlotte — it’s a completely different animal." (via the Athletic)

While he won’t be getting behind the wheel for Kyle Larson, Carl Edwards has attempted to stay connected to the sport.