Carl Edwards open to broadcasting NASCAR races, but doesn't plan on racing again

Carl Edwards said Thursday he has no plans to get back behind the wheel of a NASCAR Cup Series car on a part-time basis or even for one final ride.

Carl Edwards says he has no plans to get back in a Cup car. He explains why. pic.twitter.com/6TG4QExx7g

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) May 30, 2024

“Not in a Cup car. I did enjoy running the SIM a little bit last year. And I think I’m going to go do a little bit more of that just to try to understand,” Edwards said, via Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports. “I mean I love driving cars and I’m very curious. … The reason I don’t get into a car now and go do it is because I absolutely respect how tough it is. I know how tough it is. To go do it as a fun thing, I have fun personally trying to do very well at things and to go do it as a fun thing, I don’t think I would be as good as I should be.”

Edwards, 44, walked away from NASCAR’s top series in his prime at the age of 36. He has stayed true to his retirement since. In that time, several fellow legends such as Jimmie Johnson have returned on a part-time basis, but that won’t be the path for Edwards. Instead, he’s far more interested in a possible role in the broadcast booth after getting a cameo in during last spring’s race at Darlington Raceway.

“What I enjoyed was being up in the [FOX] booth,” Edwards said. “I enjoyed kind of calling the race to whatever degree I did there for 45 minutes or whatever. So, maybe something like that. But I don’t have anything lined up right now. But definitely much more open to that than I ever have been.”

Carl Edwards explains reaction to making NASCAR Hall of Fame

Edwards was notably selected as a member of the 2025 NASCAR Hall of Fame class earlier this month. He compiled 28 victories in the top series, and though he never claimed a Cup Series championship, he won the Xfinity Series championship in 2007. Edwards had some close calls throughout his career, finishing second in the final points standings in 2008 and 2011. He finished in the top-10 of the points standings in eight of his 12 seasons in the Cup Series, including a fourth-place finish in his final campaign in 2016.

Edwards called his Hall of Fame selection “very humbling.”

“I thought about it [and] thought, man, I can’t build my day around that because it’s not going to happen,” Edwards said. “I called Randy Fuller [former Roush Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing senior media relations manager], and I was just blown away. Knew Randy wouldn’t mess with me like that. I was shocked, and I still am at how much it means to me. I wasn’t expecting to feel this way. It’s very humbling.”