No stranger to America’s Home for Racing, two-time Charlotte winner Carl Edwards will return Oct. 13 alongside fellow 2025 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Ricky Rudd to serve as Grand Marshals for the Bank of America ROVAL™ 400. Swapping his fire suit for a microphone, Edwards will have the honor of kicking off the wildcard weekend action on the newly reconfigured 17-turn course. 

Here’s what some of the NASCAR Playoffs Cup Series drivers' had to say about their memories of Carl Edwards:

Ryan Blaney, No. 12, Team Penske: 

“I grew up really watching Carl a lot, and always was a fan of his. I remember I was testing at Dover [Motor Speedway] one year, this was like early in my career, like 2012 or 2013 and I wrecked somewhere the week before and it was kind of right when I was trying to get my footing in the sport and he walked over into our garage at the test and kind of you know, gave me some words of advice and I always thought that was pretty neat. He said ‘Hey, I watched the race last week,’ and he could tell I was kind of bummed out about it and he just kind of helped. So I think, to an 18-19-year-old kid who was trying to figure out, this is your job, you’re trying to make a career out of this, not knowing what’s going to happen, so for him to do that I thought was pretty neat. Then to get to race with him for a handful of years in the Cup Series was pretty special too.”

Kyle Larson, No. 5, Hendrick Motorsports:

“Carl I would say that, I guess it would’ve been his final race at Homestead [Miami], me and him battled a lot that day for the lead at different points and I remember his car just being crazy fast and I felt like I was like putting a pretty great race together and he would just run me down and drive by me. Then he had his wreck, and that was, we didn’t know it at the time, the end of his racing career. I had a lot of fun racing with Carl. He was always really aggressive and just a great guy too, it seemed like.”

Denny Hamlin, No. 11, Joe Gibbs Racing: 

“Actually, my first memory was in my very first truck race at IRP [Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park]. I got to race against Carl Edwards. I think he might’ve sat on the pole in that race, if I remember right. I just remember that Carl was always someone that I looked up to because he had so much success right off the bat. He was able to succeed in the trucks and Cup, really in his very first year. He reminded me of Kurt Busch back when he joined Rousch [Racing], back in the day. He just was winning races right off the bat.”

Chase Elliott, No. 9, Hendrick Motorsports:

“Carl and I always got along really well, for whatever reason. We didn't really talk or anything, but we always got along. In my rookie year, he just kind of went out of his way to tell me I was doing a good job, and I was really appreciative of that. I remember it like it was yesterday, we were at Fontana [Auto Club Speedway] and I don’t know why but those things stand out, right. You know a guy that had been doing it for a long time recognizing that myself and our team were doing well in our first season and I appreciated him you know, reaching out like that.” 

Joey Logano, No. 22, Team Penske: 

“I raced against him for years. I remember Carl being a pretty nice guy. I think what Carl does the best is on TV; he's incredible. I mean, he's a great racer and all that, but on TV, he just came across always so natural and did things so well. I always respect that like what happened in Miami when we're racing for the championship at that time and we got caught up and you can place blame on both of us on this scenario and, he had enough awareness of what was going on to go up and shake Todd Gordon – at the time he was my crew chief -- and shake his hand and say, go get him, because he knew what happened was just racing and to see that in the moment says a lot about his awareness of what was going on and he was good at that.”

See NASCAR 2025 Hall of Fame Nominee Edwards deliver the most famous words in motorsports Oct. 13 as drivers rev their engines for the NASCAR Round of 12 cutoff race at Charlotte Motor Speedway

TICKETS:

To purchase Bank of America ROVAL™ 400 weekend tickets, fans can shop online at www.charlottemotorspeedway.com or call 1-800-455-FANS (3267). Kids 12 and under get in all weekend for just $10. 

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