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Carl Edwards

Carl Michael Edwards, II (born August 15, 1979) is an American NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Series driver for Roush Fenway Racing. He is the defending Nationwide Series Champion.

In the Sprint Cup Series, Edwards drives the #99 Ford Fusion that is primarily sponsored by Office Depot (other one-race primary sponsors have included: Pennzoil, Stonebridge Life Insurance, and the American Automobile Association). This year Aflac will sponsor the #99 in 8 races and Claritin will sponsor the #99 in a few spring races. His #60 Nationwide Series car, also a Ford Fusion, is sponsored by Scotts-Miracle Gro (and their brands, Scotts, Miracle-Gro, Ortho and Roundup), Dish Network, Citigroup, vitaminwater, Save-A-Lot Food Stores, and the World Financial Group.

Career

Early career

Edwards grew up in Columbia, Missouri, watching his father, Carl, Sr., race, and was inspired to do the same. Carl, Sr. has been racing modified stock cars and USAC midget sprint cars for over four decades, winning over 200 races. Carl, Jr.'s career began in 1993, when he race Minicup cars all over the midwest. His success was not far off, as in 1994, he won four feature races in the MMRA National Future stars Minicup series. He added a combined total of 14 wins from the 1995 and 1996 seasons. Carl attended the University of Missouri, and was substitute teaching when he began racing in NASCAR.

Edwards switched to the Bigger Baby grands in 1997 where stayed for over 5 years,.

NASCAR

Edwards' big break came in 2001, when he competed in 7 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series events for MB Motorsports. His best finish in the seven races was 8th at Kansas Speedway. He also ran one Busch Series race for Bost Motorsports, finishing 38th at Gateway International Raceway. However, it was enough to impress Jack Roush, and Edwards became a full-time Truck Series competitor in 2003, driving the #99 Ford F-150 sponsored by Superchips. He won Rookie-of-the-Year honors in addition to three race wins, eventually finishing 8th in the points standings at the end of the season. In 2004, he notched three more race wins, including the season-opening Florida Dodge Dealers 250 at the Daytona International Speedway. At season's end, Edwards finished 4th in the points. In August 2004, he made his NEXTEL Cup Series debut, replacing Jeff Burton, who left the team, in the No. 99 Ford Taurus for Roush Racing, at the Michigan International Speedway. He finished 10th. He drove the #99 Ford for the remainder of the 2004 NEXTEL Cup. He also once again ran one Busch Series race; this time for Robby Benton Racing at Bristol Motor Speedway with sponsorship from Mac Tools.

2005

In 2005, Edwards became a full-time driver in both the NEXTEL Cup and Busch Series. He has already won races in each, and he made history in the process of winning. On March 19, 2005, Edwards won the Aaron's 312 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia, recording his first Busch Series win. The next day, he beat Jimmie Johnson by 2-hundredths of a second to win the Golden Corral 500 at the same track for his first NEXTEL Cup Series win. Until this took place, no driver had ever won both the Busch and NEXTEL Cup Series races in the same weekend at Atlanta, although the feat had been pulled off numerous times before at other tracks by other drivers. Also, Edwards became the first driver in NASCAR history to pick up his first career Busch and NEXTEL Cup Series wins in the same weekend.

On June 12, 2005, Edwards picked up his second NEXTEL Cup win by taking the checkered flag at the Pocono 500 at the Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. The weekend was somewhat bittersweet for Edwards, as the Busch Series race at the Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tennessee had been rained out the night before, and rescheduled for the same day. Even worse, qualifying for that race had been rained out, too, and in NASCAR, when qualifying is rained out, the starting grid is set by owner points. Through this process, Edwards was awarded pole, but Hank Parker Jr. ended up driving the car to a 20th place finish.

Edwards got his third win of 2005 on October 30 in the Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Edwards got his fourth win at Texas and became the tenth different driver to win at that track, and the fifth to win there for Roush Racing. By finishing the remainder of the 2004 season in the NEXTEL #99 car, he was not eligible to compete for the 2005 Rookie of the Year in NEXTEL Cup, but did win the 2005 Busch Series Rookie of the Year.

2006

In 2006, Carl Edwards' and Roush Racing struggled to keep up with the competition. Edwards did not win a race in 2006. His best finish was at Michigan Speedway where he finished 2nd.

2007

On May 18, 2007, Edwards won the pole for the 2007 NEXTEL Open, and while he lead almost the entire 40 lap race, he faded to third in the last few laps, just missing the feature event. On June 17, 2007 Carl Edwards broke his 52 race winless streak in the Nextel Cup by winning the Citizens Bank 400. Shortly thereafter, on July 23, he dislocated his thumb in an eleven car pileup at a late model race at Nebraska Raceway Park (formerly I-80 Speedway) near Lincoln, Nebraska. Carl won his second race of the 2007 season, and sixth career Cup race, at the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 25. During the post-race interview on Victory Lane, Edwards commented on the race, saying, "This is the biggest win of my career". At the conclusion of the first 26 races, the 2007 "regular season", Edwards ranked 6th in overall standings, with 3372 points, 477 points behind overall points leader Jeff Gordon. Edwards entered the 2007 Chase for the Nextel Cup in 4th place, with 5020 points, based on his two wins in the 2007 season, clinching a spot in the Chase after his win at the Sharpie 500 at Bristol.
Edwards struggled through the Chase despite winning at Dover during the Chase. The Hendrick duo of Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon dominated the Chase for the Championship winning 6 of the 10 races and finishing #1 and #2 in the final 2007 standings. Edwards finished 9th in the final 2007 standings.

On November 3, 2007, Edwards clinched his first NASCAR Busch Series Championship by finishing 11th at the O'Reilly Challenge. This came despite struggling in the second half of the Busch Series season. Edwards became the 19th different Busch Series Champion in the 26 years of the modern-era series.

2008

Edwards won the 2008 Auto Club 500 his 1st Sprint Cup win of the year. The following week, Edwards won the UAW-Dodge 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, his first back to back victories since 2005 when he won back to back in Atlanta and Texas. These victories would put Edwards at the top of the point standings for the first time in his career.

However, following the Las Vegas win, on March 5, 2008, NASCAR penalized Edwards, owner Jack Roush, and crew chief Bob Osbourne for violations found in post-race inspection. The No. 99 car driven by Carl Edwards was found to be in violation of Sections 12-4-A, 12-4-Q, and 20-2.1J of the 2008 NASCAR rulebook, specifically the cover was off the oil tank. The violations were found during post-race inspection at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 2. The following penalties were levied by NASCAR: Edwards was fined 100 driver points and stripped his 10 bonus points for the Las Vegas win which would be used to seat him in the Chase for Championship (should he make The Chase). Roush was fined 100 owner points and Osborne was suspended for six races and fined $100,000. RFR may contest the penalty, but only for the basis of drivers and owners points lost, as Osborne will begin serving his suspension. However, others in the garage, such as Ryan Newman, Elliot Sadler, and Lee White of Toyota have criticized the Roush Fenway team, saying that it was intentional. A similar penalty involving the #0 JD Motorsports team, who also had their oil tank top removed, was contested by the team but was not lifted.Edwards was leading the Kobalt Tools 500 looking for his 3rd consecutive victory, but on lap 274 his car began to smoke and his crew diagnosed the problem as a broken transmission. Edwards went on to finish 42nd. On April 7, he won the Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway for his third win of the season.

On May 2, Edwards announced that he had signed a multi-year contract to remain with Roush Fenway Racing.It was announced that Aflac will be the full time sponsor of the 99 car in 2009. This was the largest sponsorship contract that Roush Fenway Racing has ever signed.

On August 3, Carl got his fourth NASCAR Sprint Cup victory of the season, surviving a rain delay and fuel shortage to win at Pocono.

On August 17, Carl Edwards dominated the 3M Performance 400 at Michigan International Speedway capturing his fifth win of the season.

On August 24, Carl Edwards earned another victory by winning the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. The win was his second consecutive and sixth of the season. He did a bump and run Kyle Busch in the closing laps to take the win from the dominant driver of the night. Busch showed his displeasure with Edwards after the race by driving into the side of Edwards' car, to which he returned the favor by spinning Kyle out.

Other racing

On June 6, 2007, Carl won the 2007 NEXTEL Prelude to the Dream at the Eldora Speedway. The Prelude is a dirt late model race organized in part by Tony Stewart, owner of Eldora, to benefit the Victory Junction Gang Camp and other worthy causes. Over 20 NEXTEL Cup drivers participated in the heat races and 30-lap feature, along with other drivers from different forms of motorsports. Edwards started second in the feature and held off Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon to win.

Personal life

Edwards once dated Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer Amanda Beard.

Edwards is a first cousin once removed to fellow NASCAR driver Ken Schrader, who furiously told Edwards early in his racing career to get dirt track experience before going to Cup; he would later take the advice. Edwards would give a business card to other teams for his services before getting a ride with Roush Racing.

Off the track, Carl has been busy promoting his new record label, Back40 Records, a company he started with a high school friend back in Columbia, MO.

During the week of the Auto Club 500, Edwards participated in taping of the Fox television series 24, where he played Homeland Security Agent Jim Hill.

It has been rumored that he is the cousin of Buffalo Bills Quarterback Trent Edwards. During an interview with Dave Hollander of AOL Sports , Hollander asked if Carl's cousin Trent Edwards had the same allergies as he did. After Carl replied that, "My old cousin Trent...he probably has the same kind of stuff I do," Roush Fenway Racing Senior Account Manager Randy Fuller said he didn't know that Trent Edwards was Carl's cousin. In response to Fuller, Edwards said, "He isn’t. I’m just rollin’ with it."

Athleticism

Carl Edwards has appeared on the covers of ESPN The Magazine and Men's Health shirtless, displaying his muscular body. He appeared in an Under Armour commercial during Super Bowl XLII. For a NASCAR driver, Edwards spends a lot of time developing his body, as photos of his abdominal and pectoral muscles have shown. Edwards made an appearance on the February 22, 2006 episode of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Ferguson produced the cover of the February issue of ESPN The Magazine which featured a bare-chested photo of Edwards. Joking that Edwards' nipples seemed far apart, Ferguson suggested this was due to the high rates of speed at which Edwards often traveled.

Edwards is popular among fans for celebrating his wins by doing a backflip off his car (or truck), a style of celebration he took from sprint car driver Tyler Walker. Seizing on the popularity of Edwards' trademark celebrations, Ford has recently run several "Overactive Adrenaline Disorder" commercials featuring a "young Carl" performing backflips in his baby crib, off of a couch, and off a doctors exam table. Edwards also performed his signature backflip not once, but twice in a recent This Is Sportscenter commercial when he tried to cheer up anchor Neil Everett following a bad show. He has recenly appeared in Aflac Commercials with the Aflac duck driving the #99 car and doing Carl's trademark backflip which causes Carl Edwards to utter "I taught him that!". After his win in Milwaukee in the Nationwide Series in 2008, Edwards opted out of his typical backflip. NHRA racer Scott Kalitta was killed earlier that day and Edwards felt his backflip was inappropriate.

Races won

Sprint Cup

2008

2007

2005

Nationwide Series

2008

2007

Sharpie Mini 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway - March 24, 2007
Pepsi 300 at Nashville Superspeedway - April 7, 2007
Dover 200 at Dover International Speedway - June 2, 2007
Federated Auto Parts 300 at Nashville Superspeedway - June 9, 2007

2006

2005

Aaron's 312 - (Atlanta Motor Speedway)
Funai 250 - (Richmond International Raceway)
Meijer 300 presented by Oreo - (Kentucky Speedway)
Ameriquest 300 - (California Speedway)
Arizona 200 presented by Walk the Line - (Phoenix International Raceway)

Craftsman Truck Series

2004

2003

Career NASCAR Sprint Cup Statistics

Year	Races	Wins	Poles	Top 5	Top 10	DNF	Finish	Start	Winnings	Season Rank	Team(s)
2004	13	0	0	1	5	2	18.6	19.8	$1,410,571	37th	Roush Racing
2005	36	4	2	13	18	1	14.0	18.9	$4,889,993	3rd	Roush Racing
2006	36	0	0	10	20	3	15.2	19.3	$4,578,926	12th	Roush Racing
2007	36	3	1	11	15	4	13.9	16.8	$4,611,967	9th	Roush Fenway Racing
2008	26	6	1	11	19	1	10.1	12.6	$5,515,075	2nd	Roush Fenway Racing

Totals	147	13	4	46	77	11	14.0	17.4	$25,227,285