Is Carl Edwards a Bully?

^{Mar 15, 2025 | Edition #150}

👋 Dear Motorheads,

We were all frustrated about NASCAR’s new media rights deal at the start of the season. The whole Amazon Prime and streaming shift felt like a hassle—harder to navigate, another subscription to pay for. But now, it’s starting to feel worth it.

Prime just dropped a teaser for Earnhardt, and it looks epic. Take a look. On top of that, they managed to pull off the impossible—bringing Carl Edwards back. But with him back in the spotlight, it’s hard not to remember the mid-2000s—a driver that had a bit of an edge.

 🔎 The In-Depth View

Carl Edwards Regrets His Only ‘Bully’ Days

We know it's tough to imagine Carl Edwards being 'the bully.' He looks like a sweet guy, was consistent, won races, and did a clean backflip. Even gave a heartfelt speech at the recent HOF ceremony. A real standup human!

Edwards raced like a decade ago. But if this is the only version of him that you remember, we need to jog your memory. Remember the 2007 Martinsville race? There were no intense on-track incidents. And definitely none between him and Matt Kenseth. So it kind of caught everyone off guard when Edwards pulled Kenseth out of his post-race interview. Fake punched him, cursed, and stormed off. This left everyone present on the scene stunned. Including Kenseth, and the reporter Bob Dillner. Here, watch for yourself.

Seventeen years later, the nostalgia is real. Carl Edwards is making his return to NASCAR—not behind the wheel, but as a pre-and post-race analyst for Amazon Prime’s coverage of five races, starting with the Coca-Cola 600. To mark the occasion, he joined Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the podcast, and, as expected, 2007 came up.

Edwards tried hard to remember why he nearly punched his teammate back then—but came up empty. And that’s what makes it so telling. A driver wouldn’t forget an incident if it had truly hurt him. But not even recalling what set him off? That says a lot. It wasn’t a big deal—it was just Edwards making sure Matt Kenseth knew who the big dog at Roush really was.

But that’s the past and Edwards to date regrets that incident. It just wasn't cool. It pissed everybody off, even his sponsor. “I remember one of my sponsors from Office Depot called and said, ‘You look like the biggest, like insecure bully jerk ever! Like, do not act that way.’ I was like, oh, my gosh!”

While the reasons are still unclear. It could have been pent-up frustration. Up until that Martinsville incident, Kenseth was having a much better season than Edwards and had bagged a win while Edwards struggled.

In almost every race, Kenseth was finishing better than Edwards. And this was maybe something Edwards could not take. Anyway, they’ve buried the hatchet, and Edwards is back in NASCAR. So…things are looking good.

Continue Reading: Carl Edwards Comes Clean on the Truth Behind His NASCAR Return

📈 Trending News

Bold Brad Just Took a Shot at the NFL

All thanks to the recent NFL combine. If you are not a football fan..that's where college football athletes display their physical fitness. You have NFL recruiters watching and you gotta impress them to be a potential pick. Alongside the NFL combine, some colleges hold their own combine.

Like Clemson University did recently. But here along with NFL scouts, there were some NASCAR scouts. Looking for potential candidates to work in a pit crew. And not many know this but it's fairly common for this NFL-NASCAR crossover.

And Brad Keselowski just revealed why is this the case. And, according to him, being a pit crew member pays more. Brad even explained why! Read his X post, it's Keselowski at his best!

While this statement is harsh and tough to verify, we indeed have a lot of football guys in the pit lane. Look at William Byron's current fueler. Landon Walker was playing for Cincinnati Bengals, before joining the squad. Even Alex Bowman's current fueler, Jacob Conley, played varsity football. Recently NASCAR uploaded this fun video of NASCAR refueling. And, you must watch it.

Speaking of the football athletes and pit crew members, they do need the same level of agility and fitness. And in the pit lane, time is key. A second here and there can cost a driver his race. So it's obvious that you need the best guys here.

And folks, while it's a good career option, it's not the easiest to get picked up. Hendrick Motorsports organizes these 3-day camps annually. Last year, it had 55 attendees. Here HMS coaches and trainers find a half dozen or so athletes capable of jumping onto a track; refueling a car, and changing tires in less than 10 seconds or less. 

We don't know if it pays better than being in an NFL practice squad…but it's a good option for young football athletes. And some reports say it pays $3,000 per race to be a fueler or a jackman. That's not half bad!

Continue Reading: Brad Keselowski Backs Heated Production Debate Amid Bitter Personal Experience

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🗣️ Talk of the NASCAR Town

Is Tony Stewart Walking Away… Again?

After all, he might not become the NHRA champion that we thought he would. Well, to be fair that Top Fuel car was not his to keep. Leah Pruett, gave him as a proxy in 2024, until she was ready to get back.

And it looks like that moment is fast approaching! No doubt she's having fun with baby Dom, embracing motherhood. But once a racer is always a racer. And the racer in her has finally spoken: "My heart says that I’ll be back in a race car. I don’t know which one it will be or what category, what class, or what year, but it will be there."

This naturally means that Tony would have to give up his seat someday. And Smoke, being the ideal husband, is ready to step down. "I’ll probably be crying at the same time, but I will not hesitate to get out of that car.” It looks like Tony just in time wanted to make it clear to the social media fanbase. He even called the fans out. Listen to this. 

Maturity and chivalry are great, but after stepping away from NASCAR, we all wanted to see Tony Stewart chase down that Top Fuel championship. And he’s so close. He’s just now getting a real feel for the 11,000-horsepower beast.

Knowing Tony, his adaptability is second to none. One year in, and he’s Rookie of the Year. Give him three, and he’d probably be a champion. But maybe his focus has shifted to building the next Stewart champion(baby Dom). And he seems at peace with it. Even Ryan McGee picked up on it at an NHRA event, saying, “I’ve never seen Tony Stewart look this happy.”

But imagine if Tony Stewart Racing expands to a second Top Fuel car. With no more NASCAR commitments, that could be a real possibility.

Continue Reading: Tony Stewart Joins “Fake News Network” Accusation Row Over FOX

🗝️ From the Vault

Dale Earnhardt Jr’s Strip Club Tale

This isn't what you think it is. Junior must have gone to strip clubs back in the day, but this story is about him actually not going to a strip club. So, while he was chatting with Edwards on the podcast, there was this one story that he had to share. 

This was exactly 35 years ago. Which means Junior must have been 15! And this was the time he was into dirt racing. And for some reason, he used to hang out with Ken Schrader a lot (we know what you are thinking). "I went dirt racing with him. I had a blast, drank a lot of beer, and looked at a lot of Playboy magazines."

But this one time, they all decided to go to a strip club. Now Schrader was in his mid-30s, but a 15-year-old Dale Jr wasn't allowed inside. So he climbed back in the pickup truck as the other guys went in. However, there was this one guy who wasn't gonna let Junior be.

"Hey, I’ll sit out here with you. Don’t want you to be by yourself. Don’t know the neighborhood really well’… I drank beer with this guy. I’m a kid back then and this guy was probably our age today. And that was your dad.” It was Carl Edwards Sr. And, according to Dale Jr he thought he had never met Edwards Sr before. And, they even discussed the Phoenix incident. Watch here.

And Carl and Dale Jr are basically the same age. So Edwards Sr must have seen his son in him...to join him on the back of the pickup truck. And this story kind of creates an unusual but heartfelt connection between the two NASCAR rivals. Almost like two brothers.

Surely, Carl Edwards Sr would not have thought that one day the boy he shared a beer with would have such a fierce rivalry with his son. But Junior thinks this connection helps him forget all those tussles with Carl on the race track. Now, that’s the beauty of the sport and the true sportsmanship of Dale Jr.

Continue Reading: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Lost for Words as $2.10 Trillion Employer Resurrects His Father’s Legacy

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