Edwards’s abrupt decision following the 2016 season to retire from NASCAR competition at age 37 shocked the sport, one in which drivers winning races and contending for championships rarely step aside on their own.
Edwards had lost an opportunity at his first Cup title in the season finale in 2016 but had enjoyed an impressive career including 28 Cup wins, 38 wins and one championship in the Xfinity Series and six victories in Trucks.
Being competitive and risks involved
“I’m not planning on doing any (NASCAR) driving. This is the tip of the spear. These guys are so good that I would be terribly slow, and I would have to prep a lot. Seriously, that’s the truth,” Edwards, now 43, said Sunday at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway.
“For me, racing is a risky sport. There’s risk involved and if I’m not committed 100 percent, I just don’t feel it’s the right thing for me to go do for fun. I’ve been paying attention. The hits are hard. They still are. That’s one of the reasons I’m not racing is because I’m aware of that.”
Still, though, Edwards offered a caveat that could one day reopen the door.
“But I tell you what, if (the desire) does creep in, that’s it’s something we want to go do, I promise you I’ll give it 100 percent,” he said. “I’ll do the best I can. But right now, I’m not planning on anything.”
Back at the track
Edwards made his first public appearance at a NASCAR track since his retirement in May at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, when he joined the Fox Sports TV booth part of the Cup race broadcast.
At the time, he said it was “harder and harder” not to race.
Edwards was invited by the Nashville track this weekend in part because he was introduced as the inaugural member of the track’s new “Legends Plaza.”
Edwards won six times during his NASCAR career at Nashville Superspeedway – five times in Xfinity and once in Trucks.
“I don’t know what to say other than I’m the luckiest guy in the world,” Edwards said. “I got to live my dream, do something I love and when it was time for me to do other things, I was able to go do them.
“To be able to come back and be received the way I have, it shocked me. I really is just a great feeling.”
