‘I quit NASCAR after they manipulated race and | Sports News

Hall of Famer Carl Edwards carved out a stellar Cup Series profession, profitable 28 races in 12 seasons. However, being topped NASCAR Cup Series champion eluded Edwards his total profession, and the Championship 4 race in 2016 was the ultimate straw for the 45-year-old, who walked away from the game within the prime of his profession.

The Missouri man suffered heartbreak on the 2016 championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He was within the lead place, on track to scoop his first Cup Series championship, however race cautions had one other concept.

The 2025 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee has now revealed he feels the championship was snatched from him as Jimmie Johnson was topped champion. Edwards has claimed that NASCAR was throwing cautions to make the race more attention-grabbing, subsequently meddling with the trajectory of the outcome.

“I wanted to win that championship,” Edwards informed the Dale Jr Download. “It’s everything I’ve worked for, that’s it, that’s the prize you want more than anything in the world, and yes, I believe that was snatched.”

Edwards continued: “I’m going to put everything in my life second, and I am gonna go start at Daytona, and I’m gonna drive the hell out of this race car like I’ve been doing for 13/14 years and I’m gonna run this thing all the way to the end and give everything I’ve got, another year of my life, and then I’m gonna get to Homestead at the end of 2017, I’m gonna do everything just right and they’re gonna throw a caution with five to go and we’re gonna put all this on a restart?

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“There was one thing about that warning. It was like the ultimate factor to say, rattling it. You’re not presupposed to win this factor. This will not be presupposed to occur.

“And I know NASCAR was throwing those cautions to make it more exciting; that’s a fact. And I specifically talked to people about it, and that’s that, and we’re all in this sport to entertain, and they were trying their hardest at the time.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. watched Johnson tie his legendary dad and Richard Petty in seven championships after Edwards was caught in a wreck with Joey Logano on the restart. “I look out the window of the bus, and Jimmy Johnson’s going into turn three with the lead on the final lap, and I thought, ‘Jimmy Johnson’s gonna win seven championships and tie my dad and Richard Petty.’

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“There was simply a lot occurring that evening however I do not know that I might imagine you should you mentioned that did not have some hostile impact on you. You had raced your entire life trusting that the inexperienced flag would drop and the checkered flag would finish it and that there can be nothing in between that wasn’t pure. And between the tie with Tony that was there was no shenanigans occurring there, however between how tough that will need to have been to type of go by go get handed proper this, you already know, this questionable yellow, you had given the whole lot you needed to the game you’d been a good shepherd.

“You had been an outstanding citizen in the industry. You know you’ve done everything right. I felt like I was sitting there watching this break you entirely the way that, no, that’s the wreck that you had in the turn one was vicious. I don’t know of another crash that I’ve seen you go through that was more vicious, just a bam bam bam a bang bang bang, you know, and the way you reacted when you got out of the car, I saw in you you know, your reaction to go to the pit box and say whatever you said hey go win the championship or whatever it was just the way you instantly reacted it was almost like you didn’t know what to do.”