Shooting the Breeze With Edwards

Carl Edwards signs autographs
before the Bud Shootout in February.

Editor's Note: Most NASCAR drivers are great with fans.  They sign thousands of autographs and do umpteen special appearances during a season.  But Carl Edwards takes the term "fan friendly" to a whole new level. Below, one of my Twitter buddies, Nicole Brown (@bama_diva99) shares how Edwards took time out of his busy Martinsville weekend to chat a little with her.

By Nicole Brown
Special to NASCAR-ista

Sitting at seventh in the Sprint Cup standings, you would think that a driver's main focus would be on winning races and trying to capture his first championship.  Not Carl Edwards. I have always heard that Carl is amazing to fans, but never had the opportunity to experience it for myself until last Friday afternoon.

When I received a text from my friend Jenny, who was attending the Martinsville race, I didn't think anything of it until she asked if I could receive personal calls at work. So when my phone rang, I never expected to hear Carl's voice in the background.  And the next thing I heard was Jenny's voice saying "Would you say 'Hi' to my friend Nicole?"

At this point, I am silently freaking out at my desk (I am still at work and my boss is right down the hall) as Carl takes the phone and says hello to me by name.  He could have handed Jenny back her phone, but he didn't.  He actually walked away with Jenny's phone and continued to talk to me asking me where I worked and what I did there and event telling me what he went to school for before focusing on a racing career.

Carl Edwards is one-of-a-kind. His passion and dedication for racing makes him my favorite driver, but his generosity to fans makes him a great man in my book.  If he ever gets to read this, I want to thank him for making my day and quite honestly my year by just taking a few minutes of his time to shoot the breeze with me.