Mark Martin 'confused' by Carl Edwards’ decision to walk away from racing
When Carl Edwards first broke into the Cup Series ranks, veteran driver Mark Martin served as both his teammate and mentor at Roush Racing.
Edwards looked up to Martin as one of his heroes, and the two grew close over the years even after they no longer raced together.
But Martin said Thursday he doesn’t understand Edwards’ shocking decision to step away from racing at age 37, calling himself “confused” by the situation.
Edwards has 28 Cup wins, finished runner-up for the championship twice, in 2008 and 2011, and was leading the championship pursuit before crashing with 10 laps remaining in the 2016 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
“I thought I knew Carl pretty well,” Martin said on a conference call with reporters. “He and I have not have a chance to discuss it. I just don’t know what factors really went into making that decision. I’ll know and understand it when he gets a chance to take me through his decision process.”
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In a news conference Wednesday at Joe Gibbs Racing, Edwards listed three reasons that went into his choice to leave NASCAR: He was personally satisfied with his career, wanted to spend more time with those close to him and desired to leave racing while his health was still intact.
Martin raced until he was 54 years old and couldn’t quit driving even when he thought his career might be over years earlier. Clearly, he figured Edwards was of the same mold.
“I put him right near the top of the list of wanting to race as bad as anybody I’ve ever known,” Martin said, “so I’m a little confused.”
Martin, who scored 40 wins in 882 career starts through 31 years in the Cup Series, will be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame on Jan. 20 along with Rick Hendrick, Richard Childress, Benny Parsons and Raymond Parks.
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