RSS
Home
Nice guys really do finish first: Carl Edwards, the necklace and Jimmie on a crock pot
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Most people will agree that NASCAR driver Carl Edwards is a fierce competitor on the track.
But in Victory Lane at Atlanta while celebrating his 14th career win last Sunday the world got a glimpse of Carl Edwards some people never see. The Columbia Missouri native has a big spot in his heart for kids, and never has that been more evident than in 2008.
 Carl Edwards shows the Beads of Courage necklace presented to him by 5 year old patient Dalton Kammer last Thursday at the Aflac Cancer Center and Blood Disorder Service in Atlanta. Edwards wore the necklace on his way to victory during Sunday's race at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. (PRNewsFoto/Aflac Cancer Center) On the Net:: www.aflaccancercenter.org |
The former substitute teacher worked his way up through the ranks of short tracks across the Midwest to the top stock car series in the world, and along the way has always given back way more than he ever got.
This past August Edwards surprised a wheelchair-bound teen at Michigan International Speedway.
Pat and Teresa Byrnes took their son Cody to MIS so he could see his favorite driver, Edwards, race.
"Carl happened to be walking by and we gave him a thumbs up and Cody gave him a thumbs up and he saw his flag waving on the back of Cody's chair. And so he stopped, turned around and came back and he came over and he signed his wheelchair and he signed his shirt," said Teresa Byrnes.
The Byrnes were already excited that Cody got to meet his hero, but they weren't prepared for what Carl Edwards told Cody next.
"He looked at him and he said, 'Hey buddy, I'll tell you, if I win that trophy today, now that's if I win, I'll give you that trophy'," Teresa said. The Byrnes began to realize Edwards could win the race when he moved from the 27th spot to first place in about 60 laps. Pat Byrnes says that's the most nervous he's ever been during a race. Edwards did win that race and signed the trophy for Cody with the initials NGU, which means never give up.
"Cody, every day he wakes up and sees it,” said Teresa “It's like he's realizing it's really his and he'll get excited and squeal, for someone to work so hard to get that trophy and then to say, 'Here, you can have it'. That is the kindest gesture anybody has ever done.”
This past Sunday while talking to a TV reporter in Victory Lane, Edwards pulled out a large beaded necklace from under his firesuit.
Five-year-old Dalton Kammer gave the necklace to him the Thursday prior to the Atlanta race when Edwards along with fellow driver David Gilliland visited the Aflac Cancer Center and Blood Disorder Service in Atlanta.
While at the center, officials dedicated the Carl Edwards Triage Room, one of three rooms at the Aflac cancer center outpatient clinic where medical staff will take patients' vital signs and conduct preliminary tests.
“I didn't realize how much Aflac does for all these kids,” Edwards said. “They don't turn one kid away. They treat everyone regardless of whether they can pay or not. They treat a lot of children. And they cure 70% of the kids that come in there with cancer so they can go on and live regular lives and succeed at whatever they want to do.”
Before leaving, Edwards was approached by the young patient.
“Dalton said, ‘Hey, I got this courage necklace.’” Edwards said. “ ‘I get beads every time I come to the hospital and visit or do something or surgery or something like that’. He said, ‘I want you to wear it. I think it will be good luck on Sunday.’
Edwards did wear the necklace and at the end of the day stood in Victory Lane for the 7th time in 2008.
“He definitely said he wants it back after this race,” Edwards said with a smile after the race was over. “Which is too bad, because I think it worked.”
Edward’s good nature extends beyond kids as well. While there have been times in the past when Edwards has become emotional and even confrontational with his fellow competitors during a race, one thing you rarely, if ever, hear is a disparaging word directed towards them. Edwards left Atlanta second in the championship standings, and just prior to the race he was asked if he and first place Jimmie Johnson ever ‘trash talked’.
“The thing about Jimmie and this is just the way it is,” Edwards said. “Have you ever seen those crock pots they've got for the drivers?
"Apparently, a crock pot with your face on it is funny. So I get a royalty, I guess, for every crock pot that's sold.
"I don't know if people know it, but if you buy a Carl Edwards crock pot, on the crock pot there's a picture of us in Victory Lane in Atlanta in 2005 and it's like a ‘Where's Waldo’. There's this little Jimmie Johnson head sticking out from behind my shoulder, where he's coming up to pour his drink over my head and congratulate me.
"Somebody told me about it, so I went to my mom's house and I got there and I got the crock pot off the shelf and I was like, 'Sure enough, there's Jimmie.'"
"The point is that he's the kind of guy that when you win a race or you have a good race with him and you beat him, he's the first guy over there to congratulate you. So, yeah, I want to beat him more than anything, but I probably won't be trash-talking him anytime soon. That crock pot is funny. He doesn't get a royalty, even though his face is on it, but I don't think he gets paid for the Carl Edwards crock pot."
With 14 wins in NASCAR’s top-tier series in his career so far, seven of those coming this season, Edwards is proving that sometimes nice guys really can finish first.
Related Articles:
Comments
