Fans weigh in: Carl Edwards 'absolutely' belongs in the NASCAR Hall of Fame

By Chase Wilhelm, Chase Wilhelm

Published January 31, 2017

MARTINSVILLE, VA - OCTOBER 28: Carl Edwards, driver of the #19 SportClips Toyota, climbs into his car in the garage area during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Goody's Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway on October 28, 2016 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Chris Trotman/NASCAR via Getty Images)

After FOXSports.com first reported Carl Edwards would step away from Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series racing, the news was made official on Wednesday in a press conference at Joe Gibbs Racing.

We asked fans whether or not Edwards belongs in the NASCAR Hall of Fame and the results are in.

Fifty percent of fans believe Edwards "absolutely" deserves to be in the Hall of Fame someday, while 31 percent of fans said "No, it's the Hall of Fame, not the Hall of Very Good." Nineteen percent also said maybe he could get in, but it would be years from now.

Edwards started racing full-time in the Cup Series in 2005, finishing third in the points standings in his first season. Over his 13-year career, he won 28 races and collected 124 top five and 220 top-10 finishes with a career average finish of 13.6.

He also came heartbreakingly close to a championship on several occasions, including 2011 when he tied Tony Stewart for the title, but lost out following the tiebreaker based on wins. The latest occurred in 2016 where Edwards crashed out with less than 10 laps remaining in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway after dominating the better part of the race.

His 28 Cup Series wins put him above several Hall of Fame members like Fred Lorenzen, Joe Weatherly, Benny Parsons, and Terry Labonte. Outside of Lorenzen, all of those drivers won at least one Cup Series championship, though.

URL

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/fans-weigh-in-carl-edwards-absolutely-belongs-in-the-nascar-hall-of-fame