Carl Edwards, Ricky Rudd, Ralph Moody inducted into NASCAR Hall of Fame as Class of 2025
NASCAR royalty made its way to uptown Charlotte Friday night to welcome and honor the newest class of NASCAR’s greatest. The sport’s heroes and legends gathered at the NASCAR Hall of Fame to formally induct the Hall’s esteemed class of 2025 — racing greats Ricky Rudd, Carl Edwards and the late Ralph Moody.
They — along with one of the sport’s great safety innovators, Dr. Dean Sicking, and one of its most accomplished storytellers, Associated Press reporter Mike Harris, were celebrated for their important contributions to stock car racing.
Hundreds of fans began crowding the lobby of the NASCAR Hall of Fame early in the afternoon, hours before their heroes arrived — their cameras pointed toward the red carpet and applause finally greeting each of the honored guests from one of the Hall’s original inductees, seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Richard Petty, to beloved driver Donnie Allison to a pair of the most successful crew chiefs in racing history, Ray Evernham and Chad Knaus.
But the cheers rang loudly, and cell phone cameras flashed rapidly, when Rudd and Edwards arrived on the red carpet.
Hundreds of fans began crowding the lobby of the NASCAR Hall of Fame early in the afternoon, hours before their heroes arrived — their cameras pointed toward the red carpet and applause finally greeting each of the honored guests from one of the Hall’s original inductees, seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Richard Petty, to beloved driver Donnie Allison to a pair of the most successful crew chiefs in racing history, Ray Evernham and Chad Knaus.
But the cheers rang loudly, and cell phone cameras flashed rapidly, when Rudd and Edwards arrived on the red carpet.
In a 13-year Cup Series career, Edwards won 28 races, including the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway and the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He was a two-time Cup Series championship runner-up, losing out on the 2011 title in the closest title race in history — a tiebreaker with fellow NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart.
In all, Edwards earned 72 victories across the three national series, including the 2007 Xfinity Series championship. In 2005, he competed full-time in both the Craftsman Truck Series and Xfinity Series.
Nearly 200 people — Edwards’ family, friends and most ardent career supporters — accompanied the 45-year-old Missourian to North Carolina for Friday’s career-defining big moment. One of his former car owners, fellow NASCAR Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs, rented an airplane for Edwards to transport his large group of support from Missouri.
He explained that during his career, fans watched him do his signature backflips to celebrate race wins, but that was only a momentary snapshot and that he probably did not allow himself the time to cherish the victories.
“So, I said, we’re going to make sure there is a real celebration,” Edwards said of the massive Hall of Fame honor.
“For many reasons, I’m happy to be able to come back and thank everyone,” Edwards said. “It’s not reality, not for me yet. … I don’t even know what to say. It feels. … very good.”
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