Carl Edwards was 10 laps away from being declared a Cup Series champion at Homestead-Miami in 2016. But a brake rotor in Dylan Lupton’s Ford Fusion detached itself, forcing NASCAR to throw a caution in the rudest of moments. The restart resulted in Edwards crashing his car and his lifelong dream of lifting the Cup Series trophy.
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The iconic driver retired from racing less than two months afterward. Years later, he appeared on the Dale Jr. Download podcast this week and relived the daunting memory. “There was something about that caution,” he said. “It was the final thing to say, ‘Damn it! You are not supposed to win this thing. This is not supposed to happen!'”
He had been attempting to break down the brick wall for eleven full-time seasons. When he crashed into the inside barrier after being pushed out of the way by Joey Logano, he knew that it was never going to come down. Wisely, he chose to give up on the goal and focus on being a better and more present father.
Following his candid talk with Dale Jr., veteran reporter Jeff Gluck urged his followers on X to listen to the podcast. A fan quoted a few words of Edwards that were the peak form of honesty and frustration. They went, “Let’s go to 2017. Let me think this through. I’m going to drive the hell out of this car, and I’m gonna run this to the end.”
“I know NASCAR was throwing those cautions to make it more exciting. That’s a fact.” – Carl Edwards on the caution at the end of the 2016 Championship Race pic.twitter.com/pdqToYmsgD
— BrakeHard (@BrakeHardBlog) March 12, 2025
“And then I’ll get to Homestead, and they’ll throw a caution with 5 to go. Think of all the things I’ve given up for what? One restart?” And so, the decision to retire had come. While NASCAR was just trying to make things more entertaining for fans, the pressure on drivers was simply too much.
Another fan had a wild theory. They wrote, “Carl basically admitted that NASCAR rigged the finish with a Phantom Debris Caution with 16 laps to go in the race. While I commend him for taking the high road & consider his title loss a blessing, it should not be forgotten by pundits & fans how #NASCAR manipulated the finish.”
The accusation against NASCAR of throwing phantom debris cautions isn’t new. But could the promotion have done it at such a crucial moment for one of its biggest stars?
Impressed with the conversation between the two heroes, one fan quipped, “You could write a hell of a movie of the stuff they talked about.” Another comment expressed surprise at the fact that Edwards was willing to talk so transparently about the reasons for his retirement. The fan was also surprised that he was so unwilling to get back into the car again.
They said, “I still want Dale to pressure him into running a JRM car for one or two Xfinity races.” That would make for quite the headlines. But Edwards is happy where he is right now.
In a moment of clarity during the podcast, he spoke about how his son woke up and ran to his bed one morning simply to lie beside him. Why would he want to risk missing out on that again?
