My Letter To Carl Edwards Fans

So I've been putting a lot of thought into what I would write this week since all of this got announced over the past few days about Carl Edwards giving up full-time racing in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series for the future.  So I've been reading comment after from fans about this situation, some have some heartfelt thought put into them, some are just plain ignorant and egotistical when you read them.

Mark Martin was a big reason I became a Trevor Bayne fan

First thing I really think about is a comment that I read when all of this first came out "I won't be watching NASCAR now that Carl Edwards has given it up."  I am going to say this to every fan that has posted this comment or even thought about it, by golly you must not have been a NASCAR fan if one driver was the reason you watched it.  I was a Mark Martin fan longer than any fan Carl Edwards has and let me tell you, it was hard the day Mark decided in 2006 to give up full-time racing with Roush Fenway Racing.  However, I picked up a new driver and began to go for him and yes it was Edwards until he left Roush a couple of years ago.  I have a lot of memories of Mark Martin from the first time he ran at Roush until the end, he was the driver that I admired and respected because of what he went through to get to become a Hall of Fame driver.

He is a big reason I became a fan of Trevor Bayne.  While I followed Bayne from the first time he ran at MWR, I didn't know much about him until he got into one of the Roush cars.  Then Mark Martin did his little announcement about Bayne becoming the driver of the 6 and I knew I had made the right decision for my future driver. 

The second thing is, fans that want to say it is "owed to them to know all the reasons why Edwards is giving this up," has something that they need to realize as well.  These guys do work themselves up to get to where they are at, it is their decision when and where to call it quits.  Yes we fans buy jackets, diecast, t-shirts and everything else with their name and number on it, however; it isn't none of our business if they don't want us to know their reason for giving something up.  It is no different than you or I walking away from a career after 13 years. 

I cringe when I read comments from some of Edwards fans that really think that they're owed

Trevor Bayne shaking Carl Edwards hand in 2011 in Victory Lane

something for being a fan all of these years.  Let me tell you, I supported Mark Martin for 20-plus years and never once did I think I was owed a dime for supporting him or he needed to explain a decision to me.  However, I knew when Mark said something it was honestly given and he was going to do something right.  He may have stepped a little out of the way when he decided to come back in 2007 and yes run for the team at the time I couldn't stand the most, but I still respect him to this day.

Thirdly, this is not football or baseball folks.  If you root for a driver you know sometime down the line that driver is going to at one point step away from this sport at some time or another.  Unless you are like myself, who followed one particular player his entire football career (Peyton Manning) you probably go for a team in football and people are always being replaced in ball sports.  In auto racing, most of the time fans stay with a driver until they retire unless something happens (yes it did with me and Edwards in 2014, I don't need to explain.) 

I know many people that were fans Davey Allison and Alan Kulwicki that had very deep emotions of those two drivers dying in air accidents in 1993.  However, they moved on and found new drivers to go for in this sport.  It is part of the sport, it changes, the drivers come and go every year that time passes by and Carl Edwards is just another one to go through that line up.