Bristol 2008: When Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch Went At It

With us going to Bristol this week, let’s remind ourselves of when Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch in the 1st year of the COT put it all on the line for the win. And put their emotions for the whole world to see after the race. Making for 1 of the tracks’ most memorable clashes! So let’s dive into it and relive one of the most epic moments in motorsports history.

Heading into the 2008 Bristol Night Race

Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch were drivers with the total opposite reputations as they came into that hot August night. Kyle Busch was in the middle of his breakout season both as a driver and as NASCAR’s most hated driver for a decade plus. He had won 8 of the 23 races before Bristol in his 1st season with Joe Gibbs Racing after leaving the Hendrick empire and had already won more than any Hendrick driver would that season.

His most memorable and infamous moment during 2008, however, was with his Hendrick replacement, NASCAR’s most popular driver, Dale Jr. When he wrecked him on purpose at Richmond, both for the win/payback for 2007 Kansas when they made contact with one another and wrecked Kyle, then replaced him in his car. Since Kyle left the race early and Dale Jr’s car had suffered a failure.

Carl Edwards, meanwhile, was as liked and admired as a driver can be. He was also in the middle of his breakout season, as he won 5 of the 23 races heading into Bristol, and Carl Edwards went on to win 8 races in 2008 and finished up runner-up in the points. He had a few incidents up to this point, but for the most part, he was well known for his ultra-humble and friendly persona. Being 1 of the few drivers who still thanked the fans for coming out to the races. And this was right before Carl Edwards’ rivalry with Brad Keselowski, which would really stain his rep.

Carl Edwards vs. Kyle Busch at Bristol

With 32 laps to go, pole sitter Carl Edwards was looking to get his lead back from Kyle Busch, who had dominated this race, leading 180 laps so far, but Carl Edwards was closing in. He got a run out of turn 2 and a peak around the outside in 3 and 4, but Kyle Busch defended well and maintained the lead. Carl Edwards this time into turn 1 didn’t hesitate and ran straight into the back of Kyle Busch moving him up the track and getting the lead. Kyle Busch wasn’t letting him go down without not after he angered him like he did.

So he gave him a shot in the rear and moved Carl Edwards up the track and got alongside him, but he drove it so deep he got loose, and Carl Edwards kept the lead. Kyle Busch tried everything he could. He even went deep into turn 1 to get back alongside him. But once his teammate, Denny Hamlin, caught up to him, Carl Edwards was able to pull away and take his 6th win of the season, with Kyle Busch finishing 2nd.

The action wasn’t over, though. Under yellow, after Carl Edwards had won, Kyle Busch, in pure anger and frustration, hit Carl Edwards’ driver’s side door. He wasn’t having any of that. So he slowly spun him out in retaliation and drove away from him to do his burnouts and signature backflip. All to the very loud cheers of the crowd behind him. Carl Edwards didn’t shy away from what he did, but did defend his actions. “I just kinda ran into him,” he acknowledged cheerfully.

How A Wreck Changed It All

“The way this works is, as a real smart racer explained to me after he wrecked me and I was real mad,” Edwards said. “He said, ‘I just had to look at your rear bumper and decide whether you’d do this to me. And you had before, so it was a real simple decision. Earlier in the year, we had a Nationwide race at Richmond, and Kyle was a lot faster than me, and he went ahead and got to my back bumper, and just smoked the back bumper of my car, sent me up the racetrack, and afterward said,

‘Sorry, man, my car was just faster.’ So that’s the way it went, that’s the decision I made, and I’d do it again.” Surprise, surprise, Kyle Busch was outraged afterwards and wasn’t shy about it. Since when has he ever been shy about it? “He’ll probably say he was sorry, and he didn’t want to race that way. He always does. We’ll race him that way in the Chase if that’s the way he wants to.”  Ultimately, he didn’t race him in the chase like that, and both of their breakout seasons would fall short of Jimmie Johnson and his all-time run. Thanks a bunch for reading!