Carl Edwards Is A Class Act
There are some drivers who have not hesitated to take a shot at Carl Edwards.
Despite the fact that he is one of NASCAR’s best drivers, over the past year-and-a-half, Edwards has had shots taken at him by several drivers, including Elliott Sadler and Matt Kenseth.
Wednesday, he had an opportunity to take a shot of his own at another racer, Jeremy Mayfield.
He didn’t do it.
During a national media teleconference on Wednesday, Edwards fielded a question regarding Mayfield’s positive drug test. But instead of playing kiss-up to NASCAR, Edwards put the questioner on the defensive.
“Is it certain that he was on meth?” Edwards asked.
He continued by defending Mayfield in such a way, that all I can do is simply let you read what he had to say:
From Nascar.com:
“Here’s my take on that, Either one of two things has happened. Either he was using meth or he wasn’t using meth. If he was, then he’s already out of the sport, he’s not in a race car and he’s got bigger problems than racing; and we should try to help him out with that, because he’s a good guy.”
“No. 2, he’s not on meth, and he didn’t use any meth and we sure as hell should not be talking about it because that’s extremely destructive to someone’s life and their public image. So I just don’t have anything to say about it.”
“I don’t think it’s right that there’s all this speculation going around, I think either way, whether it’s case one or case two, Jeremy Mayfield has always been a really good guy to me and I hope he gets through this and comes out of it with a positive life.”
“Let me put it to you this way, In the Cup Series especially, I’ve never felt like I’ve been racing against people that are incapable of racing at this level — most of the time I feel like I’m the idiot out there, like I’m in somebody else’s way or I’m screwing up.”
“I always look up to these guys I’ve raced against, Jeremy included, for their level of talent and how good people have been on the race track. I guess what I’m saying is I never got out of the car and said, ‘Man, that guy is dangerous’ or I feel like something is crazy here.”
“I do believe what NASCAR is trying to do with their drug policy is good. I think that nobody would say it’s all right to race on the race track with somebody that’s impaired. And I think NASCAR’s trying to do their best. You know, I feel good about it.”
“I mean, you go through life, “I mean, you don’t know when you go in for surgery, you don’t know if the doctor that’s cutting you open has some sort of personal problem. I mean, you don’t know — that’s life. All you can do is do the best you can.”
“But I do not want this to be taken out of context. I don’t know what Jeremy did — I have no clue. I definitely don’t want to be in the boat with all the folks that are, you know, saying he is definitely using a certain drug, because I don’t know how they test for it, I don’t know what goes on. I’d rather wait and see what happens.”
As you well know, I have been a Mayfield defender since this whole thing started. It’s nice to see a driver now come out on his behalf, instead of kissing up to those who “butter his bread”, if you will. And I appreciate Edwards speaking up, because what he said about Mayfield, he said in a way that I couldn’t. I appreciate him doing the right thing.
Carl Edwards has been called out many times. But when his turn came to call out a fellow driver, he politely declined.
Carl Edwards is a class act.