NASCAR great Carl Edwards has revealed the key turning point in his relationship with former teammate Kurt Busch.
The two drivers found themselves at Roush Racing in the early noughties, with both having raced for the team in the Cup Series in 2004 and 2005.
Busch would eventually move on at the end of that year, but it seems that before he did, he and Edwards had sown the seeds of friendship.
That was evidenced with Edwards in attendance at the NASCAR Hall of Fame ceremony this week as Busch was inducted as part of the class of 2026.
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Edwards reveals Kurt Busch turning point
Speaking ahead of the ceremony, Edwards was quizzed on his relationship with Kurt, and during the interview, he revealed the key turning point that saw them go from fierce rivals to having more of an understanding of one another.
“Kurt is maybe one of the toughest competitors in the sport, period. And we butted heads so hard for so long,” Edwards told NASCAR.com.
“And then the turning point was this conversation we had, and I don’t know if I’ve ever talked about this publicly, I’d love to hear his take. We’d run into each other or something, and I saw him in the garage, it was like after practice in the dark, and I was like, ‘Kurt!’
“He didn’t want to talk to me at all and I just let him berate me for about two minutes and he told me all of the things I’d done wrong and I was like ‘Yeah, kinda, I did do that, yep, you’re right, I did that, I did that’ and once we aired it all out, it was like after that we were friends.
“It was so cool to be able to come to an agreement to respect one another, and appreciate one another, and then for the next couple of years just to race one another so well.
“It was a real turning point in my career where I got to respect someone on the race track that I had such a rivalry with, and yeah, it was really special to me."
Edwards: Busch paved the way for me
Earlier in the interview, Edwards had given his rationale for attending the ceremony, revealing that he feels Busch paved the way for him at Roush.
“I’m here because of Kurt,” Edwards said. “Kurt paved the way for me in a number of ways at Roush.
“He was a teammate, a fierce competitor, and at the end of my career, a true friend.
"So to get to see the joy on his face, and his family’s face, it’s really special to be here for that.”
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