Racer Carl Edwards' mother, Nancy Sterling, is the Ozarks ultimate "soccer mom"

By Libby Page

The cheers of thousands of awestruck fans filled Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 20, 2005, when a kid from Columbia, Missouri, made history. Carl Edwards, who had only become a full-time driver in the Nextel Cup and Busch Series that year, won both the Aaron's 312 and Golden Corral 500 back-to-back. Before that, no driver had ever won both the Busch and Nextel Cup Series races in the same weekend at Atlanta. Edwards, who is famous for doing back flips off his car to celebrate race wins, did two. And for those paying close attention, a blond woman standing on a hauler/transporter with headphones on was especially happy when Carl spoke into the radio and said, "Mom, I did it!"

"Mom" is Nancy Sterling, an animated blonde with the same bright blue eyes and broad smile as her famous son. Nancy has always been more than your average mom. She was taking baby Carl to the racetrack to watch his father, Carl "Mike" Edwards, race almost since birth. She was also a mom who encouraged her son's talents even as it became clear going fast was his strong suit. "From a really, really early age, Carl always wanted to do something with speed, whether it be cars, airplanes, or motorcycles," Nancy says. "As soon as Carl could physically ride a bike or ride a little go-cart, he started doing that." From the time he was a kid, Edwards was determined to be either a race car driver or test pilot.

Focus on speed

And it wasn't long before she was watching her son at the races. He entered every kind of race he could - soapbox derby, motocross, bicycle racing, and motorcycles. At only 13 years old, Carl started racing Mini-Sprint cars. He won 18 races between 1993 and 1996 before he switched to IMCA modified dirt racing. In 1998 he was named rookie of the year at Capital Speedway in Holt Summit, Missouri, and in 1999 he won the track championship for the modified division sanctioned by NASCAR.

Carl had parleyed his skills into one of the most popular sports out there. NASCAR (or the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc.) began in 1948, and today it is the number one spectator sport in the United States with 17 of the 20 top-attended sporting events in the country.

Nancy

One reason Nancy is so supportive is because her son's adventurous streak seems to be inherited from her. "I'd do anything when I was younger; I was a little daredevil," she says. At five years old, she'd already knocked out several baby teeth from climbing trees, playing on the swing set, and, of course, doing flips.

She wasn't afraid to hop in the race car herself. When Carl was still at the local level, Nancy drove his car in the powder puff races in which mothers, wives, and girlfriends get a chance to race. "I'd be the first one to want to do those things," she says.

Nancy has two sons - Carl, who's 26, and his younger brother, Kenny Edwards, 23. She has close relationships with both, and despite her older son's star status, she makes time for Kenny, himself an up-and-comer in the racing world.

"Kenny's a good racer; it's just Kenny never got into this until just recently," she says. When their race days overlap, she alternates between going to Carl's race and staying on the local circuit to see Kenny.

NASCAR mom

The life of a NASCAR mom is a lesson in fast-paced schedules. Of the 36 NASCAR races Carl will drive this year, Nancy plans to be at 20 in person. When she can't be at the race, she watches on TV while listening to the race broadcast on XM radio and checking www.nascar.com to listen to the communication between Carl, the crew chief, and his spotter over the day scanners. Sometimes she and her husband of three years, Jim Sterling, have company over to watch the races, but Nancy prefers to watch alone. She likes to give all her attention to the race.

But there's no substitute for being there. Nancy travels from Columbia most weekends. If there is no race that weekend, she's likely traveling with her husband, who is on the board of directors for the National Newspaper Association, to a press event. There is little off-season in racing, however, so that means another trip to the airport is usually in her immediate future.

The reason for her commitment goes beyond enjoying the race. Despite recent safety advances like the Han's device to support drivers' necks and Styrofoam stock walls to cushion the force of wrecks, car racing is still a high-risk sport. Watching her son racing at speeds of close to 200 mph can make a mother anxious.

"There are times when I'm nervous, and if I'm at a race and Carl wrecks or something happens, I just feel like I'm there, and it makes it a lot easier for me," Nancy says. "I don't like being away from Carl and the track when he's racing."

Carl's wreck

Sadly, during a 2005 race in Mexico City, her fears became reality. Because of conflicts she couldn't make the trip, and that's when Carl had the worst wreck of his career. The Busch Series race had a road course, which is different from the tracks Carl usually drives. During a practice run, the car slid and hit the wall.

"I can't remember the exact amount of Gs, but they said he hit it harder than anyone had ever hit the concrete," Nancy says. Carl was conscious and able to get in a backup car, so even though Nancy was shaken, she figured he must be okay. Then she got a call around 7 p.m. from the doctors saying he had a bad headache and numb arms. In the end he suffered only a mild concussion, but the accident was a reminder that the risk is real.

When she's at the race, though, most of the worry melts away in the excitement. "It's the most awesome thing. If I could be at the racetrack every day I probably would," she says.

On race day...

The typical race scenario plays out like this: She arrives a day before the race to watch the practice runs. She stands on the transporter with the crew chief to pay close attention to the speeds and what's happening with the cars. On race day she's down in the pits doing the same. At almost every race she takes time to talk to the fans. She crosses the track at the merchandise trailers to mingle. Some people recognize her, and she is stopped by fans who know she is Carl's mom. The fans are a top priority because, as Carl has always told her, if it weren't for the fans, all the things they buy, the autographs they want, the pictures they want, and the money they spend to come watch him race, he wouldn't be able to do what he's doing.

She also helps out Carl's PR people and works with the sponsors. "I go around and make the rounds," Nancy says. "I do a lot of interviews."

She has been featured on a NASCAR piece on the Biography Channel and in a Ford commercial that's currently on the air.

Girls

At the races in her seat next to the engineer and crew chief, she must wear long pants, close-toed shoes, and a shirt that covers the shoulders. She says the first two rules are for safety, but the ban on halter tops is to keep barely clad women from coming down trying to catch the attention of their favorite drivers. Carl has many female fans.

When it comes to Carl's girlfriends, Nancy isn't adding any pressure. "When they [Carl and Kenny] find the right person for each of them and vice versa, it'll all happen; I don't ever push it," she says.

When that day comes, she plans to pull back her involvement a little. "Right now if Carl was married or had a steady girlfriend, I would never want to sit up with the crew chief, but because that's not going on right now, I sit up with the crew chief during the race at any race when I'm there," she says.

Home in Columbia

Carl recently bought the Columbia, Missouri, house where he grew up. Kenny lives there, and it is a few minutes drive from the Sterlings' house. When Carl has a couple of days to visit, he often stays with them. "When Carl's at home, it's just the same. All his buddies come over to hang out. It's no different than when they were all little kids all at our house in the garage," Nancy says. Carl also owns a home in Concord, North Carolina.

In addition to the house, Carl keeps ties with Columbia by providing a live racing broadcast on local station Clear 99 FM KCLR every Monday morning free of charge (even though he could charge thousands) because of the help and publicity they gave him starting out.

Nancy has remained close to both her sons and close to Central Missouri, the place she calls home.

"I've been in Columbia a lot longer than I've been anywhere else. Because of Jim's employment and the fact that I still have one son here, I doubt we would move anywhere else."