Carl Edwards won his first NASCAR Cup race on March 20, 2005, at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
This victory marked the beginning of his successful career with 28 Cup wins.
What happened?
The win came in Edwards's 17th career start in the Roush Racing-prepared No.99 Ford Taurus.
He led only five times for eight laps before his last-lap pass of Jimmie Johnson to win in a photo-finish.
The road to victory
Edwards had run a few Craftsman Truck and Xfinity races for small-budget teams before Jack Roush gave him a chance in 2003.
Roush was impressed enough to promote Edwards to the full Cup season in 2004.
Career highlights
In 12 full seasons with Roush and Joe Gibbs, Edwards won 28 poles and 22 races, was top-10 in points eight times, and went into the Hall of Fame.
He finished second in the 2005 championship, tied with Greg Biffle, who took the spot via the most-wins tiebreak.
Looking back
“At the end, I just couldn’t believe it,” Edwards said, looking back 20 years.
He described the last lap as working out exactly as he’d hoped, finding more grip on the high side to pass Johnson.
The last lap was a thrilling moment for Edwards, who felt his backstretch run was good enough to catch Johnson nearing turn 3.
He went low going toward Turn 3, hoping Johnson would come down to block, and then went back up the banking.
Edwards was maybe six inches off the wall, where he hadn’t been all afternoon, and found a ton more grip than expected.
Johnson left him just enough room to race with him to the line, and they bumped a little.
Johnson came to Victory Lane to congratulate the first-time winner, a moment Edwards cherishes.
Johnson’s appearance and approval are among Edwards’s most cherished memories of that day.