CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Carl Edwards and Ricky Rudd had very little overlap in their respective NASCAR careers.

Edwards only entered the elite Cup Series in 2004 — a mere 67 races before Rudd ended his 32-year career — so the two never got a chance to know one another.

But two things tie Edwards and Rudd together — when each decided to retire, both essentially vanished from the NASCAR scene, and, tonight they will return to their old racing community as inductees of the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Edwards and Rudd are among five being celebrated tonight as the newest members of the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Rudd made his first re-appearance in 2024 when Roger Penske tried to wrangle all living Indianapolis Motor Speedway winners for a photo at the track to celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Brickyard. Many of his former competitors were shocked to see him on the Yard of Bricks; it was the first time most had seen Rudd since his final Cup Series race in 2007.

Rudd, who doesn’t go to the race track because he doesn’t feel there’s any role or reason for him to be there, told The Associated Press he was surprised by the warm reception he received at Indianapolis that day.

“Think about it, we went to 30 some races, went to the same towns, stayed in the same — we called it the ‘trailer park’ — so it’s like moving out of a neighborhood,” said Rudd, whose 1997 Brickyard victory was one of 23 career Cup wins.

“And you come back to that neighborhood and there are a lot of familiarities. Walking through the garage at Indy, it was really neat reconnecting again with many of those guys,” Rudd said.

Edwards abruptly retired after the 2016 season, at the age of 36, after losing out on a second opportunity to win a Cup championship with a controversial title-deciding season finale. He told the AP he didn’t call it a retirement at the time because he left himself room to possibly just take a one-year break.

But just like Rudd, Edwards left NASCAR in his rearview mirror. He was in the wind until he was named one of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest drivers, an event that was celebrated at Darlington Raceway in 2023. Edwards joined the Fox Sports television booth for part of that day’s race — where he turned out to be a spectacular broadcaster — and caught the audience up on what he’d been doing the past seven years.

And just like Rudd, he was astonished at the reception.

“I understand now when people say ‘NASCAR is a family,”’ Edwards told the AP. “I finally get it. I do. When I walked away, I really thought ‘I’m giving this up completely. I’m giving up the sport, the opportunity to drive and a lot of friendships.’ I’m shocked that NASCAR invited me back in this way. For the first time, I truly feel like it is part of a family.”

Neither Edwards nor Rudd won a Cup title, but they left memorable marks on NASCAR.

Rudd was one of the toughest drivers of all time — he used duct tape to keep his swollen and bruised eyes open to ensure he wouldn’t miss the Daytona 500 after suffering serious injuries in a wreck the week before — and his 788 consecutive Cup starts was a longtime NASCAR record broken by Jeff Gordon’s 797.

Edwards entered NASCAR at its financial heyday — maybe the toughest time in history to break into the sport. Edwards was a substitute teacher trying to be a racer and handed out business cards at tracks that read: “If you’re looking for a driver, you’re looking for me.”

Jack Roush gave him his break and Edwards climbed from Trucks, to the Xfinity Series and finally Cup while captivating the audience with backflips off his winning car.

In 2016, Edwards just simply walked away from a career that produced 72 wins across the three national series.