Carl Edwards getting married

Dr. Kate Downey and Carl Edwards are engaged to be married

Carl Edwards recently got engaged to Dr. Kate Downey, a hometown friend.

"She’s a wonderful, wonderful woman," the 29-year-old driver from Columbia, Mo., said Tuesday. "I can’t believe I’m getting married. If you had asked me four years ago if I’d be proposing to someone, I would have said, ‘No way.’

"But she’s just got me. She’s awesome. She couldn’t be any better. I’m really excited about it."

"With anything, life is complex, and it’s really special if you can find somebody that you really feel a bond with that is a really good friend and person that you care about," Edwards said. "I don’t know if it’s any harder in auto racing to find that person, but I can tell you with my schedule and all of that, I didn’t plan on finding somebody as great as Kate.

"For me, I’m very fortunate. I went to high school with her. I know her family. It just all kind of fell into place. I’m certain that we really care about each other for the right reasons. That’s a gift, and I feel lucky to have that."