When Ricky Rudd and Carl Edwards both left NASCAR after their driving careers ended, they disappeared from the sport, going years before returning to the track. Friday night, it was as if they hadn’t left.

One of the toughest drivers in NASCAR history joined one the most enigmatic drivers of the modern era as the newest inductees into the Hall of Fame in a star-studded Friday night ceremony

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.