Substitute Edwards for Carrey and you might see some parallels between the two characters. Carrey has a mask, and Edwards has his driving suit and helmet. Both accessories change the user’s personality.

Bank clerk Stanley Ipkiss (Carrey) is transformed into a manic super-hero when he wears a mysterious mask (IMDB.com). Nice guy “Cousin” Carl Edwards warps from the kid that volunteers to mow the neighbor’s lawn to the one that bullies the little guys and never backs down from a good fight.

Take Friday at Lowe’s Motor Speedway for example. Reports from the garage state that Edwards confronted Kevin Harvick around his no. 33 Nationwide car. When all was said and done, an Edwards-sized dent was left on the hood of the car, and both drivers were hot under the collar.

Sources say the incident spewed from Harvick’s comments on the “big one” at last week’s Amp Energy 500 at Talladega. Edwards’ took responsibility for causing the incident, going as far as using “idiot” to describe his on-track actions.

This weekend wasn’t the first of Edwards’ at-the-track spats.

Following the October 2007 race at Martinsville, Edwards took it upon himself to creep into teammate Matt Kenseth’s personal space. Speed TV cameras captured all the action as Edwards grabbed Kenseth, faked a punch at the senior driver of Roush Fenway Racing, then proceeded to walk out of the track.

Edwards has also been known to be a menace on-track. Just a few weeks back at Bristol, Edwards used the bump-and-run on former points leader Kyle Busch for the win. Edwards’ post-race interview sessions were more of an attack on Busch than about the no. 99 team’s victory.

The shot to the no. 18’s bumper was payback from Edwards after he was taken out by Busch months earlier in a Nationwide race. Busch can consider the score to be uneven. Nationwide is where the little boys play, and what happens there shouldn’t carry over.

A year and a week earlier at Michigan, Edwards was involved in another Nationwide Series tiff. “The Mask” got into it with Dale Earnhardt Jr. after Earnhardt got into Edwards in a green-white-checkered finish. Edwards retaliated by ramming his no. 60 car into the side of Earnhardt’s no. 8.

The incident created a tense moment when the contact was made-Earnhardt had his hand hanging out his left side window for cooling purposes. Edwards met Earnhardt in victory lane after the race with anything but congratulatory remarks for his peer.

Don’t worry though. If you run into Edwards when the mask is off, you’ll meet a charismatic young entrepreneur always searching for self betterment.

Edwards’ normal side does work with the Victory Junction Gang and Dream Factory Charities. Edwards also participated in and won Tony Stewart’s Prelude to the Dream charity race at Eldora Speedway in 2007.

Cousin Carl is known for having the best body in NASCAR, appearing on the cover of Men’s Health and ESPN the Magazine. That’s not only self promotion, but a boost of respect for NASCAR racing.

In the end, Edwards is good for the sport. A fierce competitor on the track and a nice guy off it, Edwards is what NASCAR needs. He’s a loveable character, but sometimes chooses to take his work too far.