MOORESVILLE, N.C. – Clutching a glass statuette bearing the name of a gone-too-soon friend and mentor, Ashly Ennis fought through emotion, managing to sheepishly utter, "I’m sorry for ugly crying" to a crowd of onlookers.
But she wasn’t the only one crying. And there was nothing ugly about it.
Ennis, Hendrick Motorsports' director of racing communications, was awarded the Jon Edwards Excellence in Public Relations Award by NASCAR on Wednesday night during a small ceremony in Mooresville, North Carolina. Her job title is one that Edwards himself held before passing away unexpectedly in April 2025.
A giant in the field of PR, Edwards worked alongside Jeff Gordon throughout his driving career and most recently with Kyle Larson. His impact on the sport and the profession can’t be measured. On Wednesday, the impression he left upon all that crossed his path could be heard and felt somewhere amid the clinking of beer glasses, laughter and retelling of Edwards stories, of which nearly everyone seemed to have at least one.
And in the middle of that was Ennis, who posed for pictures and greeted by nearly everyone in a room filled with Hendrick Motorsports teammates, colleagues, friends and even Edwards' family members.
“I don’t have words because I still don’t view myself on the same level as someone like Jon,” Ennis told HendrickMotorsports.com as the crowd began to thin out. “It’s very humbling. It’s a great feeling that people think of me like that but it’s hard to think that Jon’s not even here to begin with.”
But Ennis, at least in terms of her job title, is on that level. She has had to be.
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While Edwards’ death left those who knew him in mourning, it also left a hole within the Hendrick Motorsports marketing department. And it was Ennis who stepped into that void, while also trying to figure out how to cope with the loss while traversing one of the longest grinds of a schedule in all of North American professional sports.
Edwards passed on April 10, 2025. On April 13, Larson rolled to victory at Bristol Motor Speedway. The following Sunday marked an off weekend and then came 29 straight weeks of racing. Yet, those that worked closest to him knew, through the pain Edwards would have been the first to remind each of us the races must go on.
While hurting on the inside, the department, with Ennis' leadership, soldiered forward.
“It was incredibly tough. It was incredibly hard. But it was a constant feeling of, ‘What would Jon expect of us? What would Jon want?’” Ennis said. “Jon would never want us to ever miss a beat, ever take a moment for him let alone take away from a race weekend. He would want us to keep moving and keep doing the best we could do. So, while it was so hard, it was at least nice to think about the fact that, that was what Jon would do and what Jon would want. That’s all I’ve ever strived to do, ‘What would Jon do in this situation?’ That’s exactly what he would’ve done. Kept it going.”
As it turned out, Larson and the No. 5 team weren’t done scoring sentimental victories, saving the biggest for last by claiming a Cup Series championship at Phoenix this past November. For a PR rep, a busier time could hardly be imagined. But with the silence of the offseason looming and with no race to prep for the following week, it all began to hit Ennis at once in the desert as the noise of the engines stopped and the flood of interview questions and requests began to slow to a trickle.
“I think that’s when it finally hit me,” Ennis said. “The fact that knowing how happy Jon would’ve been that Kyle won, but also that’s probably the first moment we have as PR reps, even though we’re so busy in the moment that we won a championship no matter which car you’re on, it’s also the first moment you can slow down and really think about what’s going on. It was like, ‘OK, the season’s over and, oh, wow, Jon is gone. Jon isn’t here in this moment. It’s not Jon that’s going to go on this media tour with Kyle.’
“That was probably the first moment where it really hit me that Jon wasn’t there. He was one of the first people I would’ve wanted to call or text.”
Ennis started her career in 2013 as an intern at Charlotte Motor Speedway under current Hendrick Motorsports and Chase Elliott PR rep, Megan Johnson. Her path found its way to Hendrick Motorsports not long after and she's served as William Byron's rep for eight years.
Johnson followed a little later, arriving in 2021 and could tell early on how strong the rapport between Ennis and Edwards had grown. She said that while she knew the loss was particularly devastating for Ennis, she was the clear choice to carry on in Edwards' stead.
"We were all close to Jon, but Ashly had worked with him for so long and they were such great friends that I knew the loss was weighing even heavier on her," Johnson told HendrickMotorsports.com. "But I think that made her want to step up and make him proud and she did such a great job of holding it together. Ashly had already established herself as a leader at the company long before Jon's passing and is someone a lot of us look up to, just like we looked up to Jon. Her ability to work well under pressure and her natural ability to lead made her the perfect person to step into that role."
And yet, Ennis had doubts.
“I think last year was a lot of questioning myself on whether or not I belonged in that role,” Ennis admitted. “I always wanted to be at Hendrick Motorsports, but it was one of those things of, ‘Is this really me?’ Nobody can fill Jon’s shoes. So, last year was a lot of trial and error. Almost like, ‘How do I do this? What would Jon do? If Jon was here, what would his advice be? What would he tell me to do?’ But also, trying to make it my own at the same time.”
Now, as the sport and the organization prepare for 2026, and with the bulk of the offseason behind, Ennis said she's ready to attack a new season with a renewed of self-assurance in tow.
"I think this year, I’ll be more confident on my end. We’ve weathered what we’ve weathered, we know what we’re doing, let’s just go do it to the best of our capabilities," she concluded. "It’s Hendrick Motorsports, we do everything big."
Wednesday's ceremony was big enough to get No. 24 team crew chief Rudy Fugle behind a microphone adorned in a button-down dress shirt. Neither formal attire or public speaking would the 41-year-old Fugle likely list in his wheelhouse.
Still, armed with a notecard and a brief, heartfelt speech, it was an occasion Fugle helped punctuate. Until he took the stage, Ennis was unaware of Fugle's attendance and his appearance and words brought with them another moving moment for all.
"Every one of us who comes to work is a force for the company we work for, but a force multiplier is someone who directly increases the effectiveness and impact of the whole group. Ashly does that for Hendrick Motorsports, the 24 team and William Byron," Fugle said. "This is not normal. She's the exception. From the No. 24 team's perspective, she's the best teammate we could ask for. She's our team mom and more importantly, she's our friend.
"The best way I can describe Ashly is that Ashly is a racer. In my book, that's the highest compliment you can give someone who works in racing and truly is passionate about it."
Certainly, Wednesday's ceremony took place in a room full of "racers" and professionals across the sport, several of which were also very much deserving of such an honor. But undoubtedly there was a fitting and full-circle feel to Ennis' win of the inaugural Jon Edwards Award. And whether No.-24-team specific or across Hendrick Motorsports' campus, Fugle's words echo in unanimity.
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"I was excited when I got hired at Hendrick Motorsports and had the opportunity to work with Ashly again," Johnson said. "It had been around 10 years since I first met her when she came on as an intern. She was just starting out back then, but you could tell the passion she had for motor sports.
"Now there's things I'm learning from her. I'm so proud of what she's been able to accomplish and I'm glad that our paths have crossed again. Not only has she become a great friend, but she's also someone I go to for professional advice just to bounce ideas off of.
"When this award was first announced, in my mind, she was the most fitting person to receive it. I'm glad so many others felt the same."