History-Making Daytona 500 Winner Derrell Edwards Shares His Story of Being “Slept On”

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History-Making Daytona 500 Winner Derrell Edwards Shares His Story of Being “Slept On”
LOS ANGELES and BALTIMORE, MD.— Here at U SLEPT ON ME|USOM, we root for the underdog. For the people who are slept on: those who are ignored, overlooked, underrated, counted out, lacking support, who have lost motivation and those who are discriminated against.  
We strive to be much more than a clothing and lifestyle brand. We want people to see our U SLEPT ON ME|USOM logo and be inspired, encouraged, uplifted and motivated. We want to find the people that are feeling underrated, left behind, overlooked and undervalued, in other words, slept on, and lift them up and inspire them to be all that they can be.
At USOM, we know that people are looking for support and something to uplift them, but we always seem to find more of the opposite in the current world we are living in.
Nobody understands the feeling of being slept on more than Derrell Edwards. Edwards recently made history as the first NASCAR Drive for Diversity program member to be part of a winning Daytona 500 pit crew. According to NASCAR, Edwards is also believed to be the first African-American to win a Daytona race as an over-the-wall crew member. Like many of us, his journey to becoming “woke” wasn’t a straight shot. 
We sat down with Edwards after his history-making win in 2018. With recent news of NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace finding what appeared to be a noose hanging in a garage assigned to him at the Talladega Superspeedway, we thought this would be an apt time to share some highlights from the conversation with you.
At USOM, we truly believe that being slept on can be one of your biggest assets in overcoming and ultimately realizing your wildest dreams. That’s exactly how it happened for Edwards, who went from playing college basketball with hoop dreams of the NBA to making history in a sport popular in the Deep South— where confederate flags fly high and where you’ll need to take a hard look to find people of color in the audience or on the track. 
As for how Edwards ended up at NASCAR, he says that was all God. He was playing college basketball when all of a sudden his game seemed off and he hit a wall. 
“It felt like I hit a wall with basketball for some odd reason. I was in the gym day in and day out but come game time, the ball just would’t go in the hole for me,” he said.
Edwards said he learned to handle set backs by turning to his faith.
“You’ve got find some higher power, some faith to lean on. God gives his strongest soldiers the hardest battles. Maybe I wasn’t making those shots for a reason, maybe God’s got another plan for me [I thought]”, said Edwards. 
Even after making NASCAR history, Edwards says he still felt like he was being slept on by the racing organization. 
“NASCAR didn’t promote what I did for the sport. I got no publicity,” Edwards explained. 
But, even with minimal publicity from NASCAR*, Edwards still holds what he accomplished for the sport in the highest regard, mostly for the path he can pave for the next generation. “The first to do anything is important. A lot people in the African-American community didn’t know about NASCAR til me,” he said. Stories like Edwards’ are why we do what we do at USOM. Through our brand, we hope to empower and uplift people from all walks of life. Just because you have been slept on, doesn’t mean you won’t change the world. “I was counted out early on in life. Growing up in the projects, being a chubby kid..a lot of people underestimated me. They slept on me. Now everybody’s starting to wake up,” Edwards said.
Building a brand called U SLEPT ON ME stems from those times when you build something and people don’t even take notice. But there’s a passion behind it that keeps you pushing forward. 
“Every kid in Baltimore believes they have to go to the NBA or NFL to be accepted. That’s the only thing that’s accepted in our African-American community and that sucks because we’re limiting ourselves,” Edwards said. We are looking for people to join our U SLEPT ON ME movement. We need people who are invested in promoting and displaying the importance of an active lifestyle, promoting confidence through inclusive, fashion forward designs and most importantly, promoting mental health (inner beauty) with our mission. If you’d like more information on how you can get involved with USOM, contact us at info@usleptonme.com.
If you’d like to listen to our full conversation with history-making Daytona 500 winner Derrell Edwards, click here.

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About USOM|U SLEPT ON ME: Founded in 2016 by Erica Bigger and Melanie Powell, who have 20+ years of combined experience in the world of fashion and styling, we are an athleisure-based culture of individuals. We are gravitating to a non- conforming, health conscious fashion and beauty based lifestyle promoting self love, fitness and a heart for the community and those who are particularly feeling underrated, left behind, undervalued and/or overlooked.The acronym USOM stands for U Slept On Me, meaning you counted me out, but I'm still here overcoming against all odds. The USOM clothing brand brings life to the words via our commitment to high quality, premium athleisure wear & our athletic/fashion forward designs that are classic, comfy, & fresh.
 *The 2018 Daytona 500 was somewhat of a turning point for NASCAR. Not only did Edwards make history but the race’s runner-up finisher, Darrell Wallace Jr., became the highest finishing African-American driver to ever drive in the Daytona 500.

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Baltimore, Md

Founded in 2016 by Erica Bigger and Melanie Powell, who have 20+ years of combined experience in the world of fashion and styling, we are an athleisure-based culture of individuals. We are gravitating to a non- conforming, health conscious fashion and beauty based lifestyle promoting self love, fitness and a heart for the community and those who are particularly feeling underrated, left behind, undervalued and/or overlooked.The acronym USOM stands for U Slept On Me, meaning you counted me out, but I'm still here overcoming against all odds. The USOM clothing brand brings life to the words via our commitment to high quality, premium athleisure wear & our athletic/fashion forward designs that are classic, comfy, & fresh.

This release was published on openPR.