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Johnson says finger is ok, ready to race:

February 5, 2009 at 12:00 AM

from a GM Racing transcript, concerning #48-‘s finger injury during the Rolex 24 at Daytona, when he cut his finger working on his uniform:
HOW IS YOUR FINGER DOING?”Its good, got the stitches out. Its still a little ugly and swollen but Ive got motion and grip which weve been working hard at the rehab center, so outside of being a little clumsy and swollen its doing well.”
HOW MANY STITCHES DID YOU HAVE?”I think there were five, five on the outside. It went all the way around. I had my suit open and it just gets in may way and I was trying to cut the hole in the pocket for the cool suit and I felt like I could cut those two off so I had the bright idea to flip it over and then I should have realized you know youre going to cut yourself why are you doing this but I didnt and still tried to do it and it went through it.”
WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO WEAR, IS YOUR GLOVE ENOUGH FOR PADDING?”I dont think I need any padding. We have two or three braces, one is kind of extended so its in the most comfortable position and other ones that kind of wrap my hand around so I can easily grip the wheel. So Im just going to try a few different things in practice tomorrow.”
HAVE YOU LOST ANY STRENGTH IN IT?”Yeah, Im limited on training in general. The worse thing I can do is go into this position because it would pull the tendon tight and break the sutures and stuff that sewed it back together so they said you can do anything this way especially once the swelling goes down. Frankly the thing their most worried about is if I trip or fall and have to catch myself that would put me in the worst situation possible.”
IS IT GOING TO BE MOST DIFFICULT WHEN YOURE SHIFTING?”Im not really sure. I actually think getting through the garage area is going to be more difficult. Ive been driving at home and driving my corvette so I can do the shifting and all that stuff to get ready for it. The toughest part I have is the real sharp turns so I think getting in and out of the garage area is going to be the toughest part. Once youre going especially here the corners are so big you only turn the wheel a quarter or half of the way so it should be pretty easy.”(GM Racing PR)(2-5-2009)