Carl Edwards, driver of the #99 Fastenal Ford Fusion, took part in the test session at Martinsville Speedway Tuesday with the recently-approved 2013 NASCAR Fusion. Edwards stopped by the infield media center during the lunch hour to answer questions from the media. A couple were about the fans struck by lightening at Pocono:
Q) CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE WEATHER SITUATION ON SUNDAY AND IF THERE’s ANYTHING MORE THAT CAN BE DONE? WOULD DRIVERS BE IN FAVOR OF STOPPING THE RACE AND THEN RESTARTING IT AFTER THE WEATHER CLEARED?
Edwards: ‘I spoke with one of the gentlemen in the hospital up there yesterday that was struck by lightning and he told me the story in detail about what happened to him and his friends and it sounded like a very terrible scene. I ‘ve read a little bit about it and I know there’s a lot of discussion about what NASCAR should have done or the track should have done, but, I think, at the end of the day, it’s Mother Nature and it’s very difficult for anyone to take responsibility and say, ‘We should have done this or done that. ‘ It’s something that I would have never expected. I walked right out from my hauler to my motorhome in the middle of that rainstorm and I ignorantly didn ‘t think about the dangers that were there. I think we all maybe take that stuff a little too lightly. I have to tell you that after talking to that gentleman last night, Tony, my thoughts and prayers are with him and his really good friend who is pretty bad off. He’s recovering and the family that lost their father, it’s tragic. I think all of us would be willing to do anything we could do to prevent something like that from happening in the future. At the end of the day, this is sports. It’s supposed to be fun. Everybody is going out there to have a good time and we need to do things the safest way possible. Tony is a really nice guy. To hear what happened at the track is pretty bad.’
Q) DID YOU TALK TO HIM ON THE PHONE?
Edwards: ‘Yeah, I talked to him on the phone. He’s a big 99 fan and the folks at Pocono got me in touch with him. The gentleman that lost his life, that’s just really sad. I believe the way he told the story there were three guys that were injured. Tony, the guy I talked to was injured the least. His one buddy is pretty bad off and his other friend obviously lost his life. From what he told me, I don ‘t want to speak for him or anything, but it was as big of a surprise to him that something like that happened. They didn ‘t expect that and I don ‘t think they saw anything coming. They didn ‘t think there were at that big of a risk. It’s just tragic.’(Roush Fenway Racing)(8-8-2012)
