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July 23, 2007
Carl Edwards Injured (Not Seriously) in Short Track Wreck
While racing a late model car at I-80 Speedway in Nebraska, Carl Edwards got into a wreck during which he injured his hand, badly enough to result in a trip to the hospital. Although there's been no confirmation on exactly what the extent of his injury is, the Omaha World-Herald is reporting that he dislocated his thumb. Many fans are brushing it off as no big deal, but is it really such a minor incident? Edwards was scheduled to test at Milwaukee today, and that had to be changed so even if it's a minor injury, it's already effected his ability to fulfill his obligations to Roush Racing, who have to be pretty displeased that Edwards injured himself off the track in this way. And I don't blame them one bit.
Many of the drivers love to race so much that they'll jump at any opportunity to race anything, at any time, even if it's in a series outside of Nascar. However, should teams and sponsors be so willing to let their drivers race anytime they want considering what the consequences of an injury might be? Yes, a driver could get injured just getting out of bed in the morning or walking down the street, but racing carries an much higher risk of injury - hence all the safety precautions - than engaging in day-to-day activities. Other sports such as baseball have language in the players contracts that prohibit them from taking part in certain high-risk activities, anything from basketball, to certain water sports, to riding motorcycles, and with good reason. With the amount of money invested in these players a serious injury could be very costly. The same is true for a Nascar driver - it could be extremely costly to a team, sponsor and the driver themselves if a driver in the Chase was injured badly enough to the point where it effected their ability to race. So it's somewhat surprising that there doesn't seem to be too many limitations on the majority of drivers in terms of racing in series outside of Nascar. Yes, I understand their competitiveness and the desire to race, but I also think they have an obligation to their team, their sponsor and themselves to avoid putting themselves at extra risk for an injury.
ETA: An updated version of the Nascar Scene article indicates that Edwards is going to visit a hand specialist to determine the extent of the injury, and not only will he miss testing at Milwaukee, but also a test session for his Busch car at Bristol, and an appearance in a race at I-55 Speedway. Interestingly enough the article says that Edwards will "likely" race at Indianapolis as opposed to that he'll definitely race there.
ETA2: I missed this earlier but apparently Edwards was kept overnight for observation at an Omaha hospital. If his only injury was a dislocated thumb why would he need to be kept overnight? I've seen some speculation that he was being observed because he showed signs of a concussion, but there's also the possibility that the hand injury is worse than what was reported. Either way I'd guess there's likely more going on here than just a simply dislocated thumb otherwise more would have been heard by now from Roush and Edwards himself.
Posted by silverdsl at July 23, 2007 01:07 PM