Full Throttle

NASCAR Sprint Cup runner-up Carl Edwards says he is excited about making his debut in the Race of Champions this weekend.

Edwards, who missed out on this year’s Cup title to Jimmie Johnson at the last race, has taken advice on the event from Johnson and Jeff Gordon, who have both contested the Race of Champions in the past, and is looking forward to taking on the range of champions from a variety of motorsport disciplines.

“I’m very excited to go to London for the Race of Champions, we’re gonna have a good time,” he said. “Jimmie and Jeff told me it was a really awesome experience and I get to go race with guys like Michael Schumacher, that will be cool.”

“My trainer, Dean, he’s a huge Michael Schumacher fan He wears a Ferrari hat at NASCAR races when he’s with me just because he knows he should be wearing one of my hats. If we can keep Dean under control when he sees Michael Schumacher, we’ll be fine!”

Edwards admits that it will be tough to adjust to several different cars (Five to be exact including the KTM X-Bow pictured above - ed) with little time for preparation.

“I’ve seen videos, but I don’t really know what it’s gonna be like to drive the cars,” he said. “They look like a lot of fun and it looks like you’ve got to drive them hard. Those guys, a lot of them, are so good at the road course stuff and grew up racing go-karts and things like that, so I’m sure I’ve got a lot to learn.

“They say it’s real easy to stall the cars on the start, it’s really easy to be too aggressive and there’s not a lot of room for error.”

UPDATE: Travis Pastrana will miss the Race of Champions this weekend at Wembley after picking up an injury during a stunt ahead of the event.

Pastrana, who took in a number of events in the Production World Rally Championship again this season, injured his knee and hip in California on Monday and will now be forced to miss an event he has starred in in recent years.

He will instead be replaced in the Team USA line-up by US Formula Drift champion Tanner Foust. In explaining the injury he takes a slap at former ROC teammate Jimmie Johnson who pulled out one year due to a golf-cart mishap.

“I was practicing on a motocross track when I blew out my knee in a corner, and was promptly run over by my fat friend, Tommy,” Pastrana said. “Laying in a heap of dust the first thing, I thought was at least I didn’t fall off a golf kart!

“A close second thought was how much I’m going to miss all the crap talking and competitive camaraderie that is unexplainable for anyone who hasn’t been a competitor at the Race of Championship.

“I’m bummed that I won’t have a chance to race along side Carl Edwards. I was really looking forward to going for the ROC Nations Cup but I’m excited that Tanner is the one to take my place. Very few drivers can hold a candle to his car control and I think his all-round driving background should benefit Team USA. Go Team!”

Foust meanwhile said he was pleased to get the chance to compete in the event for the first time.

“The investigation will reveal I had nothing to do with Travis’ injuries and of course I wish him a speedy recovery,” he quipped. “More seriously though, I’m honored to have this opportunity to represent the USA alongside team-mate Carl Edwards on the world stage racing against guys who are heroes to me.”