TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Eight spectators suffered injuries at the end of the Aaron's 499 Sunday when the No. 99 Ford of Carl Edwards went airborne and slammed into the catch fence on the frontstretch.
"None of the injuries are dangerous or life-threatening," said Dr. Bobby Lewis, medical director at Talladega Superspeedway. "It's mostly bumps and bruises with possible minor fractures."
Two women were airlifted to an area hospital.
"One has a lacerated lip and possible broken jaw," Lewis said. "The other person was not injured, but has unrelated medical problems."
Edwards was leading the race about 500 yards before the finish line when he tried to block Brad Keselowski from passing him. But Edwards hit the right front quarter panel of Keselowski's car.
It caused Edwards' car to spin before it came off the pavement and flew into the fencing above the outside wall.
"NASCAR puts us in this box [restrictor-plate racing] and will race this way until they kill somebody," Edwards said. "Then they'll change it. We're very lucky nobody got [seriously] hurt today."
When the car hit the catchfence, pieces exploded off the car as catch fencing bent back severely, but did not break.
"I'm not sure if it was pieces of car or pieces of debris from the fence that hurt the spectators," Lewis said.
Terry Blount covers motorsports for ESPN.com.
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