By Joe Menzer, NASCAR.COM
TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Eight race fans were injured on the final-lap wreck that sent the No. 99 Ford of driver Carl Edwards airborne into the catch-fence on the frontstretch at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday.

The incident occurred at the conclusion of the Aaron's 499 race that was won by rookie driver Brad Keselowski.

Fans were treated for what were described as mostly minor injuries from flying debris, according to NASCAR official Jim Hunter and Dr. Bobby Lewis, medical director of the track. Neither Hunter nor Lewis could say with certainty whether the pieces of debris came from Edwards' car or from the fence, which suffered considerable damage after absorbing the high-speed impact.

"After the incident that occurred on the last lap, we are treating approximately eight patients for injuries received from flying debris," Lewis said. "The injuries appear to be minor and non-life threatening. One female patient is being transported by air, because of traffic, for further evaluation and treatment. Updates will be made as available."

Lewis said the patient was suffering from a laceration on her lip and possibly a broken jaw. He said that some of the other injured fans may have suffered broken bones "in their extremities."

Lewis added that another female also was air-lifted to a local hospital after suffering chest pains that apparently were related to the incident. As of 7 p.m. ET on Sunday, he said he had not learned the identities of either female patient or any of the other injured fans.

The remaining injured fans suffered what Lewis described as mostly minor "cuts, bruises and abrasions." He said some, and possibly all of them, would be treated at the track's on-site medical facilities and then hopefully be released.

The incident that caused the injuries occurred when Keselowski executed a last-lap pass on Edwards and ended up turning Edwards sideways. Edwards then slid into the path of the No. 39 car of Ryan Newman, who slammed into the No. 99 and sent it airborne into the catch-fence.

A clearly upset Edwards said afterward that NASCAR must look to make racing safer at Talladega, but made it clear that he did not blame Keselowski for making the winning move that the rookie did.

Edwards also indicated he felt fortunate to be alive.

"Brad did a great job," Edwards said after being treated at the infield care center. "Congrats to him on the win, but [NASCAR] put us in this box and I guess we'll race like this until we kill somebody. And then they'll change it."

Hunter said that he didn't agree with Edwards' statement and insisted that NASCAR has been doing all it can to keep the racing as safe as possible at Talladega and every track on which it runs. He also pointed out that the catch-fence "did its job. It kept the car on the track."

Edwards said -- again -- that he felt fortunate to be able to walk away from the dramatic and frightening accident.

"First of all, I've got to tell my wife and my mom that I'm fine," Edwards said. "Brad was pushing; he's doing everything he can. I saw him go high. I went high. Then he went low and I didn't realize he got that far [under Edwards' car], so I went low to block him a little bit and he was already there.

"At that point I'm thinking, 'Boy, I wish this [car] was made of liquid gel material.' And then I was very fortunate we hit the wall in a way that it didn't crush my roll cage down on my neck because that would have been a lot worse. NASCAR just puts us in this box. I'm glad the car didn't go up in the grandstands and hurt somebody."

Well, the car didn't. But some debris did, and later Edwards and everyone else found out that eight fans did indeed get hurt.

"I'm glad that no one is hurt more serious than they are. I can't emphasize that enough," Keselowski said.