NASCAR Nationwide Series: Drive4COPD 300

Topics:  Drive4COPD 300

Mike Helton
February 23, 2013

Q. Mike, I know it's a very fluid situation and it's still ongoing. But we would like to know anything you could tell us.
MIKE HELTON: I think to see and explain what we know right now is there obviously was some intrusion into the fence, and fortunately with the way the event's equipped up, there was plenty of emergency workers ready to go. They all jumped in on it pretty quickly.
Right now it's a function of trying to determine of what all damage is done. They're moving folks as we've seen to care centers and taking some folks over to Halifax Medical Center. We'll be able to update you later on, but all we know is everybody is working hard on what all happened.

Q. We know that NASCAR and the tracks do everything they possibly can to make these events safe for the fans. But you can't predict something like this. Really the catch fence did its job for the most part?
MIKE HELTON: It did, you're right. We know a lot. We know what we know. But the biggest thing we know is we don't know everything we need to know because there are moments that occur that we've just never seen before and can't really plan for, although everybody's effort is directed that way, to make it as safe as possible for both competitors and for the fans.
That's evidenced everywhere we go with the fences, cables, structures, and the gaps between the racetrack and the seating area. We're always made aware of the fact that we don't know everything.

Q. Work to be done tonight, but that's not utmost on your attention.
MIKE HELTON: There's still Victory Lane celebrations, inspections to do on racecars, but there is a lot more activity. Fortunately, Daytona International Speedway and the emergency crews are prepared and ready for that and very busy for that. Our prayers and thoughts are with everybody they're working on.