Some half-expected that Colin Edwards II may pass on racing this afternoon after his friend Peter Lenz, age 13, was killed in Indy's MD250H race. Edwards said he considered it for a moment but in the end, decided to race.

"I thought about it," the former two-time Superbike champion and former Suzuka eight hours winner said. "Honestly, I was shattered after I heard the news... I have known Peter for a while and am good friends with he and his dad. They were in and out of my motorhome this weekend and when I heard the news my heart ached. In the end I decided to race, after a while I knew it was what I had to do."

"This is the life we choose as racers," Edwards said. "I've had teammates die, seen friends die and honestly this one hurts the most but ... this is the reality of the situation. If they offered a class for 13 year olds to go roadracing when I was 13, I'd have done it in a heartbeat."