[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”225″]
[/media-credit]NASCAR drivers Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle are not only Roush Fenway Racing teammates, but also have some important upcoming events to talk about, from new baby talk to contract talks to talking about the dangers of texting and driving.
The teammates were both outed by owner Jack Roush as to their upcoming baby talk. Roush announced during the recent NASCAR media tour that both Edwards, who just had a baby with wife Kate last year, and Greg and Nicole Biffle are expecting.
Edwards’ second child is due in May while the Biffle’s first child, a girl, is due in July.
“I couldn’t hold back,” Roush said after announcing the upcoming additions. “Maybe I wasn’t supposed to do that.”
While having a new addition might be old hat for Edwards, this is all new to the Biffles. Biffle, at age 41, is also somewhat nervous about the possibility that the birth of his first child will conflict with one of his race dates.
“I don’t have any children, and there is a lot to be said for being there when your child is born,” Biffle said. “But we can’t control everything.”
While both racers await their bundles of joy, their team owner Jack Roush seems to take a more pragmatic approach to it all. For him, these new mouths to feed might just ensure that both of his drivers remain in the Roush fold.
“One of the things that it’s going to do for a driver that’s having a baby when he’s 40 years old, with the idea of having even more than that after he has the first one, there’s a necessity there for an income stream that’s going to make the livelihood of them staying in this business driving a race car longer than it might if they were on their own,” Roush said.
Both Edwards’ and Biffle’s contracts with Roush Fenway Racing are up at the end of 2011. While both drivers may keep their options open, there is no doubt that the powers that be at Roush Fenway will be trying to talk turkey with both drivers, with the hopes of wrapping up both deals as quickly as possible.
“I’d like to be able to get it done, so that we can just keep focused on winning, and that’s the most important thing,” Edwards said about his contract negotiation talks.
In addition to the contract talk, as well as the baby talk, both Edwards and Biffle share some talk about texting as well. The two drivers will be featured on the television program “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” discussing the dangers of texting while driving.
The drivers will be supporting the Brown family, who lost their daughter in a texting while driving accident. Emma Roberts and Justin Beiber are also participating in this episode.
“Texting while driving is incredibly dangerous and I think it’s an extremely important message to get out to everyone right now but especially teenage drivers,” Biffle said.
“While Carl and I had a lot of fun taping the segment for ‘Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,’ it is a very serious issue,” Biffle continued. “Being a part of the show really opened my eyes to the dangers of texting while driving and I’m sure it will do the same for all of the viewers.”
For more information about the dangers of texting and driving, as well as educating teens about safe driving, both Biffle and Edwards recommend a visit to their Ford team website at www.drivingskillsforlife.com.”
This is my first time here and just wanted to stop by and say Hi.
I would just like to say Thank-You to Mr.Edwards and Mr. Baffle and Justin Bieber for joining the cause. We too lost our son March 15, 2009 because he too was texting while driving. He was 23, a United States Marine, father and brother. no parent should have to bury a child especially due to something that could have waited and he knew better! We miss our son every waking hour, he had so much to live for. Our sons last text was “Yeah T” these are his Last words. I ask everyone to look at their last text and tell me, would it be worth dying over or killing someone else? Again thank you so much for joining this cause, maybe we can save just one life from this…