Roush Fenway marriage comes full circle at ballpark

BOSTON -- Carl Edwards is used to driving a racecar at speeds that sometimes approach 200 miles per hour. But Friday night, his nerves were raw as he prepared to perform a rare but seemingly much simpler athletic feat.

Edwards was about to join his boss, Jack Roush of Roush Fenway Racing, and Bob Bahre, owner of New Hampshire International Speedway, to throw pitches off the mound at famed Fenway Park. Actually, they cheated and all of them threw from a little in front of the mound -- but Edwards was skittish beforehand nonetheless.

Finding an audience

Boston is known for great sports fans who love their Red Sox and Patriots. But David Caraviello says the city, in part due to the merge of Roush Racing and Fenway Sports Group, is becoming NASCAR's capital in the Northeast.

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"I didn't know I was throwing out any sort of pitch or I might have worked out a little bit," Edwards said. "I would have at least thrown the ball around a little bit. We've got a baseball and some gloves in the motorhome, we should've played."

Well, maybe he should have played at some point in his life; anyway, Edwards grew up a racer, not a ballplayer.

"I never played baseball," he said. "I mean, I played in the street, goofing around. But I never played for a team or anything.

"So I'm a little nervous about throwing this pitch. But you know what? I was telling everyone, when you get a chance to throw out a pitch at Fenway Park, I'm bringing the heat and throwing as hard as I can."

When a bystander warned that he should be careful and not risk throwing his arm out, Edwards seemed suddenly to catch a breeze of bravado.

"Well, you've got two of 'em, you know? So we'll see what happens," he said. "I'm bringing all the heat I can. It'll probably be ugly. I'll probably shoot it right into the dirt." (Watch Edwards take Red Sox broadcaster Jerry Remy for a spin)

Right on target

Standing a few feet from Edwards at Fenway on Friday night was John Henry, owner of the Boston Red Sox and Roush's new partner at what now is called Roush Fenway Racing. They announced their 50-50 partnership in February, just before the Daytona 500 -- but Friday was all about celebrating their new business marriage.

It was Roush Fenway Racing Night at Fenway. Henry gazed around at another packed house and took on the look of a man satisfied with all that he was seeing, including the gaggle of NASCAR guys getting ready to charge the mound at his ballpark. (Continued)