Roush missing from Pocono, but still in action

LONG POND, Pa. -- This weekend at Pocono Raceway isn't the first time team owner Jack Roush has been absent from a Cup Series venue as an event opened, but he's not disconnected from what's going on with his Roush Fenway Racing.

And for sure he's not far from the hearts and minds of his four teams and their dozens of members here for Sunday's Sunoco Red Cross 500.

Missing Jack

Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle and Jeff Burton explain how Jack Roush will be missed and how they feel about the owner.

• Watch video

"Really, our focus [Friday] is on Jack and we're all wishing him a speedy recovery," Carl Edwards said. "It sounds like he's doing very well considering the circumstances, so that's all of our focus [Friday] -- Jack."

Roush, 68, is still a patient at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., following a crash while landing his private jet in Oshkosh, Wis., Tuesday. He underwent surgery for facial injuries Wednesday.

• CNN: Watch video of Roush exiting crashed plane

At a typical race weekend, Roush generally prowls the garage and motor home lot, meeting with his lieutenants, reading spark plugs and alternately offering counsel or critiques, as needed.

Edwards, who drives Roush Fenway's No. 99 Ford, laughed when he was asked how much he'd miss Roush this weekend.

"I won't miss Jack yelling at me, telling me what to do," Edwards said. "But Jack is a guy who can drive a race car, he can tune the engine, he can build anything, he can help the crew chiefs with setups -- so we're definitely gonna miss him here at the race track."

Max Jones, president and general manager of Roush Fenway Ford affiliate Richard Petty Motorsports and a former Roush Racing sports car driver and stock car manager, had real emotion on his face and in his voice when he said how much he missed not having Roush at the track, but he was also realistic about the circumstances, which also happened in 2002 when Roush was critically injured when he crashed an experimental lightweight aircraft..

"This has happened before, and everyone on the [Roush Fenway] organization is real good at stepping-up and making sure everything is handled," Jones said. "And you know Jack is not going to get too far out of touch with things. From what I understand he's already been on the phone with some of the guys."

Steve Newmark, Roush Fenway's senior vice president of business operations who's at Pocono on Friday and Saturday, said there was no one who could simply step into Roush's shoes and cover his role at the track, but that didn't mean the organization would lose ground, either.

"There's no question Jack is the heart and soul of the organization," Newmark said. "But he's done a great job of establishing the organization to be in a position where it can operate self-sufficiently whether he's around or not." (Continued)