TALLADEGA, Ala. --- Carl Edwards is happy to be returning to Talladega Superspeedway for this Sunday's AMP Energy 500. Getting back in the race car, however, stirs completely different feelings.

The trip back to NASCAR's wildest track will give Edwards a chance to see Blake Bobbitt. The two created a lasting connection the last time the Sprint Cup was at Talladega in April when Edwards' car flipped and crashed into the fence in front of the main grandstands. Debris from Edwards' car struck Bobbitt in the face, prompting reconstructive surgery on her jaw. Edwards and Bobbitt have become friends. She plans to return to Talladega Sunday to meet Edwards for the first time.

"A piece of my car hit her in the face," Edwards said. "I just felt bad. She's doing OK. She had a broken jaw. We didn't talk at length about her injuries. But the way I understand it, it broke her jaw and knocked her teeth out. So it was a bad deal. It was right before she graduated high school, so that was tough. From what I can tell, she handled it well.

"It's the worst feeling I've had in racing."

The accident started when Edwards swerved to block Brad Keselowski's pass on the final lap of the race. Edwards spun out of control and into the fence and the third-place car of Ryan Newman. Seven fans were injured by flying debris.

Blocking and bump-drafting have turned races at Talladega and Daytona -- the only speedways that require speed-choking restrictor plates -- into perilous exercises of speed and luck. Mark Martin calls this week's race "the lottery" because the odds favor a couple multi-car accidents."

Restrictor plates rob more than 25 mph of speed from a Sprint Cup Series engine. To gain speed and maintain it drivers run in tight lines of traffic. The lead car punches a hole in the wind; the trailing cars push the leader through that hole. A single car is about 10 mph slower than a group of cars.

The problem with tight groups of traffic is everyone wants to be the leader. The front car often swerves left and right to block passes; everyone else use their front bumpers to push their way through, a maneuver called bump-drafting.

With so much beating and banging going on at 190 mph, Talladega generally has a lot of lead changes and wild finishes. Sometimes those finishes get messy.

Bobbitt had her jaw wired shut for more than a month with two plates. Talladega has since extended the fence by 12 feet and NASCAR reduced the size of the restrictor plate holes to further reduce speeds.

The accident created a friendship between a driver and a fan that will last beyond this weekend's race. They meet under difficult circumstances created by a dangerous style of racing that will last even longer.