One of the things I look forward to is getting a chance to sit down and watch a good Nascar Sprint Cup race every Sunday during the racing season.  Every week you get to see 42 of the world’s best drivers race at over 190mph with just inches to spare between them and another car or a wall.  There’s nothing better then just getting to see some good clean racing and watching the best car/driver/team win.  Clean racing however was not what we got to see on Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway thanks for one driver.

Over the past few years I have watched Sprint Cup racing, the Nascar governing body has placed been fairly aggressive about punishing drivers who have stepped over the line on the track.  It was made clear at the beginning of this year that Nascar would be changing it’s stance on aggressive racing.  Nascar is trying to provide the fans with what they want by allowing drivers to police themselves more on the track.  They want to allow the drivers to race harder and perhaps trade a little paint with another driver on the way to the win.  After all.. This does make for more exciting races and some of the best finishes.  I don’t think there is a problem with that at all, however I do think that Nascar might have stepped a little too far back in some situations.

Last Sunday’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway had a very blatant incident where I think Nascar should have stepped in and served up a little more severe punishment.  On Lap 41 the No. 99 car of Carl Edwards was trying to move down the track and was unintentionally hit by the No. 12 car of Brad Keselowski.  This caused Edwards to fly up the race track and wrecking both the No. 99 car and the No. 12 car of Joey Logano.  Both of these drivers went directly back to the garage and this effectively ruined both of their racing days.  This really wasn’t too bad of a incident and certainly nothing out of the ordinary for a race.

It was fairly clear from the replay’s that Edwards tried to come down the track and Keselowski simply did not provide Edwards with any give on his track position.  This caused Edwards to come across the hood of Keselowski’s car and caused the wreck.  Even Edwards said that it didn’t look like it was Keselowski’s fault when shown the replay after being released from the care center.  Well apparently Edwards changed his mind on that statement by the end of the Race.  150 Laps later in the race, Edwards team was able to fix up his car and put him back on the track to gain some more points for the season.

On Lap 323 of the scheduled 325 laps in the race, Keselowski was firmly in the 5th position and set to have a pretty decent finish with only 2 laps to go.  This is when Edwards decided to take revenge on Keselowski.  With both cars traveling at over 190 mph Edwards pulled up to the left rear panel of Keselowski’s car and blatantly turned into his car.  This simple act of revenge by Edwards caused Keselowski’s car to spin, sending it airborne and having it completely destroy Keselowski’s car and his day.  All of this happened on the front stretch right in front of the grandstands where thousands of fans were sitting.  Here is a video of the wreck…

This isn’t the first time there have been problems between these two drivers.  Back in the 2009 race at Talladega Super Speedway the roles were reversed and Edwards was the one flying through the air.  The big difference though.. Keselowski didn’t cause that wreck on purpose:

It’s fairly apparent in the video of Talladega that the two were racing hard and Keselowski had moved under Edwards to pass him on the final lap.  Edwards then tried to block Keselowski and moved down across the nose of Keselowski’s car when there simply was no room there for him to block the pass.  If Edwards had continued to drive straight to the line then it would have been a very close finish and the No. 99 team wouldn’t have had to piece back together their car at the end of the race.

It was so clear to Nascar at the Atlanta race that the wreck was caused on purpose that they immediately told Edwards that he was parked for the balance of the race, a whopping 2 laps.  Edwards was also notified that he needed to report to the Nascar trailer to speak to race officials.  On his way to the trailer Edwards was interviewed and asked about the wreck being intentional.  Edwards comment was “His car went airborne, which was not at all what I expected”.  Later it was posted online that punishments would be handed out on Tuesday 3/9/2010.  That was yesterday.

So what did Nascar in their infinite wisdom due to punish Edwards for intentionally wrecking another driver and causing fans to be in some level of danger?  They put him on probation for 3 races.  Wait.. What?  Probation? WTF Nascar!

Edwards intentionally spun another driver causing them a top 5 finish, costing them thousands to fix the car, and putting fans in danger.  All he gets is probation for 3 races?  A Nascar Representative, mentioned in this article, stated that parking Edwards for balance of the race was a large part of his punishment.  WHAT?  You parked him for 2 laps where he only had the possibility of gaining 3 additional points for the season.  So his entire punishment is 3 points and probation?  Nascar you have failed!  You have failed to properly punish a driver for doing something completely stupid on the race track!

So Nascar.. Where are we going to draw the line?  If someone wrecks someone else on the last lap to get the win.. is that ok?  Do we still just get probation?  The white flag would have already been waived so at the time of caution the race would end and the wrecker would be in first place.  What about if they need tires and wreck someone so they can get a caution and pit?  Still just a probation?  Do they get parked for that?

Seriously Nascar, where are the fines?  Where is the suspension?  I can understand wanting to stay out of it and letting them race harder..  That’s fine.  I look forward to that.  However when it is intentional there has to be some sort of punishment!  That punishment must be more severe then a 3 race probation.  If it’s not, then every 4th race I want to see a driver dump the leader on the last lap to get the win.  Apparently nothing will ever happen to them if they do!  Except the fact that they will win every 4th race, be #1 in the standing and win the championship at the end of the year.  Seems like good racing strategy to me.  As long as the driver or the crew chief can count to 4, wouldn’t want to do it while on probation, they can win the championship!

As for Edwards, he was 100% in the wrong here.  I can understand being frustrated that he had a bad day and didn’t get a good finish.  Too bad man.. Thats life.  It’s clear by looking at the replay that Edwards came down the track too early and that Keselowski simply did not give him any room.  Keselowski however is not required to provide any room for Edwards in that situation.  Edwards is the one that screwed up, not Keselowski.  I wouldn’t have lifted and given him the room either, why?  Because we are out here to race.  If Edwards wants to be mad at someone about the lap 41 wreck.. maybe he should be talking to his spotter.  Isn’t the spotters job to tell you that someone else is already occupying that space and that you are not going to fit?  I think so!

Personally I think that Nascar should have suspended Edwards for 3 races.  Since they didn’t do it, Roush Fenway Racing should suspend Edwards!  The guy needs to be parked for doing something so stupid.

What do you think?  Did Nascar deal with this correctly?  Should Edwards be sitting out for a few races?  Should Roush Fenway Racing or Edwards be paying some fines in points or cash?  Let us know in the comments below!

Post Tagged With: Nascar