12/21/24
March 09, 2010
Edwards gets probation for intentionally wrecking Keselowski: NASCAR driver Carl Edwards received a three-race probation penalty for intentionally wrecking fellow driver Brad Keselowski during Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The two have a history, including Keselowski wrecking Edwards on the final lap at Talledega last season.
posted by wfrazerjr to auto racing at 02:34 PM - 14 comments
Looks like Keselowski is hated in the NASCAR trailer as much as he is on the track if NASCAR only gave Edwards a 3 race probation for as intentional a wreck as has been seen in a while. Guys have gotten suspended for less gruesome events. Kevin Harvick being parked for a race for aggressive driving during a truck race in 2002 comes to mind. Yes Harvick was a multiple time offender, but its not as if Edwards has been an angel out on the track either.
To me this sounds like Keselowski's reputation for being a bit of a diva played into NASCAR's decision.
posted by Demophon at 03:17 PM on March 09, 2010
Bullshit like that is why I don't watch NASCAR. Rubbin' AIN'T racin'. It's cheating.
The absolute lack of respect shown in NASCAR is vile.
Sadly the biggest piece of shit to ever race in F1 is back this year too (rendering me, a fan since 1986, uninterested in the new season).
posted by Drood at 03:22 PM on March 09, 2010
NASCAR has tried to back off on being the ones to police what takes place on the track, so this is what they get. This new attitude is breeding a bunch of young, stupid, shitty drivers. They seem to think this bumping or ramming into each other is cool, or makes the sport popular, but it's getting old. These guys don't know how a car is going to respond when it spins out, and someone, including the fans, could wind up getting killed.
On another subject in the sport (kind of similar), I don't like the idea of some of these "teams" of cars dominating tracks each week. Every time a race gets towards the end, there seems to be coincidental accidents that allow restarts, giving drivers a few cars back in the race a chance to catch up. I can't get past the idea if a specific team has a car in eighth place, for example, and another few cars way back towards the back of the pack, that it doesn't make sense for them to spin someone out, start an accident, and get that restart so their teammate further up can make a run at a top three or five finish.
posted by dyams at 05:16 PM on March 09, 2010
Yeah, this sort of thing has been coming for a long time. I know I've mentioned it here in the past, but my take on it is if you spin out the leader to "win" the race, Nascar should DQ your ass and you get to sit out another race. By calling it a win (see Keselowski, Talladega last year, as the latest example) they're giving their approval, which is naturally going to result in more intentional wrecking.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 06:02 PM on March 09, 2010
dyams, I have always wondered the same. If they've got carte blanche to wreck each other, then a team owner who's got a driver running in second should have his lowest-position car hang back, let the rest of the field come back around to lap him, then take out the leader. Voila, a "win" for him.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 06:04 PM on March 09, 2010
I'm a fan of the Cup series and watch a least some of 'most every race. I occasionally watch some of the Nationwide and Truck races. I do not watch other forms of racing. That said, I have the following observations.
* The subjectivity in some of NASCAR's rules/enforcement really annoys me.
* NASCAR also annoys me by being too reactionary with rule changes.
* I've heard "team rules" play a pretty big role in F1, but I cannot think of an instance where one Cup driver cheated for another (or even caused a wreck to help a teammate). Perhaps there have been some, but I don't recall any.
* Keselowski winning by spinning Edwards was a result of the asinine "out of bounds" rule on restrictor-plate tracks. NASCAR caused that one by disqualifying Regan Smith in a previous race when Tony Stewart ran him out of bounds. While I don't like Brad, I will admit he did the right thing given the rules--he held his position when Carl came across his nose.
* NASCAR owes Kevin Harvick an apology relating to his suspension for rough driving. However, I didn't expect them to give Carl serious punishment because NASCAR asked for this.
* I used to like Carl when he was "just glad to be here", but he has long since outgrown his britches.
* Brad probably would have had a top five (5) finish, but now he's barely in the top thirty-five (35) in owners points. This could be huge for that team.
* The resulting caution changed the complexion of the race tremendously, and that's quite unfortunate.
* While I was never a fan of the fist fights after the races, I think that's a far better way to settle issues than this. Too many innocent people get hurt--fortunately none physically this time.
posted by skifan at 08:01 PM on March 09, 2010
Here's another article that includes a few videos of past incidents involving Keselowski, Denny Hamlin and others.
posted by BoKnows at 08:39 PM on March 09, 2010
Wasn't Edwards played by Sacha Baron-Cohen in the film version?
posted by owlhouse at 02:19 AM on March 10, 2010
Think you forget who you're talking to.
posted by yerfatma at 05:03 PM on March 10, 2010
It's Nascar.
Not NASCAR.
Not according to NASCAR.
Or pretty much every other acronym.
posted by BoKnows at 08:50 PM on March 10, 2010
Even is Keselowski is hated in the NASCAR trailer (sorry, it is NASCAR), if his car had gone the other way, fans could and probably would have been hurt. They talk about how safe the car is and that's not true, the driver is safe inside the car but that car is still hurling around 170 mph out of control on the track.
posted by jc at 10:14 PM on March 15, 2010
Video of both crashes courtesy of SI.