Lack of Suspension for Carl Edwards Inexplicable

by Chris Leone, Special To NASCAR commentary and driver pictures, 2011 NASCAR schedule, video, Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie

I do weekly Fantasy Pick'Em columns here at OPR, as well as the occasional opinion and analysis piece. I also provide the IZOD IndyCar Series coverage. For more on that, head to my site, OpenWheelAmerica.com. My Twitter handle is @christopherlion.

March 11, 2010 4:07 pm CST 2 Comments

I have been a fan of Roush Fenway Racing since I was a small child, watching Mark Martin pilot the No. 6 Valvoline car. Through the years, watching the team expand into one of NASCAR’s first multicar powerhouses, I have become a fan of almost every driver to slide behind the wheel of their Fords.

This means that yes, to some extent, I am a Carl Edwards fan. Say what you will about his personality, but he shows flashes of brilliance as a racecar driver, the nine-win season in 2008 included. I think his 2009 Talladega wreck may have affected his psyche a little bit, and may make him a more careful driver in the long term, but he’s still got talent.

That aside, however, his actions in Sunday’s race at Atlanta were inexcusable. I’m sure that everybody knows what happened by now – after Brad Keselowski (the same driver who put him into the catchfence at Talladega last year) got into him early in the race, he returned to the track and ruined a great run by the Penske Racing driver with five laps to go.

Keselowski’s car flipped and landed on its roof, most of the pressure on the driver’s side, before rolling back on all four wheels. Keselowski was shaken up to say the least, and Edwards was parked for his deliberate actions, which he all but admitted to later on.

The problem, however, is NASCAR’s decision only to put Edwards on probation for three races for this incident. Given his history with Keselowski, as well as the complaints that others like Denny Hamlin make about the young driver, these incidents are likely not over. They’ll just wait until Edwards’ probation is over. NASCAR didn’t even wring Edwards’ hands – they wagged a finger. That’s all that the meeting between the two drivers and their owners will be, too.

Marty Smith wrote on Twitter that a “precedent has been set” for these types of retaliatory actions – that no driver should be afraid to dive-bomb a rival they’re angry at now. I understand NASCAR’s desire to open up the racing this year, and I applaud it, but not laying the hammer down in deliberate accidents, especially ones where the wrecked driver could have been seriously hurt, is a mistake.

My opinion: NASCAR should have parked Edwards for at least one race. I might have waited until the next Atlanta race to do it, however. I don’t want a driver who’s going to race like that to make his way into the Chase, and Atlanta is the penultimate regular season race. Taking Edwards out of a race so close to the cutoff could knock him out (if he’s in) and make it far more difficult to make up ground, whereas missing Bristol would give him about 20 more races to get back to the front.

Filed under: Atlanta Motor Speedway, Brad Kesolowski, Carl Edwards

Tagged with: Atlanta Motor Speedway, Brad Keselowski, Carl Edwards

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Comments

2 Responses to “Lack of Suspension for Carl Edwards Inexplicable”

c5speed on March 12th, 2010 2:56 pm

I think that part of the equation is being left out in most of these discussions. The 43 that climb in those hot rods every week are accountable to team owners, sponsors, families and themselves. As I recall, the drivers have a way of policing themselves. What happend with Edwards could have played out in a completely different way if the car had not lifted. That is a aero dynamic issue.
These men are fearless, talented drivers and they do what they do better than 99.999% of those of us who appreciate them.
If you clip Edwards, you need to clip Brad K. He caused the damage to Edwards that put him in the garage and collected several other drivers who wound up limpling for the rest of the day.
BK needs to grow up. If he does not the 42 other drivers will run him out of the circuit. It is as simple as that.
NASCAR did the right thing. It is what it is. Racing is a violent sport. They all know that when they straped in, they may not come back. That is why the reward is high and not many can do it.
Ryan Rantz on March 12th, 2010 4:56 pm

If anything I would say NASCAR punished Edwards to much. Hamlin talked a whole week about wrecking Brad Keselowski and did it (1 lap penalty at Homestead NW). Juan Pablo Montoya wrecked Tony Stewart last year at Homestead after he repaired his car (2 lap penalty). Then Edwards wrecks Keselowski and he gets a 5 lap penalty and 3 races on probation!!!

Mathematically Edwards is being punished 250% more then Montoya and 500% more then Hamlin. There’s no way to calculate how much probation can be factored into the penalty. Plus he lost like 3 points Before anyone sheds a tear for Keselowski lets remember he probably cumulatively cost Nationwide drivers +1000 points in 2009.

Earlier this year Brian France said “NASCAR is a contact sport – our history is based on banging fenders.”. Edwards did exactly what he was allowed to do. Self policing shouldn’t only be done when everything is going fine and peachy for the driver. NASCAR can’t go around punishing drivers based on people’s emotions just because they witnessed a spectacular wreck. Good job on this one NASCAR.

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