Bob Pockrass: Keselowski-Hamlin wreck a racing incident with plenty of blame to go around
Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin (left) spins after contact from JR Motorsports' Brad Keselowski during the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Dover International Speedway. // Bill Anderson, NASCAR Scene
COMMENTARY
Denny Hamlin has a right to be angry with Brad Keselowski. And Keselowski has a right to say that he’s not going to be pushed around and not going to give an inch when it comes to cutthroat time of a race.
In other words, their accident in the Nationwide Series race last Saturday was a racing incident at Dover.
But instead of Keselowski saying that it was just that, he said that Hamlin cuts him off all the time and that he’s not going to let off for anybody. Instead of Hamlin acting a little more professional and trying to show Keselowski how to handle things after something like that, he went and got in Keselowski’s face and yelled at him.
While this was a racing accident, it’s one that Keselowski should admit was two guys racing for the same spot. He didn’t have good position on Hamlin. What he had was barely the front of his nose at the left rear quarter panel of Hamlin. Could Keselowski have completed the pass of Hamlin if Hamlin had given him room or would he have had to lift going into the next corner after getting such a good run with fresher tires coming out of Turn 2? We’ll never know. Maybe Hamlin should have held his line and found out, but Keselowski also could have lifted and tried to make the pass the next time around the track.
What we do know is that contact was pretty similar to what Matt Crafton did to Ron Hornaday a few weeks earlier and got penalized. The only difference was that incident was going into the corner, not coming off the corner and down the backstretch, but the contact was virtually the same.
Crafton’s penalty was iffy at best, a judgment call that would have been just fine if there was no penalty. And what Keselowski did couldn’t be considered rough driving to the point of penalization. It’s one of those racing things that happens. Considering Hamlin and Keselowski have a past history together, neither should be surprised about what happened.
It’s understandable why they both acted as they did. Keselowski has to show that Roger Penske didn’t hire a slouch. Hamlin was frustrated with a torn-up race car.
There are two sides to every story. And this one has two legitimate sides and two legitimate beefs, and you get the feeling this won’t be the last time they’ll be in each other’s face on pit road. Not that that’s all that bad a thing. A good, heated argument here and there is good for the television ratings and good for the story lines. Last weekend, it added excitement to a Nationwide Series that could use all the excitement it can get as Kyle Busch runs away with the title.
But if Keselowski keeps racing that way with no remorse and no second thoughts, he could be in trouble. If he keeps those rules of engagement for everyone and not just Hamlin, who always seems to race him rough, then Keselowski will find himself in that situation time and time again. Having a lead foot that will plow through everyone won’t play well with everybody, and Keselowski should expect to get turned if he makes a similar move.
