After Carl Edwards-Brad Keselowski incident, paybacks on the track are more acceptable, NASCAR drivers say

By Bob Pockrass

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Carl Edwards turns Brad Keselowski during the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta.

Jeff Robinson
NASCAR Illustrated

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Now that drivers have seen how NASCAR responded to the Carl Edwards-Brad Keselowski incident at Atlanta, they at least have an idea of what NASCAR officials meant when they said earlier this year that they were going to loosen the reins on drivers.

Edwards was parked by NASCAR for the remainder of Sunday’s race and placed on three weeks probation for retaliating against Keselowski by intentionally wrecking him at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Edwards went after Keselowski after Keselowski hit him earlier in the race and following a series of incidents between the two drivers in the past year, including last year’s wreck at Talladega in which Edwards’ car flew into the fence.

How drivers respond to NASCAR’s new rules in the future remains to be seen. Though they must be careful not to cause the type of frightening wreck as Edwards, who sent Keselowski’s car airborne and flipping into the outside wall, they know now that a little more payback may be acceptable when they feel they have been wronged on the track.

Drivers have been suspended and fined in the past for retaliation or showing anger on the track.

“It’s a different era from when I got in trouble,” Richard Childress Racing driver Kevin Harvick quipped during Martinsville Speedway’s media day at RCR on Wednesday. “I wish I would have gotten in trouble now because it would have been a lot cheaper. But that’s what it is and as long as the consistency is there, I think everybody is good with it.”

Drivers might be OK with the idea of paybacks, but they don’t expect to see drivers taking each other out at high-speed, 1.5-mile tracks all that often.

“There’s a ‘too far’ in everything, and that was too far, bottom line, simple as that,” said RCR driver Clint Bowyer. “Was it too far in my opinion? Yes. Was it the wrong place to do it? Yes.”

Drivers say they don’t expect to drive any differently, but will likely think twice about roughing up another driver or getting too aggressive.

RCR driver Jeff Burton said he wasn’t surprised by NASCAR’s response to the Atlanta incident, but isn’t sure how that will impact racing in the future. He said Keselowski’s accident was scary.

“We talk about having better racing and we talk about having more aggressive racing – that’s not racing,” Burton said. “That’s not the definition of racing. That’s anger and trying to stand your ground, that’s what that is.”

Michael Waltrip Racing’s David Reutimann said drivers know when they have pushed too hard and angered another competitor, and that it happens more often than most people realize.

“Just because you don’t see it or just because it doesn’t have the outcome that it did like Sunday, that stuff happens, and it happens fairly regular, sometimes within a lap or two of each other,” Reutimann said. “Sometimes you guys just only see the bigger stuff. … I don’t think it’s going to open up anything.

“I just think it’s going to be a situation where we all need to take pretty good care of each other on the race track.”

Reutimann said he knows of drivers who probably feel like they need to pay him back for something that happened last year.

“Regardless if you go down there and talk to those guys and say you’re sorry, that’s all fine,” Reutimann said, “But chances are, you’ve got something coming. … You do all the apologies and do all that stuff, but in the back of your mind, you know, you’re like, ‘Well, if those guys hammer on me or something happens, I brought it on myself; I’ve got it coming.’

“[You] deal with it, suck it up, deal with it, and know at least after the fact, at least you’re even at that point and you shouldn’t have to worry about it anymore.”

Burton agreed.

“I don’t think anything has changed,” Burton said. “For me, what comes out of all that is that you have to remember there is a consequence for your actions. … It’s pretty clear to me that if I run into the corner and I knock somebody out of the way, [there’s] a real good chance I either have to get the hell out of their way the next corner or they’re coming back at me.

“And I’m OK with that. But I think drivers need to be smart, and what happened Sunday wasn’t smart.”

Drivers said they expect that Edwards’ retaliation will have an impact on Penske Racing’s Keselowski.

“We’re all big boys with fast toys and he sent a message to Brad. That’s what the intent was and he sure sent it loud and clear,” JTG Daugherty Racing’s Marcos Ambrose said Tuesday at the tire test at Darlington Raceway. “I’m pretty sure Brad is thinking about that this week. I’m pretty sure that’s all he’s thinking about because he’s come into the sport with a bang. … Brad’s got a typhoon running behind him.

“NASCAR opened it up, and it has been that way for a long time where the drivers have sorted it out.”

Keselowski, who drew the ire of Edwards, Denny Hamlin and other drivers last year, will have deal with the repercussions of his aggressive tactics, drivers said.

“The bottom line is two cars were involved, two drivers were involved and nobody got hurt,” Fox analyst Darrell Waltrip said. “It set a precedent. NASCAR says, ‘This is a little bit more than what we intended for.’ They don’t have to tell Brad anything.

“You are going to tell Brad the same thing these other competitors have told Brad: You’re becoming known as ‘Bad Brad,’ and sometimes if you are known as Bad Brad something bad might happen to you, and it did. So, lesson learned.”

Burton said that while Keselowski is learning the hard way to respect other competitors, no one is asking him not to be aggressive.

“I don’t think he’s doing a good job of stepping back, learning from the situation and figuring out how to do it better versus having his feet dug in the sand saying, ‘This is how I’m always going to do it.’ … Brad needs to find a way to mend some fences,” Burton said. “But he also needs to stay aggressive.

“He needs to stay in the mindset that [he’s] there to win. It’s a balancing act. He needs to tip a little more to the conservative side to find that balance because he’s found the limit.”

Keselowski’s reputation now will make drivers believe that he is being too aggressive or disrespectful even when he’s not, Burton said.

“Brad’s got to learn that he doesn’t have to prove to the world that he is a tough guy,” Burton said. “He’s made the decision that he’s not going to cut anybody any slack. He’s made the decision that he’s going to race aggressively all the time. Those are the decisions he’s made and he’s going to have to live with the consequences of that.

“There’s nothing wrong with giving a little bit. And there’s nothing wrong with taking a little bit. But if you’re going to only take, then you’re going to come out on the short end of the stick more times than not.”