Angry Carl Edwards causes frightening crash when he retaliates against Brad Keselowski at Atlanta

By Bob Pockrass

Sunday, March 07, 2010

Carl Edwards spins Brad Keselowski in the Kobalt Tools 500 in retaliation for an earlier crash.

Jeff Robinson
NASCAR Illustrated

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HAMPTON, Ga. – Carl Edwards, angry over an earlier wreck, intentionally spun Brad Keselowski at Atlanta Motor Speedway, causing a frightening crash near the end of the Kobalt Tools 500.

Edwards, 153 laps down after early contact with Keselowski, spun Keselowski with three laps remaining, causing Keselowski’s car to lift off the ground and flip before slamming roof-first into the frontstretch wall.

NASCAR parked Edwards for the rest of the race – costing him one spot in the finishing order – and the Roush Fenway Racing driver could face more disciplinary action.

Keselowski, who was running sixth at the time of the crash, walked away from his mangled car uninjured.

“He just decided to wreck me intentionally down the straightaway and about killed me and a couple of thousand people in the grandstands,” Keselowski calmly said after exiting the infield medical center.

“It is one thing to race somebody hard and to get in an accident going for position. It’s another to intentionally wreck somebody at 190 miles an hour.”

The first incident occurred on a restart on lap 40 when Keselowski didn’t give Edwards enough room and Edwards got clipped, spinning and collecting Joey Logano.

Edwards’ car was severely damaged in the accident and he didn’t deny that the contact late in the race was intentional and in retaliation for the earlier incident.

“Brad knows the deal between him and I,” Edwards said. “The scary part was his car went airborne, which was not at all what I expected. At the end of the day, we’re out here to race and people have to have respect for one another and I have a lot of respect for people’s safety.

“I wish it wouldn’t have gone like it did, but I’m glad he’s OK and we’ll just go on and race some more and maybe him and I won’t get in anymore incidents together.”

Keselowski said it was clear that Edwards wrecked him intentionally.

“He intentionally swung at me three times down the straightaway and couldn’t get the job done because I knew he was doing it,” Keselowski said. “I cut him a lot of slack trying to give him a chance to get his anger out and it wasn’t enough for him.

“He pulled off pit road with one intention in mind. And he got it done and about killed a bunch of people in the process.”

As far as the earlier incident that angered Edwards, Keselowski wasn’t taking blame for that one.

“He cut down on that restart and I couldn’t lift fast enough,” Keselowski said. “I lifted to let him in, but I was there. What more can you do? There was nothing I could do in that situation.”

Edwards and Keselowski have a history with Keselowski blocking Edwards and sending him spinning on the final lap at Talladega last year. Edwards car got airborne, flipped and crashed into the catchfence.

That crash occurred while battling for the win on the last lap. Edwards didn’t criticize Keselowski for blocking him at Talladega.

“Carl is an awesome guy, one of the best people in the garage,” Keselowski said. “But in the car, he made a move that is uncalled for and cannot be tolerated in this sport or we’re going to kill somebody.

“It’s not me I’m worried about. It’s the people in the grandstand while I was up in the air that I thought for sure I was going to kill.”