Brad Keselowski calls for Carl Edwards to be suspended as NASCAR considers penalty for crash
A NASCAR official signals Carl Edwards to the garage after he crashed Brad Keselowski at Atlanta. // Tom Copeland, CIA Stock Photography
HAMPTON, Ga. – Brad Keselowski wants Carl Edwards suspended after contact that appeared to be intentional sent Keselowski’s car flipping and crashing into the frontstretch wall Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Edwards, who was 153 laps down at the time of the incident, was parked for the remainder of the event, costing him one position in the finishing order. Keselowski was running sixth at the time of the crash. He finished 36th.
Keselowski was not injured in the frightening crash, but was upset at Edwards’ actions.
“Parking a guy for this race is not enough,” Keselowski said. “I think he deserves at least one race. He could have killed somebody in the grandstands wrecking somebody intentionally.
“Things happen. We wreck race cars. That’s going to happen and they happen out of the pursuit of competition and the aggression to go out and win. But they should not happen at tracks like this, at this speed, out of anger or emotions that are not in check.”
NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton said the sanctioning body leadership will discuss potential penalties on Monday and Tuesday. He would not say whether it will consider suspending Edwards.
The last driver suspended for retaliation was in the Truck Series in 2007, when Ted Musgrave rammed Kelly Bires in the driver-side door under caution at The Milwaukee Mile. Ironically, it was Keselowski who replaced Musgrave for the next race and was so impressive, JR Motorsports hired him for its Nationwide Series team.
“It’s always a concern when you see retaliation,” Pemberton said. “There are different levels of it. We’ll go back Monday and Tuesday and talk about it further. We don’t make penalties on Sunday night. We take time and think about it.”
Keselowski clipped Edwards on lap 40, causing Edwards to spin and crash, collecting Joey Logano.
Edwards would not comment on whether he could or should be suspended after meeting with Pemberton and NASCAR President Mike Helton following the race.
“I just have no comment on it,” Edwards said when asked about Keselowski calling for him to be suspended. “That’s best.”
Pemberton wouldn’t say whether the severity of the accident will have an impact on the penalty or whether a suspension is likely.
“It looked like it could have been a payback from the 99 [of Edwards] to the 12 [of Keselowski],” Pemberton said. “We’ve talked to Carl. We’ve got an understanding and we’ll meet further on it to see if there’s any other actions we’ll take. … You look at all things [as far as severity], but I just think you have to look at how it started.”
Pemberton said the first contact “was close racing. There were other things that happened on the race track that were similar to that. It’s early in the race and guys are racing hard.”
Both Pemberton and Keselowski admitted the irony of Keselowski spinning Edwards on the final lap of last year’s race at Talladega, which sent Edwards’ car flying into the fence.
“It was the same two [drivers], we know that,” Pemberton said. “There seems to be a history between the two drivers, and I’m not going to go any further than that on it right now.”
Drivers and team owners declined to speculate on what penalty Edwards should get.
“I’m glad Brad is all right,” said Hendrick Motorsports driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. “It looked like a bad deal and I am glad he is OK. What happened there is between them. I’ve got nothing to do with that.”
Keselowski’s Penske Racing teammate Kurt Busch, who won the race, said he supported his teammate.
“To see a guy that’s a hundred laps down take out a guy that’s run really well, that was a tough, tough pill to swallow,” Busch said. “It reminded me of when Keselowski was racing Edwards hard for the win at Talladega, and Edwards ended on the short end of the stick. That was racing for a win. That wasn’t where you were a hundred laps down.
“I feel like what happened out on the race track is those two drivers’ business. I feel like I have to be in my teammate’s corner.”
Not everyone will support Keselowski, who has had run-ins with other drivers, including Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin last year.
“I’m sure a lot of people wanted to pay him back,” Earnhardt Ganassi Racing’s Juan Pablo Montoya said. “Looking at the TV, somebody did.”
