NASCAR clarifies its warning to Brad Keselowski at Kansas
FONTANA, Calif. – NASCAR officials clarified their intent in warning Hendrick Motorsports’ Brad Keselowski during last week’s race at Kansas Speedway.
NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton said Friday afternoon that Keselowski was not warned because of contact with a competitor in the Chase For The Sprint Cup; the warning was one that NASCAR often gives to competitors when it feels contact is unnecessary.
Keselowski had contact with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing’s Juan Pablo Montoya during the race, drawing the attention of NASCAR. At the time, NASCAR said that Keselowski was told to be “aware and cognizant of who he was racing against at this particular point in the race.”
Friday, Pemberton clarified what NASCAR meant and that it did not refer to racing against drivers in the championship hunt.
“We warn drivers all the time,” Pemberton said prior to qualifying at Auto Club Speedway in California. “It wasn’t a Chase warning whatsoever. The previous week we warned the 14 [of Tony Stewart] and somebody else about beating on each other, too.
“When we see things going on around the race track that could affect the outcome of innocent bystanders, drivers who don’t have a fight, we’ll take and call a driver out on. That’s basically what we did.”
The warning sparked debate over whether drivers in the Chase should be given extra room by non-Chase drivers.
“It’s about causing an incident unnecessarily,” Pemberton said. “You do that. You don’t do it every week, but there are times that you do that.”
Montoya said last week he figured that Keselowski’s spotter didn’t know he was there.
“Most of the people that are non-Chase drivers are very good,” Montoya said. “They give you a lot of room and you’ve got to respond the same way. There’s not much more you can do.
“Everybody is still racing. By you being in the Chase you’ve got to be aware as well that you’re vulnerable. People can run over you pretty easy. I think you help yourself by giving them the space because they don’t have much to lose compared to us.”
Stewart-Haas Racing’s Tony Stewart said he had no problem with Keselowski getting the warning because he believed it was done in the general nature of racing and not for the benefit of a Chase driver. Keselowski is running a part-time Sprint Cup schedule this year.
“It was more of a young rookie driver who was racing like he was in the Nationwide Series or the Truck Series,” Stewart said. “That’s how you race on Friday and Saturday, but that’s not how we race on Sunday. Guys realize that it’s a longer realize and there’s more give and take and more patience.
“In his situation, he’s young, he’s aggressive, he wants to do well, wants to earn respect. But he’s got to understand that you’ve got to be patient and you’ve got to give and take at different times of the race, especially early in the race like that to get that respect. I think it’s good that NASCAR at least mentioned it. They’re not telling him how to drive his car, but at least it lights [something] in his ear that maybe [he’s] not doing something the way it is done in this series.”
