Roush Fenway Racing’s Carl Edwards avoids suspension, placed on probation for intentionally wrecking Brad Keselowski at Atlanta

Roush Fenway Racing driver Carl Edwards emerged virtually unscathed Tuesday as NASCAR announced that it has placed him on probation for the next three races for intentionally wrecking Brad Keselowski during the Kobalt Tools 500 on Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Edwards, who was parked after the crash for his actions, was not suspended nor fined or penalized points for the incident. NASCAR President Mike Helton said Tuesday that NASCAR officials will meet with Edwards and Keselowski as well as their team owners to help settle their dispute.

Helton, who said earlier this year that NASCAR would loosen the reins on drivers and allow them to police themselves on the track, met with Edwards after the race.

“We made it very clear to him that these actions were not acceptable and did go beyond what we said back in January about putting the driving back in the hands of the drivers,” Helton said. “We believe the driver of the 99 [Edwards] understands our position at this point.

“It’s important for us to step back and separate the issue of what happened with the 99 and the 12 [of Keselowski] on the race track and the fact that the 12 car got airborne.”

The Edwards-Keselowski incident resulted in a vicious crash as Keselowski’s car lifted off the ground, flipped upside down and crashed roof-first into the frontstretch wall after the tap from Edwards, who was 153 laps down after an incident between the two drivers on lap 40. Keselowski, who was running sixth at the time of the accident with three laps remaining in the scheduled distance, emerged from the car uninjured.

“I support NASCAR in the decision they communicated today," Keselowski said in a prepared statement Tuesday. "They are not in an enviable position when it comes to these matters, but they do an outstanding job. The unfortunate part about what happened on Sunday is that it has overshadowed a win by [teammate Kurt Busch] … and an overall solid performance by Penske Racing at Atlanta."

Edwards was parked after the incident, and that should not go unnoticed, Helton said. Parking a competitor, he said, can be a significant penalty, although it cost Edwards only three points Sunday because he was 153 laps down.

“You can look back last year at some incidents in Homestead where it was a one-lap penalty,” Helton said. “The immediate reaction from NASCAR was parking the car for the balance of the event.

“That in and of its own can be a serious reaction from us. … It’s a function of us wanting to do the right thing by the competitors on the race track from both sides. One, allow them to race, but the other side of it is to maintain law and order within a reasonable step.”

After the accident Sunday, Edwards did not deny intentionally wrecking Keselowski and said the Penske Racing driver needs to show more respect on the race track.

“At the end of the day, we’re out here to race and people have to have respect for one another,” Edwards said.

Later, on his Facebook page, Edwards posted:

“My options: Considering that Brad wrecks me with no regard for anyone’s safety or hard work, should I: A, Keep letting him wreck me? B, Confront him after the race? C, Wait til Bristol and collect other cars? Or D, Take care of it now? I want to be clear that I was surprised at his flight and very relieved when he walked away. Every person has to decide what code they want to live by and hopefully this explains mine.”

Keselowski called on NASCAR to suspend Edwards for the intentional contact.

“He just decided to wreck me intentionally down the straightaway and about killed me and a couple of thousand people in the grandstands,” Keselowski said. “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 195 miles an hour.”

NASCAR has not suspended a driver for on-track activity since August 2007 when Robby Gordon was suspended for a Cup race at Pocono for not obeying NASCAR directives during a Nationwide Series race the previous day at Montreal. It has not issued a suspension for intentional contact since June 2007 when Ted Musgrave was suspended for one race for ramming Kelly Bires in the driver’s-side door under caution during a Truck Series race at Milwaukee.

Edwards and Keselowski have had previous run-ins with each other, including at Talladega last April, when Edwards tried to block Keselowski while racing for the win on the last lap and Keselowski hit him, launching Edwards’ car into the fence. Keselowski tapped Edwards on the way to a Nationwide Series win last year at Memphis Motorsports Park, resulting in Edwards saying: “If that’s how we’re going to race, then that’s how we’ll race. If he wants it to be exciting for the fans, I can make it exciting.”

Edwards and Keselowski also had contact to trigger Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s end-over-end crash in the Nationwide Series race at Daytona in February.

NASCAR had announced earlier this year that it wanted drivers to show their personalities and be more aggressive on the track and was allowing them to police themselves on the track. “Boys, have at it,” NASCAR Vice President Robin Pemberton said in discussing NASCAR’s philosophy toward aggressive racing and contact on the track.

“A couple years ago, [we decided] to lighten up on the competitors to allow their character to unfold more than the way we had forced it to do. … We continue to look for ways to continue to do that,” Helton said in January. “So it doesn’t mean that you get a free pass out of jail card or anything from some of the characters we have got in the sport, but it certainly means that what we are encouraging the competitors to do as we have for the past couple of years [and] for their character and their personality within reason to be unfolded.”