Kenny Bruce: What Carl Edwards did was wrong, now NASCAR must respond

By Kenny Bruce

Sunday, March 07, 2010

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“Boys, have at it.”

Well, guess what? They did, and this was the result. Just file it in the “Be Careful What You Wish For” folder.

Brad Keselowski says he wasn’t worried about his own well being, but the well being of fans attending the Kobalt Tools 500 when his car went airborne along the frontstretch.

A nice trick, if you can pull it off at 180 mph or so and while upside down.

Still, it never should have happened. And Carl Edwards was the guilty party. It doesn’t matter if you like Edwards or don’t care for the guy. What he did to Keselowski at Atlanta Motor Speedway was wrong.

Edwards was “only” 153 laps down when he turned Keselowski’s car sideways on lap 322 of the race. Keselowski, on the other hand, was running in the top 10.

“Boys, have at it” indeed.

It doesn’t matter if he didn’t intend for Keselowski’s car to turn sideways, rise up off the racing surface and roll over or not. It doesn’t matter if NASCAR gave drivers the green light to show a little more emotion or race with a little more aggression.

And it doesn’t matter if Edwards was still angry from earlier contact during the race, in which Keselowski got into the back of the Roush Fenway Racing driver. That particular move might not have been the wisest, but it was no different from similar incidents that occur all the time in the sport. If drivers didn’t take chances, there would be precious little passing in a sport where advancing one’s position has already become far too uncommon.

Taking chances is one thing. Taking a driver out is another.

Edwards’ move was wrong. It was blatant. And it will be interesting to see what penalties, if any, the sanctioning body deems necessary.

After all, when you don’t just tell teams to get after it but encourage them to do so, you can’t expect them to act like choirboys.

NASCAR did penalize Edwards during the race, black-flagging the No. 99 Ford and meeting with the driver afterwards. In many previous instances, that’s been the extent of its involvement. A driver does wrong, the driver is penalized, and the case is closed.

In this instance, they’ll huddle back in the home office afterwards to determine if any further penalties are warranted.

In other words, the chief questions will be, “Given our new hands-off policy, if we fine him and/or suspend him, how will that look? And if we do nothing further, how will that play among the faithful?”

There was no denial from Edwards when asked if he intentionally tried to wreck Keselowski, only disappointment that a move turned so wrong.

It happens all the time. It’s a part of the fabric of the sport. All the greats used their bumpers (when cars actually HAD bumpers) to retaliate.

But does that make it right?

Edwards didn’t intend to cause Keselowski’s car to go airborne, but it did. He wasn’t racing for position. He wasn’t racing for the win. He really wasn’t racing at all. He was putting in laps. And when the opportunity for payback presented itself …

So was parking him enough? Do we just wink, chuckle and move on? The sport will be worse if that’s the case.

Because it’s called racing. It’s not called retaliating.

I just hope they remember that back in the home office. And weigh it accordingly.