Carl,Carl,We Hardly Knew Ye

Congratulations to Kurt Busch for a consistent performance and keeping the lead to win the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. One of my favorites,Matt Kenseth,had a solid second place finish and is second in points after a consistently strong season so far with crew chief Todd Parrott.

It was a great day for Penske Racing as well,with Kurt Busch winning the race,and great runs by teammates Sam Hornish Jr and Brad Keselowski but in the closing laps of the race,Keselowski's car was punted and sent airborne by Roush Fenway Racing driver Carl Edwards. Fortunately, Keselowski was not injured. Some say what Edwards did was payback for an incident involving Edwards and Keselowski at Talladega last year. While I am not a fan of Keselowski and find him to be arrogant and disrespectful sometimes,what Carl Edwards did was out of line and uncalled for. Edwards had just been getting back into my good graces after the post-fall race incident at Martinsville Speedway in 2007 when Edwards fake punched teammate Matt Kenseth during a post-race TV interview Kenseth was doing. I somehow thought that Edwards' wholesome,nice guy,always smiling image would unravel at some point. It looks as if Sunday's race at Atlanta was a breaking point for Edwards.

It makes no sense that Edwards would do what he did,when Keselowski was on the lead lap and Edwards was more than 150 laps down. If Edwards was battling Keselowski for a position on the lead lap,it might have been dismissed as a "racing deal". Edwards could have dealt with Keselowski away from the track,outside of NASCAR's jurisdiction. Edwards,with his build and agility,could have confronted Keselowski face to face instead of using a 3,400-pound car moving 190 miles per hour as a weapon. I hope NASCAR suspends Edwards for at least one race but a longer suspension would set a better example. During the off-season,NASCAR made a wise move by letting the drivers police themselves on the track,but obviously with the understanding that the drivers would control their emotions.

Carl Edwards has a long hill to climb to restore his reputation and fan appeal. The image he has cultivated as a wholesome,always smiling nice guy took a beating Sunday. Edwards might have already done irreparable damage to his image. I guess only time will tell.