Well if this does not prove NASCAR plays favorites with certain drivers, I have no idea what does. NASCAR has dealt a meaningless three-race "probation" to Carl Edwards after he deliberately wrecked Brad Keselowski in the closing laps of Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Three races?! That's outrageous, not even probation for the rest of the season. NASCAR harps on about safety but does not back up what they say with corresponding action, not in this case. It seems NASCAR does not care if one of their cash cows endangers the lives of the other drivers on the track and the fans in the stands. Hypocrisy reigns supreme in NASCAR. Apparently, it will take death or serious injury on the track or in the stands before NASCAR does something.
Kenny Wallace,in a Twitter entry,sounded like he blamed NASCAR fans for what happened on Sunday at Atlanta and tried letting NASCAR off the hook. Nice try,Kenny,but it's not the fault of the fans. The COT is poorly designed, badly engineered, and was definitely a factor in Sunday's wreck,but in the end,it's a person's inability to control his or her own emotions that causes tragedy. I am for the drivers having the ability to police themselves,but as the late radio commentator Paul Harvey wisely noted,"Self-government cannot work without self-discipline". The drivers should police their own emotions before policing those of other drivers.
I knew Carl Edwards would get a light penalty but it looks like in this incident,he's getting no penalty at all. This will likely embolden Edwards to pull more stunts like this if he snaps again. I agree that Brad Keselowski's brash attitude and overly aggressive driving have been problems for other NASCAR drivers. If the wreck had been much less severe,I might have said Keselowski was "getting his cage rattled" as payback, but a major wreck like this,deliberately caused by another driver, cannot be written off as a "racing deal". Thank God that Keselowski walked away safely from his wreck but who is to say there might not have been injuries or deaths?
If NASCAR cared about safety,they would have suspended Edwards for 5 races and put him on probation through the end of the season. Today's decision shows NASCAR's true colors.
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I disagree with your statement that Carl Edwards will pull more stunts like this if he snaps again. Carl had no intentions to make this a "major wreck". Brad should have even expected it to happen. He has wrecked more drivers and should have know that his day was coming. Did Carl intend to flip him, NO. Was he worried about him, YES! It was the "wing" on that back of the car that made him go flying. You can see that by the replay. Carl may not be my favorite drive, Kenseth is, but he can drive and cares about the sport. Nascar is taking care of the Wing and changing it back to the spoiler. The two major wrecks where a car went flying to the fence in the past year were because of that wing. One with Carl, that Brad caused, and one with Brad, that Carl caused.
ReplyDeleteYour point is well-taken. Thanks for your input.
ReplyDeleteLet me make it clear that Keselowski is NOT a favorite of mine. I realize how much trouble Keselowski is on the track and he probably had this coming after his provocations with other drivers that he caused. The wing on the COT I believe was a factor. I will concede that Edwards probably just meant to "love tap" Keselowski or "rattle his cage" and not cause a serious accident. I was still upset when I published that entry and probably should have waited a little longer.
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