NASCAR NATION – 3-17

After blatantly returning to the track for the sheer goal of getting revenge on Brad Keselowski at Las Vegas two weeks ago, Carl Edwards has been issued a warning and placed on probation for the next three Sprint Cup Series races by NASCAR officials last week.
Edwards, whose No. 99 Ford made contact with Keselowski’s No. 12 Dodge, sending the vehicle airborne, avoided suspension, points deductions, and any fines. NASCAR officials stated that they would meet with Edwards, Keselowski, and their owners to settle their on-track dispute.
It should also be noted that Edwards was parked for the remainder of the race, NASCAR President Mike Helton stated.
“You can look back last year at some incidents in Homestead where it was a one-lap penalty,” he 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.”
Reactions were mixed throughout the NASCAR community. Some, such as Richard Childress Racing’s Clint Bowyer, insist that NASCAR’s penalties weren’t severe enough.
“There’s a ‘too far’ in everything, and that was too far, bottom line, simple as that,” said Bowyer. “Was it too far in my opinion? Yes. Was it the wrong place to do it? Yes.”
But others, such as David Reutimann, feel that NASCAR is doing the right thing.
“Just because you don’t see it or just because it doesn’t have the outcome that it did like Sunday, that stuff happens, and it happens fairly regular, sometimes within a lap or two of each other,” Reutimann said. “Sometimes you guys just only see the bigger stuff. I don’t think it’s going to open up anything.”
I can understand both sides of the argument. I certainly believe Reutimann – even just being inside the media center and garage area at Dover twice a year, it’s easy to see there’s a lot going on between the drivers and teams that the average, everyday fan has no clue of.
But in regards to the particular ruling NASCAR made, I’d have to side with Bowyer. Carl Edwards’ actions on the track were completely uncalled for. He blatantly returned to the track with the simple intent of causing harm to Keselowski’s car, putting Keselowski, himself, and others at risk.
NASCAR President Mike Helton commented that it must be remembered that NASCAR’s ruling was based on the contact between the No. 99 and the No. 12, not that fact that the No. 12 became airborne after the consequent contact.
That may be true, but even if the ruling wasn’t based on the unexpected result of the contact, that isn’t to say that the ruling doesn’t encourage retaliation in the future. If NASCAR, who told drivers to ‘have at it’ when the season began, is willing to allow drivers to retaliate without taking serious actions against them, it won’t be long before someone – driver, crew member, fan – becoming injured because of it.
I’m certainly not an advocate of Edwards’ suspension; I think that should be reserved for the most severe of penalties, as missing one race can take you out of contention for the entire year.
But I do feel that if traces of jet fuel found on Michael Waltrip’s intake last season at Daytona warranted a 100 point, $100,000 dollar fine, than Edwards’ intentional actions, which caused potential bodily harm, was, at the very least, worthy of an equal fine.
Coming Up: The Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series head to Bristol Motor Speedway for the first weekend of short-track racing action of 2010.
Bruce Knoll, 17, of Eldora, can be contacted by email at bknoll jr4cmcherald@yahoo.com