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NASCAR's Robin Pemberton, on Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski
NASCAR's competition director Robin Pemberton (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
By Mike Mulhern
mikemulhern.net
ATLANTA
NASCAR's first take on the latest round in the long-lingering Brad Keselowski-Carl Edwards feud?
And feud apparently isn't too strong a term here, considering the carnage involved.
Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's competition director, said it will take a few days to ponder just what is going on here.
"It looked like it could have been a payback," Pemberton said of Edward's final clip. "We talked with Carl after the race, and we have an understanding about it, and we will talk internally again as a group Monday or Tuesday this week, and make any decision if there will be any other actions we will take."
What options are at hand? Suspension, perhaps, though that has rarely been used at the Cup level, particularly when a major star like Edwards is at stake.
"I'm not going to speculate at this time," Pemberton replied.
"We parked him (Edwards, with three laps to go); we reacted to what happened on the track, and we'll go back and discuss it further.
"You look at all the things. You have to look at how it all started.
"There's nothing to be done further tonight about it.
Last year's Talladega crash might be a factor: "It was the same two cars," Pemberton said. "I would say there seems to be a history between those two drivers.
"I'm not going to go any further into it right now.
"Carl said he got into him.....he said he didn't expect the result.
"You look at the severity of the accident....we wanted to talk to Carl and get his opinion on things."
Of course hard bumps are one thing on short tracks like Martinsville, but something else at big fast tracks like this, which may well be the fastest on the tour now. "It's always a concern when you see retaliation...and there are different levels of it," Pemberton said.
"We don't rush to judgment on Sunday nights and make penalties. We take our time and talk about it some more."
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I know this is NASCAR's "Have
I know this is NASCAR's "Have at it, boys" year, but I hope they come down hard on Edwards for this. Wrecking a guy at Bristol when you can claim it was just "one of them racin' deals" is one thing. Turning him on the front stretch at 180mph is dangerous and stupid. Given the "deliberate-ness" (we saw the white gloves turn the wheel to the right) and the fact that the 12 car went airborne and landed in the vicinity of the catch fence, I would think something like a 100 point fine would be appropriate here.
Kyle Petty got it right,
Kyle Petty got it right, referring to BK saying Nascar has the ball. KP: And now we'll see if they've got a pair.
you're referring to Kyle
you're referring to Kyle Petty on post-race TV:
"That's just flagrant. That's flagrant. They throw people out of basketball games for that. 'Go to the locker room.' It's our sport and we've got to protect it. Something needs to be done there.
This is a black eye on the media. This is a black eye on NASCAR. This is a black eye on the competitors. This is a black eye on everybody. I don’t care. This is wrong. This was a blatant, flagrant foul and he ought to be parked. He shouldn't show up at Bristol, and that's just my opinion. Brad Keselowski said the ball's in NASCAR's court. We're going to see if they've got a pair now. They need to park him and send him home. We hear so much about road rage. You don't take it out with your car. We all have. This is not the pot calling the kettle black. I've wrecked people on purpose too. But that was a blatant, flagrant foul and I'm telling you he needs to be sitting at home watching it on TV listening to us two Sundays from now, not at the race track."
Well looks like "flipper" has
Well looks like "flipper" has hit a new low. I would have thought grabbing Kevin Harvick by the throat at Charlotte after leaving him a "love letter" would have embarrassed him enough. But he bested that by making that "video game" move at Kansas that took out his teammates on the final lap. However Atlanta has now provided the stage for his most brainless move yet. Bad enough he cut down on BK to cause the the opening act of this comedy/near tragedy, but to return 157 laps down with the obvious mission to hunt down and exact "revenge"(?) is an embarrassment to Nascar. After being caught on camera taking runs at BK before finally, and most deliberately sending him airborne at 180+mph, he furthers his mission to make himself look mentally challenged by going on camera and saying "everyone knows the history between me and the him". I'm guessing he means all the times he has chopped and squeezed BK putting first himself and now BK into the wall/catch fence. "I thought he would give me more room" is no excuse for his repeated troubles with BK and others. I'm watching with great interest to see Nascar's response. Do they have the kahones to give the former "golden boy" the penalty he deserves, and to send the proper message to the rest of the drivers that bonehead acts like this were not the intended result when Nascar said "have at it boys". I just hope that this episode has not made Nascar change it's mind about allowing the drivers more of a chance to police themselves on the track. This was not policing, to borrow a word from hockey this was goonery.
Keep up the great work Mike.
"Boys will be boys." Okay,
"Boys will be boys." Okay, swell.
The irony here is that it's Edwards doing the complaining. How short his memory--isn't he the guy who bumped and wrecked everyone in sight when he first came into Nascar? Kesolowski is a pretty good driver. Aggressive? You bet. But I'd rather have an aggressive driver then someone who rides around and moves over because he "respects" the other drivers...
BUT
Acting professional is what I expect at this level of Nascar. In the minors, at the local tracks, I wouldn't be surprised if someone came back onto the track being 156 laps down and wrecking somebody on purpose. that's the minors, but at the professional level it can't and shouldn't be tolerated. There is a vast difference in coming back out onto the track and bumping a fellow racer because you think they did you wrong so to express your displeasure--and pardon me while I digress here, but the "inciting incident" actually seemed to be Edward's fault--is okay, but a bush-league wreck? Uh, no.
The punishment for Cousin Carl's vindictiveness? A car 156 laps down gets parked? Wow. That'll teach him...
No, Nascar needs to sit Edwards for a race, wipe away his points from Atlanta, fine him substantially, and put his ass on probation with the admonishment that should a "deliberate" act happen again, the suspension and fines will be meaningful in such a way that it'll really hurt.
Well, it was only a matter of
Well, it was only a matter of time before someone tested NASCAR's "have at it" attitude.
They're all guilty of "payback" but darn...at least try to make it look less on purpose. He was chasing him so hard he almost wrecked himself trying to get to him. This ain't "Madhouse" and redneck racing. You guys are so supposed to be the professionals.
I think NASCAR is going to have to come down on Edwards pretty hard to keep this situation from escalating but to also keep other drivers from dishing out more carnage in the name of payback.
Allowing them to race hard is one thing...allowing them to intentionally wreck each other in the name of a feud is another...
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