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March 8, 2010

NASCAR Carnage: Time To Put The Gloves Back On?

Editor

This much is true: putting a rival in the fence is a time-honored tradition in stock-car racing, and a recognized if not officially sanctioned way of doing business on the track. Still, when veteran Sprint Cup driver Carl Edwards sent newcomer Brad Keselowski hurtling airborne into the wall at nearly 200 mph yesterday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, I kind of had to wonder if things had gotten out of hand. Sure, NASCAR’s been encouraging drivers to show their passions and race hard, in its effort to counteract the tedium of today’s sanitized, sponsor-dominated version of the sport that has become so far removed from stock-car racing’s hellraising roots. But some things don’t change: when you tell a bunch of rowdy NASCAR drivers that it’s time to take the gloves off, the outcome is going to be pretty predictable: beatin’ and brawlin’. See the wreck and read more below the jump!

There were a number of things wrong with what happened on Sunday. Number one, Keselowski’s No. 12 Dodge went seriously upside-freakin’-down. It’s not like Edwards gave him a little bump-and-go; he full-on put that car in the air, and in-car footage shows him violently wrenching the wheel toward Keselowski as he approached him on lap 223. And that was some sickening crunch when the No. 12 came down full-force on its A-pillar, demolishing the windshield and compressing the roofline. It’s a wonder that Keselowski, a tall kid, didn’t end up getting his helmet caved in. Sure, Edwards didn’t mean to send him airborne, but that’s exactly the point: as Carl himself should know after being sent flying into the fence at Talladega (by Keselowski no less), when you wreck someone, you can’t predict where that car is going to go or what’s going to happen to either its occupant or anyone in its path.

Number two: it’s not like Edwards and Keselowski were even battling for position. Brad was moments away from a certain top-ten finish, whereas Carl was over a hundred laps down after waiting out most of the race in the garage with a damaged car. Yes, Keselowski may have played a part in inflicting that damage, but it’s still uncool to catastrophically wreck someone on purpose when they’ve got that much to lose.

Number three, Edwards is a grown-up, Keselowski is a kid. I realize it’s not all that meaningful a distinction when we’re talking about people who drive cars in circles for a living, but it’s hard to ignore the element of bullying. Certainly Keselowski is an arrogant punk who deserves to get his clock cleaned, but not like this. Carl is a professional, and he should be bigger than that.

I am not against cut-throat racing generally, or even intentional wreckage under the right circumstances. Everyone loves beat-and-bang racing, or a last-lap scramble for the checkered flag, and if that means that someone spins someone else out once in awhile, great. But the stakes and the circumstances need to make sense for the risks to be justified, and both drivers and fans need to abandon the false sense of security brought about by the supposed invulnerability of the COT. The whole point of the car’s redesign was to bring greater safety to racing in the aftermath of Dale Earnhardt’s death, but that doesn’t translate to invincibility for anyone. The new car has a demonstrated tendency to go airborne if pushed the wrong way, and its reputation for safety is only as good as its ability to keep drivers and fans out of the emergency room (or the morgue). Let’s hope that good luck prevails depite the testing it’s been put to lately, and at the same time continue to resist the kind of passionless, corporatized racing, run by computer programs like Jimmie Johnson, that has turned so many fans away from the sport in the last few years. NASCAR will get it right eventually.

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Posted at 2:35 pm in Brad Keselowski, Carl Edwards, Crash, Jen Dunnaway, NASCAR, Wrecks

Comments

69stndrdCoug
Aug 6, 2010 at 5:04 am

I hate to “necropost” BUT … all this BS talk about Brad is just a kid and Carl is an Adult … COME ON PEOPLE …. Brad knows what he is doing everytime he bumps someone INTENTIONALLY to move them out of the way so he can pass … all this he is a kid BS is just that … wait it aint even BS it HORSE SHIT !!! get over it people … these guys get paid a butt load of money to go out there and win … this is just another NASCAR rivalry that is getting kind of ugly … do they need to be suspended .. nah … bring them in the trailer give them a peepee smackin and lets get on with it … as far as Brads Dad wanting to throw punches … let him bring it … I doubt he’ll get near carl with all of the crew there and probably with some of Brads there to stop him as well …

kevin616
Mar 10, 2010 at 6:41 pm

I think, keselowski is a bad driver.

BugeyeRX
Mar 10, 2010 at 5:17 pm

I love a good take out! About time.

rabbitamp25
Mar 9, 2010 at 10:26 pm

look thats why these guys make millions for driving these cars is dangerous and they know that getting into them they are driving around a track at 195 mph there is a danger even if you wreck the car without another car being involved the car could have went airbourne even with out edwards help if you dont want to risk it dont drive the car quit being little cry babys about oh he wrecked me cause all and all it is still nascar no matter how much you try to tame it its still car racing and there will be road rage no matter what and if you aren’t willing to risk your life behind the wheel then don’t get behind it im all for the drivers safety dont get me wrong i think some of the latest saftey precautions are great and greatly enhance the “sport” thats what makes it a sport you risk your body just like any other sport there are physical dangers so quit complaining and start racing.

albania_fier
Mar 9, 2010 at 6:11 pm

dont matter if he didnt want it to be that bad when you do that, you gotta expectg anything to happen, and im sure he knows anything can happen but he went and did it anyway, not cool like keselowski said

XTZTwinTurbo
Mar 9, 2010 at 4:07 pm

Thats always the best parts. I’m sorry, but its right up there with watching gulf. Maybe if there where some land mines in golf, I would watch those highlights too.

hannahs0911
Mar 9, 2010 at 10:51 am

i think he got what he deserved anyway, i mean yea i didnt expect carl to do it but hey, its interesting and i dont think carl meant for it to be THAT bad. ive heard keselowski is one of those racers who likes tryin to wreck other racers anyway so i think he deserved it,and carl did admit to it so i give him that

snowblind7272
Mar 9, 2010 at 10:17 am

ok this is ridiculous, Edwards admits he put him into the wall.. ADMITTED IT. whether you think keselowski INTENTIONALLY wrecked edwards before.. keselowski is a kid, and it is for NASCAR to decide what to do with him, not CARL EDWARDS. granted it’s a redneck sport and redneck justice is going to get dealt, but he could have easily just bumped him good, and made him have to slow down and loose a position or something other than costing his team a 200K dollar car and possible someones life. Think if that’s what the guy was thinking behind earnhardt when earnhardt crashed on that final turn. How would nascar react when a star died because of this wreckless behavior. These guys need to get over themselves.. you drive a car in a circle for 2 hours and make millions each year, I’m certainly amazed that all these “professional” sports guys can make what they do and behave how they do and we still put up with it….maybe events like death race really aren’t that far in the future.

Racer007trucks
Mar 9, 2010 at 8:43 am

O as far as the wing vs spoiler, well a wing thats shaped like a wing on a plane its great when the car is going forward make alot of downforce but when car gets turned around well it tends to pick the car off the ground. I think nascar needs to go back to the spoiler which will help but I don’t think that will solve the problem of cars going air borne. As long as the cars are going 180+ it will always be a problem. Hey thats racing crashes happen the drivers are only human.

Cheeba17
Mar 9, 2010 at 8:11 am

keselowski deserved that. idc what ppl say. this would not have been as bad if nascar wouldnt have put that damn ricer wing on the fuckin cars! shoulda stayed with the spoiler. with the spoiler the car prolly woulda never left the ground and he would have only spun out and prolly kept going. because of nascar changing rules all the time i have not watched it much. i think nascar needs to go back a few years ago and keep things that way!

Racer007trucks
Mar 9, 2010 at 7:49 am

I wouldn’t fault Keselowski from the early problem Edwards either tried blocking him or didn’t know Keselowski was under him because Keselowski never came off the yellow line and clearly Edwards came down. Keselowski gets a bad rap for everything don’t get me wrong hes no angel but what driver is lol. The whole thing with Edwards getting revenge that was just the stupidist thing I have ever seen spinning a guy going 190+ what did you think was going to happen? Fans and the driver could have been killed lucky and wall the catch fence did its job. I will give Edwards credit he told the truth that he meant to crash him.

OneTrueEClipse
Mar 9, 2010 at 7:19 am

Keselowski got what he deserved. He has been wrecking top drivers all last season, and Edwards showed him that he wont have any part in it. These kind of things are what makes people want to watch Nascar. remember back in the early 90′s when Dale and Jeff would go side to side and get black flaged for beating the shit out of each other’s cars? That’s the kind of racing that is interesting to watch. Not some boring race where the only thing they do is go fast in a oval. I think the the gloves off is good.

haterproof0479
Mar 8, 2010 at 10:31 pm

Lets not forget Keselowski did carl this way last year i agree the timing was all wrong but carl did not mean for the crash to be so intense just a revenge spin around that was way to fast a lil beatin and bangin is racing they parked him for that race and i see shit that should be called all the time now fine him warn em lets go racin PS:FUCK KYLE BUSH AHAHAHA

subcero
Mar 8, 2010 at 9:36 pm

suspend his ass for 5 races

GTwildfire
Mar 8, 2010 at 7:01 pm

You can clearly see Carl did a PIT maneuver on Keselowski. It was intentional as the day is long.
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Yes, pushing into the wall, bump ‘n pass and all that is part of NASCAR, but this was sorta like Chick Hicks from the movie “Cars”. If he can’t pass he’ll take him out kinda mentality.
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Anybody on the track can take someone else out this way, so is it good for NASCAR to allow something that obviously was so underhanded?
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It’s kinda like fighting in Hockey. Sure they bump and slash but when the gloves come off the game isn’t being played anymore. I know this well… I’m from Philly.

74Furyous
Mar 8, 2010 at 4:23 pm

I’m not a Nascar fan, not since Elliot and DW back in the ’80′s. Too much of the same and no real talent required, sorry.

Bick66
Mar 8, 2010 at 3:04 pm

Well, I certainly didn’t expect this out of Carl Edwards but someone was bound to take out Keselowski sooner or later. If revenge is what Carl really wanted he should have at least waited until the battle was for track position, not when he was more than 100 laps down and Brad had a certain top 10 finish in the works. It makes for some good racin’ but I always get that sick feeling when you see one of those cars go upside down. It’s amazing some of the wrecks these drivers walk away from. Nice write here, Jen!