It’s not a matter of right or wrong, but time and place (NASCAR.com)
March 10, 2010
At some point in their careers, they’ve all done it. They’ve all taken somebody out. They’ve all been taken out. The retaliatory tap that Carl Edwards delivered to Brad Keselowski is replicated dozens of times each week at every level of stock-car racing, from late models to NASCAR’s premier series. It’s as fundamental a part of slam-bang, closed-fender competition as scuffs on sheet metal or the long, black stripes that adorn Darlington Raceway’s wall after every event.
Some of them have found their way into lore, infamous moments that serve as a testament to a bare-knuckled sport. Dale Earnhardt rattling Terry Labonte’s cage at Bristol. Jeremy Mayfield punting the Intimidator at Pocono. Brian Vickers driving through Jimmie Johnson to win at Talladega. Juan Montoya and Scott Pruett tangling in Mexico. Marcos Ambrose knocking Robby Gordon out of the way at Montreal. All of them are deliciously controversial incidents that stir the kind of emotion and passion NASCAR is famous for, and they aren’t going away. As long as there are stock cars on a race track, at some point one will try to take another out.
That in mind, it’s not all that surprising that Edwards got away with only a light slap on the wrist following his blatant punt of Keselowski late in last Sunday’s event at Atlanta. Although Keselowski’s car surprisingly and spectacularly flipped onto its roof, landing with a frightening thud that made you take a deep breath and hope the driver inside was OK, NASCAR’s immediate response was only to place Edwards on probation. Taking the whole situation into account, the big loser was Keselowski, who endured a scary ride and had a chance at a strong finish ruined by an adversary who avoided any real repercussions at all.
And yet, strip away the controversy and the contempt and the image of that high-flying No. 12 car, and you essentially have one driver punting another—something NASCAR has allowed, to one degree or another, for years. There was no punishment when Earnhardt took out Labonte in 1999 at Bristol, even though the move was every bit as intentional as the one that took place Sunday afternoon. When Keselowski and Denny Hamlin engaged in their on-track war late last season, there were only warnings and stern talking-tos. When Tony Stewart and Montoya went fender-to-fender at Homestead, there were no Tuesday afternoon penalties.
The reason underscores a fundamental difference between those incidents, and Edwards’ punt of Keselowski at Atlanta. No, this isn’t a matter of right and wrong. This is all about time and place.
“We don’t need to see that,” Clint Bowyer, one of five drivers testing tires for Goodyear at Darlington on Tuesday, said about the manner in which Edwards exacted his revenge. “The track is way too fast as it is, and that was a pretty scary incident that could have been a lot worse very easily.
The fact that Keselowski’s car went airborne, at a track normally not known for such things, is deeply concerning. Airborne crashes have been a plague for too long now, and on Tuesday NASCAR president Mike Helton pledged that officials would find a better way of combating them. But that’s a separate issue from the fundamental one at the core of Sunday’s events, which is all about the right time and the wrong time for seeking revenge. This is a series where inevitably drivers are going to get frustrated, going to get angry, and are going to want to do to somebody else what was just done to them. Executed well, executed patiently, executed judiciously, they can be rousing moments that wind up on highlight reels.
Executed poorly, and they create unsafe situations that stir controversy capable of lasting for weeks, which is exactly what Edwards did when he took his anger out on Keselowski. Edwards is a smart guy who will shake your hand, look you in the eye, and remember your name. Sunday, though, he showed a staggering lapse in judgment by rolling out 156 laps down and wrecking someone in the top 10, and doing it on the fastest unrestricted track on the Sprint Cup tour.
Seeking retaliation on the race track is a little like bump-drafting, in that drivers need to do it either the right way, or not at all. So many of the more memorable takeouts in NASCAR history—Earnhardt vs. Labonte, Mayfield vs. Earnhardt, Montoya vs. Stewart—involved drivers either battling for the lead, or far back in the pack.
But 156 laps down? Unnecessary. Yet Elliott Sadler, whose Richard Petty Motorsports team receives engines and chassis from Edwards’ Roush Fenway Racing organization, wondered what other options the driver of the No. 99 car had.
“What do you do, do you wait until Bristol and you get 20 cars in a wreck?” Sadler asked. “Then you’ve got 19 other guys mad at you. So what do you do? Guys, this is a tough sport. Everybody turns about the same speed, and you’ve got to protect your real estate. You can’t let guys just run all over the top of you all the time. And if you think it’s getting to that point, where you have two or three problems in a row or races in a row with the same guy, you’ve just got to put your foot down. If not, they’re going to take advantage of you every time. There’s only so much real estate out there.”
The old adage about revenge being best served cold contains more than a nugget of truth. Had Edwards waited, been patient and picked the right time—whether that was Bristol or somewhere else—he wouldn’t be quite the pariah he is in some circles now. Yet it’s very clear that Keselowski, with his aggressive and somewhat unrepentant style on the race track, is rubbing some people the wrong way.
“Knowing Carl reasonably well, I’m sure he didn’t intend for the accident to occur the way it did,” Marcos Ambrose said. “We’re all big boys with fast toys, and he sent a message to Brad. That’s what the intent was. And he sent it loud and clear. I’m pretty sure Brad is thinking about that this week. I’m pretty sure that’s all he’s thinking about. Because he’s come into the sport with a bang. I’ve come into the sport kind of working my way up without creating too many waves. Brad’s got a typhoon running behind him. NASCAR opened it up, and it’s been that way for a long time where drivers sort it out. The unfortunate thing is, the car took off and went upside down. Nobody wants that to happen.”
Of course not, but unintended consequences do happen, and anyone who’s been around auto racing for any length of time knows that a race car going sideways at nearly 200 mph is capable of doing crazy, unpredictable, and dangerous things. The unwritten rules of NASCAR tell us that it was perfectly fine for Carl Edwards to want revenge on Brad Keselowski, and to ultimately seek it. Common sense tells us that he should have waited for a more appropriate time and place.
“Was it too far in my opinion? Yes,” Bowyer said. “Was it the wrong place to do it? Yes.”
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