Happy Monday! March 8, 1959: Curtis Turner wins his 13th and final Cup race on a dirt track, a 200-lap event on half-mile Concord (N.C.) Speedway. Cotton Owens finishes second a lap down, and Lee Petty is third another lap back. Turner will win one more Cup race in his career and will close out 17 seasons and 183 Cup races in 1968 with 17 wins. Picture yourself cruising in Tony's 2010 Camaro Coupe 2SS. It's a "Summit White", list price at over $35,000! Tony asked Will Castro of Unique Autosports to work his magic and add a few customizations! Buy a ticket for $50 – you'll be entered to win the Grand Prize including the Camaro, A VIP Trip to Stewart-Haas Racing and a personal meet & greet with Tony!!! 70 Early Bird prizes starting March 15th. Get 'em while you can!!!! Just go to www.smokescamaro.
Comments from the Peanut Gallery Not one comment on what happened this weekend….what is up with that? Tell me what you think! Bits and Pieces Lifelock announces Military Partnership: Five years ago, Major Ed Pulido's military vehicle hit an IED (Improvised Explosive Device). He lost his left leg, nearly lost an arm, and survived 38 surgeries. He counts himself lucky to be alive. But the event radically altered his life, and once his physical injuries were healed, there were still other worries to tackle. The Folds of Honor Foundation stepped in to erase one of those worries, providing both of his girls with college scholarships, and now LifeLock will be using their NASCAR partnership to help support this military foundation. Through its NASCAR sponsorship, LifeLock will promote the Folds of Honor legacy foundation, which provides military families with educational support and opportunities. In addition, LifeLock will divert a portion of their subscription prices to this noble cause. "As a company that is dedicated to protecting others, it is a natural fit to support an organization that takes care of the families of those who are protecting all of us every day," said Darrell Davis, LifeLock Partner Development Manager. "We are proud to be able to provide both financial support and awareness to meet the unmet educational needs that the families of our heroes are facing."(AMS) Montoya-McMurray ok...sort of: The tension between Earnhardt Ganassi teammates #42-Juan Pablo Montoya and #1-Jamie McMurray has abated but not entirely been brushed off the table, or at least that's the impression one could draw from Montoya's remarks. Montoya and McMurray crashed early in the Feb. 28 race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and Montoya excoriated McMurray afterwards. According to Montoya, it's time to move on, but he didn't seem all that forgiving. "He sent me a text saying 'la-la-la-la- Kyle Busch not happy with Boris: #18-Kyle Busch walked away from a banged-up car shaking his head, clearly miffed about a scrape in the final practice for Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Busch tangled with #26-Boris Said coming onto the back straightaway and was forced to park his Toyota after getting in 37 practice laps. While the damage around the right rear tire was mainly cosmetic, that didn't improve Busch's mood. "You've got guys who don't belong out there," he said. "He's off the pace at every track we've been to. But he keeps getting in on owner points." Said drives for Latitude 43 Motorsports, a new venture started by a Vermont businessman who bought the #26 team from Roush Fenway Racing, inheriting its points from a year ago. Since that team finished 22nd in the Cup standings, Said is guaranteed entry into the first five races of 2010. "I'm out there minding my own business, running my car at the bottom of the track," Busch said. "He's at the top, then all of a sudden he wants to run in the middle on the straightaway. Usually if you're running at the top, you stay up there." Said, who's gotten into the last three races based on his owner points, managed only two laps in his final tune-up for the race. He was next-to-last on the speed chart, beating out rookie Kevin Conway.(Associated Press/ESPN) Creed to perform at All-Star Race Grammy Award-winning rock group Creed will perform a pre-race concert for the All-Star Race on May 22 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The 75-minute concert begins at 3:15 p.m. ET in the infield between Turns 1 and 2. Admission to the concert is free with the purchase of a ticket to the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race and tickets start at just $39. Creed has sold nearly 35 million albums, delivered numerous chart-topping records and was the first act to have seven consecutive No. 1 rock radio singles. Tickets and interest-free payment plans are available by calling the speedway ticket office at (800) 455-FANS or online at www.charlottemotors Gordon anxious to return to Bristol Four-time Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon always looks forward to racing at Bristol, where he has made the trek into Victory Lane five times. This time around, however, Gordon is even more anxious to get back to the track for the March 19-21 race weekend due to the addition of more than 160 feet of SAFER barriers at the exits for Turns 2 and 4. "We use every inch of that race track," he said. "It is definitely going to be unique. I am anxious to get there and see how many right sides [tires] we take off the first hour of practice." Gordon also said fans may see a bit more on-track action come race day. "I guess so, if they are hoping for more crashing, then maybe. I mean I think the racing has been spectacular. I love the fact we are able to get three wide there now. We are certainly racing side-by-side. Changes to BMS don't affect Bowyer Clint Bowyer says his feelings about Bristol Motor Speedway remain the same, no matter what changes might occur at the .533-mile track. Officials announced in February the addition of more than 160 feet of SAFER barriers at the exits for Turns 2 and 4 will create a different transition exiting the turns with a decrease of approximately three feet of track on which to race. "Bristol has always been one of my favorite race tracks, no matter before they repaved it or after they repaved it," he said. "I think our fans will always get their money's worth, no matter how wide or narrow it is." Edwards says Bristol tough, fun race At Bristol, the addition of more than 160 feet of SAFER barriers at the exits for Turns 2 and 4 will create a different transition exiting the turns with a decrease of approximately three feet of track on which to race. Carl Edwards isn't sure what impact the extra SAFER barriers will have at BMS, but he expects to have a lot of fun on race weekend. "I think that, if anything, it'll make it a little tougher," he said. "It sounds like they'd put a jump on the back straightaway if they could, which is fine by me if they want to try that. But it'll be good. Those will be fun races." SAFER barriers to change Bristol Drivers are off this week and will return to the track at Bristol on March 19-21 at Bristol -- and the addition of more than 160 feet of SAFER barriers at the exits for Turns 2 and 4, which will create a different transition exiting the turns with a decrease of approximately three feet of track on which to race. Two-time Cup Series champion Tony Stewart also believes less racing room might make for a different type of race. "I am sure it is going to make a difference, there is no doubt about it," he said. "I mean, we use every bit of room we can get there anyway. It will make the exits of the corners a little tighter, but I think the racing will still be good there be because of it." Gordon: NASCAR needs some rivalries The drivers keep saying how much the racing has improved in the opening month of the NASCAR season, yet there's all sorts of evidence that defies their optimism. Television ratings? Down significantly. Empty seats? Plenty of those. And look who's won two of the first three races: Jimmie Johnson, the guy who's captured an unprecedented four consecutive Cup Series championships. Johnson's fast start has further dampened enthusiasm for a sport that once appeared on the verge of carving out its place among the Big Three of American sports: NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball. Jeff Gordon says NASCAR needs some rivalries, but adds that it's hard for anyone to stir up much animosity for Johnson. "I just think it depends on the rivalries and the stories," Gordon said. "If you're dominating but you're battling a Dale Earnhardt Jr. or Tony Stewart and you build that rivalry; the good guy/bad guy kind of thing; the Ford vs. Chevy and all that sort of thing. "I think the stories are still there. The interest is still there. But when you're out there dominating and nobody is really your enemy, then I think it pulls away from you a little bit. What we need is Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart to be butting heads and banking and trying to beat one another and talking trash, that's going to be good television. The problem is that Jimmie and I are friends. So we never cross that line. And that's good and bad. Hey, just give me the scrip and as long as I get to go to Victory Lane five or six times, you know [laughs] I'll take it." Busch looking forward to spoiler change The Sprint Cup Series is drawing nearer to the return of a rear spoiler, and Kyle Busch was asked at Atlanta if he thought the change from the wing to the spoiler will help his driving. His response: "It's hard to tell. I haven't been able to drive with the spoiler yet so I'm unsure about how exactly it's going to change the handling characteristics of the car," Busch said. "I'm looking forward to the change. At least we get to test it I think at Charlotte before we get to go to the race track with it. It will be good to test with it. "As far as what the guys have been doing in the shop, I'm unsure. I know they've been to wind-tunnel testing some numerous things -- not just the spoiler but some other things to try to see if we can't find a little bit more downforce out of our cars. ... That's not what's going to make our cars go faster but it certainly, hopefully will make it better for racing and a little bit easier to drive in traffic." Matt McLaughlin's Thinkin' Out Loud Matt McLaughlin · Frontstretch. Atlanta The Key Moment: Kurt Busch held off Matt Kenseth and Juan Pablo Montoya on the final restart to score his second consecutive spring Atlanta race win. In a Nutshell: Where were the elephants and the clowns? If you're going to have a parade you need to have elephants and clowns. Dramatic Moment: You'd have thought that double wide restarts with two laps to go would have spiced things up. Not so much as it turns out. What They'll Be Talking About Around the Water Cooler This Week OK, we may now officially have a feud on our hands. Having been put into the fence at Talladega last year and wrecked earlier in this weekend's event, Carl Edwards apparently leapt to the head of the line and finally gave Brad Kieslowski a little payback, landing Bad Brad, who has pissed off numerous drivers during his short tenure as a Cup driver, on his lid. Edwards was a mere 156 laps down when he wrecked Keselowski leading to the first major challenge of NASCAR's new "Let Boys Be Boys" rules initiative. For my part, I saw the impact as surgical despite the rollover. Bad Brad had a lesson coming to him given his take no prisoners attitude on the track. Perhaps a change in latitude learned him some manners. I will say that having recently bought a life onto this mortal plane, Edwards should have been a bit more circumspect about risking taking one off of the playing field in a pine box. A race that ends by 5 o'clock with over an hour and half of sunlight left before sundown. I'm down with that. Remember the uproar at the Daytona 500 when FOX started covering the Cup series and they showed the cars in the starting lineup shorn of their decals if they weren't sponsors of the broadcast? Has anyone else noticed that the entire pre-race broadcast seems to be devoted to drivers who buy ad minutes during the race itself? When forced to show drivers who are not race sponsors, like Kevin Harvick this week, the still shots of the driver were shorn of their patches. If you want to see a bigger bunch of whores you'll have to be in Shanghai when the fleet comes in. With the grand opening scheduled for May, all of a sudden NASCAR is heavily promoting the new Hall of Fame in Charlotte, offering something called Charter Memberships. (Which doubtless offers 50 cents off a hot dog at future NASCAR races.) Long term readers know I am a huge fan of the history of our sport but right now I'd like to see a little less emphasis on the Hall of Fame and a little more on getting the cars Haulin' the Same as they did in the 1980s. Sometimes I get questions on why any sponsor would back a team that's going to run in the back or even start and park. According to Jayski.com, Joe Nemechek's last minute Daytona 500 with England Stove Works resulted in a half million dollars in unexpected business and the traffic crashed their website. Long time readers know I do sponsor plugs about as often as I compliment Brian France but after the winter from hell here in eastern Pennsylvania, it was my England stove that kept me warm through the worst of circumstances without going broke paying for fossil fuels. What's more, when my first stove died just out of warranty, these folks replaced it free of charge and paid for the shipping of my old stove to figure out what went wrong. American products benefiting Americans to break their addiction to foreign oil? Yeah, I am so down with that. Does anyone else find it suspect that Olympic athletes are eating McDonald's high fat, high sodium food prior to competing? The Hindenburg Award For Foul Fortune Polesitter Dale Earnhardt Jr. never managed to lead a lap and wound up 15th in the final standings. But as our old friend Kenny Mayne might say, he remains popular. Jimmie Johnson's bid for a third straight win were upended by a slow pit stop (not characteristic of the robotic 48 team) and subsequent right front fender damage. For one day at least they looked merely mortal. Tony Stewart struggled all weekend and a flat tire with 18 to go left him thirteenth in the final standings. Denny Hamlin had a competitive car most of the afternoon but an equalized tire left him 21st when the checks were written at the end of the race. The "Seven Come Fore Eleven" Award For Fine Fortune Greg Biffle wrecked in practice and had to start out back but fought back to an eighth place finish in the race. Kasey Kahne had to overcome a horrifically slow pit stop to finish fourth. Worth Noting · Kurt Busch, Kasey Kahne, Brian Vickers and Kevin Harvick finished in the top 10 in last winter's Atlanta race and again this year. · Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle all have top 10 finishes in the season's first four races. Guess who's leading the points? Go figure. · Juan Pablo Montoya's third place finish equaled his best finish since Martinsville last fall. · Kasey Kahne's fourth place finish was his best since Talladega last fall. · Paul Menard's fifth place finish was easily his best result on a non-plate track. · A.J. Allmendinger's sixth place finish was his best since the 2009 Daytona 500. · Scott Speed's tenth place finish was his best ever on a non-plate track. What's the Points? Seriously, why are we even talking about points four races into the season? Oh, OK, Kevin Harvick is still leading the standings, now 26 points ahead of Matt Kenseth who moved up two spots to second. Greg Biffle moved up three spots to third. Jimmie Johnson moved up a spot to fourth. Why is the driver who won two points paying races out the first four fourth in the standings? Because NASCAR's point system is retarded. Kurt Busch's win propelled him up nine spot to tenth in the standings. Paul Menard's strong run Sunday moved him up eight spots to ninth in the standings. Mark Martin's struggles dropped him four places to seventh in the standings. Overall Rating (On a scale of one to six beer cans with one being a stinker and a six pack an instant classic) I'll give this one two cans. I expect more of Atlanta than I got today. Next Up: The Cup series takes a week off. Why? I'm not sure. Maybe they're concerned the shift to Daylight Savings Time would be too tough for today's drivers? Racing returns at Bristol in two weeks' time.
Busch Does The Backwards Boogie at Atlanta By Sarah Farlee Associate Editor, CupScene.com HAMPTON, Ga. - Kurt Busch celebrated his victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway with his traditional backwards victory lap following Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500. His win, however, was anything but backwards. Busch contended for the win for most of the day and it was the last restart that allowed him to pull away from the field and seal the deal - earning his third win at Atlanta. "I feel like it was about ready to get interesting," said Busch of the last attempt at the green-white- "The car stuck really good on the restart," Busch added. "We shot that there like a slingshot. I was happy about that move. I was going to look to the high side in one and two, make it three-wide, hold it wide open, see what we got. Luck had it where we just split the middle, held it wide open and we cleared those guys." Busch may have cleared the field, but in order to keep moving forward he will have to clear the next few races on the schedule - places where Busch has seen some success, especially at Bristol. Busch says the win in Atlanta helps build momentum. "We feel like we had a good package," said Busch. Part of that package is crew chief Steve Addington, who last season piloted the other Busch brother - Kyle. "This is the site of my first Cup win," said Addington. "To come back here and put this together, this was a team effort. It all started on Friday with the feedback from Kurt. We made a lot of adjustments. We hit on some stuff on Saturday. He was happy with it." "And we felt confident going in," added Addington. "I slept good last night; that was a different feeling that I've had in a long time. To be able to go in and rest because I felt confident that I had the feedback I needed to go out and win this race with Kurt Busch." Busch may have won the race, but third place finisher Juan Pablo Montoya thought he could make a move. "I was within three car lengths just coming two to go," said Montoya. "I was, you know, taking 3 or 4/10ths a lap. So definitely I thought if I got anywhere close to him, I'm sure I could make a move." Matt Kenseth was able to make a move and finish second. "It was a really good, solid day for us," said Kenseth, who moves into second position in the Sprint Cup points standings behind leader Kevin Harvick. "I thought most of the day, a couple times we got off and didn't have a very good car, made good adjustments, got it where — I don't know, one run where maybe it was a second- or third-place car. Most of the time we were a third- to a fifth-place car." Kasey Kahne, who led finished fourth. Paul Menard rounded out the top-five. AJ Allmendinger finished sixth, Brian Vickers seventh, Greg Biffle eighth, Kevin Harvick ninth and Scott Speed rounded out the top-10. Harvick headed into the off weekend prior to Bristol on March 21 with his points lead intact. That's the first time in his career he's led the points for more than two weeks. Other notes from the Kobalt Tools 500: –Tire issues plagued several drivers throughout the race. Goodyear attributed most of the issues to aggressive team setups, and added they would evaluate the tires and decide whether a second tire test at AMS would be necessary. Teams of Robby Gordon, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, Tony Stewart, Clint Bowyer, Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. all had issues. –Earnhardt, who laid down the fastest lap ever recorded in a COT, sat on the pole and ran consistently in the top-five until the tire issue. The team speculated his Chevy had a bad hub, but did say the issue was not linked to the previous issue with the axles. Earnhardt battled back for a 15th place finish and is now sits 13th in the Sprint Cup points standings. "We got two bad right side tires and right rear tires," said Earnhardt, who sat on the pole for the first time in 68 races. "I don't know, it felt the damn wheels were coming off. We pitted and the wheel was fine, but the car was vibrating so bad I couldn't hardly see." "I should have not pitted but I thought the wheel was loose and I have had them come off here and that isn't fun," Earnhardt added. "I should've just stayed out there and waited for it to come off." –David Reutimann ended the longest streak without a DNF. The Michael Waltrip Racing driver's streak was at 44 races. An overheating engine ended the team's day. Reutimann finished 40th. –A late race crash that forced a second attempt at the green-white- "Things just got a little wild there at the end as to be expected with a green white checker finish," said McMurray. "We will take a week off, take a deep breath, and come back looking to rebound at Bristol." How will NASCAR React To Carl Edwards? Greg Engle/nascarexamine The gloves came off Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. And NASCAR's new 'have at it boys' preseason edict is about to get its first test. Robin Pemberton Post Race Comments By NASCAR Media Release NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton spoke to the media about an on-track incident between driver Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski during Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500. "It looked like it could have been a payback from the No. 99 on the No. 12. 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 of this week and make any decision on if there will be any other actions that we will take." Q: What other actions are being considered? "We'll let you know either Monday or Tuesday. We'll meet as we normally do the first of the week at the R&D Center as a group." Q: What options would you have? "I'm not going to speculate at this time. We parked the 99, we reacted to what happened on the race track and we'll go back and discuss it further." Q: Will the severity of the accident play a role in your decision? "You look at all things. I think you have to look at how it all started, there's nothing to be done further tonight about it." Q: Do you feel like there's a connection between today's incident and the Talladega incident between those two? "It was the same two cars; we know that; 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." Q: Did Carl say he did it on purpose? "Carl said he got into him, he said he didn't expect the result." Q: You guys have kind of loosened the strings here in terms of letting the drivers handle things, why would you even need to talk with Carl today — I think back to Homestead and the incidents between Tony and Juan. "I think you look at the severity of the accident; we wanted to talk to Carl and get his opinion on things." Q: Is there an extra concern because this happened on a high speed track? "It's always a concern when you see retaliation and there are different levels of it. Like I said, we will discuss it further at the R&D Center early this week." "We don't rush to judgment on Sunday nights and make penalties. That's why we take our time and go back and talk it about it some more." Edwards goes too far in search of payback Lee Spencer/foxsports. HAMPTON, Ga. NASCAR wanted a first-class rivalry. On Sunday, it got one. Keselowski, who was on course to earn his first top-10 finish of the season, ended up in the infield care center and finished 36th. Edwards was parked for "aggressive driving" and finished 39th. "Brad knows the deal between him and I," Edwards said after the race. "The scary part was his car went airborne, which was not at all what I expected. At the end of the day, we're out here to race and people have to have respect for one another and I have a lot of respect for people's safety. I wish it wouldn't have gone like it did, but I'm glad he's OK and we'll just go on and race some more and maybe him and I won't get in anymore incidents together. That would be the best thing. I'm just glad everybody is alright." Gordon-Johnson Competition Still Friendly? By Rick Minter | Senior Writer RacinToday.com For those who cling to the hope that racing remain a pure form of competition, it's been disheartening to see the sport of NASCAR racing evolve to a point where three- and four-car teams with alliances with other multi-car operations have become the norm. Drivers talk about sharing data that once was proprietary information, and drivers occasionally pull over during races to allow teammates to pick up five bonus points for leading races, a particularly disgusting maneuver to the purists. But lately, and somewhat ironically, the multi-car teams have been providing some of the emotion and rivalry that has been missing in recent seasons. What could become one of the more interesting rivalries is one between the four-time and defending champion Jimmie Johnson and the other four-time champ at Hendrick Motorsports, Jeff Gordon. Last week at Las Vegas, Gordon led 219 laps only to have Johnson beat him at the end in large part because Johnson and his crew took four tires on the final pit stop to Gordon's two. The fresh rubber proved to be the difference. A few days later, during an appearance in Phoenix, Gordon indicated to RacinToday contributing writer Mark Armijo that losing to his teammate is getting old. "I really want to win a fifth championship, and I'd like to do it before Jimmie Johnson," Gordon said. Johnson, speaking on a teleconference a day later, acknowledged that he knows Gordon badly wants to beat him on the race track. "The success on track, as a competitor, I know he doesn't like, and it's not like it's put some burden on our friendship and now we're not friends, but competition is a tough thing to deal with emotionally, and people typically find ways to motivate themselves by being angry in competition," Johnson said. "If they find a way to get mad at someone then it inspires them and pushes them hard to do their jobs. I do the same thing for other guys, whoever is on top and focusing on them. I understand the dynamic." It seems that in today's NASCAR, competition among teammates is stronger than among outsiders and not just under the Hendrick roof. Also last week at Las Vegas, Earnhardt Ganassi Racing teammates Juan Pablo Montoya and Jamie McMurray crashed, and Montoya had harsh words for McMurray afterward. "Jamie plain and simple just wrecked us," Montoya said. "Every time I am around him, he wants to run the (expletive) out of me." McMurray shrugged off the criticism, saying he believed his teammate was venting frustration over being wrecked. Ryan Newman, who had his share of troubles with Rusty Wallace when the two were teammates at Penske Racing, said the very nature of multi-car operations lends itself to trouble between team drivers. "I think it has the biggest potential for conflict of all things we do in NASCAR," Newman said. "Any teammate is a competitor. That sense of pressure, especially with the extra hype now with the Chase and everything else, makes it a higher level of potential for that conflict on the race track…. "You got the same equipment. You got the same a lot of things. The biggest difference is your results. That creates a little internal rivalry at times." That kind of talk has the potential of stirring up far more interest in NASCAR than one crash after another on the track. Have at it boys. Racers Not Immune To Fear Larry Woody | Senior Writer, RacinToday.com Bobby Isaac was leading a race at Talladega in 1973 when suddenly, over the scream of the engines, he heard "strange voices" warning him to get out of the car or he would die. Isaac immediately pulled off the track, parked his car and got out. When he explained why – he was obeying voices in his head — people thought he was crazy. Isaac, one of NASCAR's greatest drivers, eventually ignored the voices and resumed racing. In 1977 during a Late Model race at Hickory Speedway Isaac collapsed and died on pit road. He had suffered a heart attack. I was reminded of the eerie Bobby Isaac story earlier this week when a Dutch bobsledder dropped out of the Olympics. He said he was too scared to go on. He is 33 with a wife and daughter. He was spooked by the earlier death of an Olympian luger in a crash. One national sports columnist called him a quitter. How shameful. I'd like to see the columnist wedge his pampered fanny into a bobsled and go screaming down that icy chute with his life flashing before his eyes. Nobody has the right to label someone else a coward – especially someone who has never faced fear himself. The bravest of the brave can reach their breaking point. I saw it happen during my days as a combat infantryman. The jungle can be a scary place, especially after you've lost a buddy or two. The same applies to a bobsled chute or a racetrack. When Talladega Superspeedway opened in 1969, drivers were jittery about the unprecedented speeds on the giant 2.6-mile track. They worried that their tires wouldn't hold up under such torture. They could imagine what would happen if a tire exploded and slammed them into a concrete wall at 200 mph. Simply put, they were scared. The Professional Drivers Association, led by Richard Petty, discussed the situation and decided not to race. NASCAR boss Bill France Sr. brought in backups to take their place. Does that mean that Petty and the other drivers who refused to race because of safety concerns were "quitters?" Of course not. They went on to race again, risking their lives in other races on other tracks. But on that particular weekend at Talladega they became spooked by the monster track with its monster speeds. That day brave men chose to walk away. The Olympian bobsledder made the same choice. It's his life and it's his decision whether or not to risk it. Nobody has a right to question it. Bowles-Eye View Tom Bowles · Frontstretch. No Suspension For Carl: Fear Can't Stop NASCAR From Letting Boys Be Boys Brad Keselowski's car was still sliding on its roof when the first email screaming at Carl Edwards landed in my inbox. Like a bounty of fireworks, fans exploded with all sorts of colorful wording, and I'm sure if you searched my Yahoo! account this morning typing in swears would send you more results than any other words in the English language. Before we get going, let's do a little housecleaning. Full disclosure: I'm in one of the more unique positions within the NASCAR media on this subject. My current driver diary on SI is with Brad Keselowski, who replaced none other than Carl himself. When you work with someone like that on a personal level, especially in Carl's case, it's hard not to get to know them off the track. That makes it a fine line for me to draw, with personal ties that bind always leading to a trickier analysis. Next in this three-step process (I promise, we'll get to the good stuff!), let's get the facts out of the way for anyone living under a rock Sunday. On Lap 41 of the Cup race at Atlanta, Edwards and Keselowski entered the turn fighting for position. Edwards thought he had Keselowski cleared, and moved to the bottom only for Keselowski to tap his left rear bumper. A wreck ensued, with Keselowski continuing on unharmed while Edwards landed smack in the outside wall – sophomore Joey Logano winning "Best Supporting Actor In A Wreck" as his day got ruined by the mess. After seeing the replay, in public Edwards was gracious at first. "I really thought it was his fault, but it really doesn't look like it was as malicious as I thought," he said, although he added, "Brad never gives me any room." "I was underneath him, tried to cut him a break but it was too late, he turned down," said Keselowski later. "I apologized to him, but there's nothing more you can do in that situation." Turns out for both men, a simple "sorry" wouldn't be enough on this day. 150 laps' worth of watching his car get fixed was enough to sour Edwards' mood, and with three laps to go he found himself sitting there with a chance at payback. Keselowski, now 6th and headed towards a career-best day at Penske, passed his ailing car coming off turn 4 and heading down the front straightaway. There was one second for Edwards to bump and run, one of those life-changing, do-or-die moments you can't take back. The No. 99 pulled the trigger, and just like that the No. 12 was off to the catchfence, shockingly flipping before hitting the wall upside down to the shock of, well, pretty much everyone. The harrowing video was eerily reminiscent of the flip Carl endured at the hands of Brad at Talladega last April – you would just never expect it at an unrestricted track, even one with the speeds they carry at Atlanta. But that's another story for another day. A feud is what we're talking about, and the second that car came to rest one was officially born. Brad was OK, but immediately used his Oscar post-race speech to immediately point NASCAR in the direction of disciplining Carl. "To come back and intentionally wreck someone, that's not cool," said Keselowski. "He could have killed someone in the grandstands. And I know it's a little ironic he's got me saying that, but at least I didn't do it intentionally (at Talladega, Kes was fighting for the win)." Yet for those looking for additional penalties, that's step 3 of 3; and a lot of you might be sorely disappointed. I don't have a definite answer, but the school of thought in NASCAR-land after several off-the-record conversations is it looks like any suspension is a longshot at best. No, I wasn't in the meeting, but I know enough from enough people to put the pieces together and tell you anything beyond a monetary fine would be a big surprise. The answer is expected sometime early this week. "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," is the official NASCAR word from VP of Competition Robin Pemberton. "And make any decision on if there will be any other actions that we will take." So, we'll have to wait and see, but if I'm a betting man I'd say it's 95/5 Carl's racing March 21st at Bristol, TN. And honestly? I think that's fair. Continuing with the rule of three, I go back to the school of thought I originally posted on SI article. We'll expand upon them here. One: NASCAR must live up to its policies. In the middle of January, we all sat and watched Brian France mouth the words fans have been waiting on for years: We'll let the drivers police themselves. No more bump-drafting police, sure, but most importantly no crazy points penalties, fines, or suspensions for drivers being their aggressive selves on the track. Of course, no one thought the policy would be tested so quickly, with an ill-timed tap leading to one of the scarier flips in recent memory. But a policy is a policy nonetheless. If you're letting drivers handle payback themselves, a wreck is going to be a wreck no matter whether it's a simple 360 or one where the car goes upside down. How can that policy be effective where you're picking and choosing where it's enforced? We complain all the time about NASCAR's inconsistency, yet by asking for a penalty on Edwards you're expecting them to start the season off inconsistent. How fast is too fast? Which leads me to point number two… Two: The argument that Carl should spin Brad at Bristol, not Atlanta, just doesn't hold up. So often, we hear everyone refer to Bristol and Martinsville as if they're the only two tracks on the circuit where you can spin someone out and not seriously hurt them. Well, here's a news flash: anytime you strap into a car, as a race driver you put your life on the line. Think about how Joey Logano's car flipped over at Dover, a one-mile concrete oval. Think about the tragedies we endured with Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin, stuck throttles at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Think about the 3-4 deaths we hear about per year at local short tracks across the country. It's a horrible thing, but risk is just part of it every time you strap into a race car. You hope and pray that everything is safe, but you just never know. Denny Hamlin, for example, could have hit Keselowski at the wrong time in the wrong place at Homestead, sending the No. 88 hard into the wall and seriously injuring him. Do higher speeds increase the risk? Yes. But the risk is there nonetheless the second you start driving the cars in circles … so you're either going to allow retaliation or clamp down on it like you're the riot police. There's just one problem with that … Three: You're never going to stop drivers from retaliating on the race track. Let's push any NASCAR rules, regulations, etc. aside for a second. The thing that gets me is how many fans have emailed me as if this wreck is the first time anybody's ever gone after someone else on the race track. Um … have you been living under a rock? I know this sport's gotten politically correct the last few years, but I didn't think things were that bad people had actually forgotten how things usually work in racing. 1) Driver "A" makes a mistake and takes out Driver "B." It's not rocket science. It's called simple human emotion, and it's not like an ignition switch in the car – people can't turn it off. These drivers are the best in the world because they're innately competitive, and there's always going to be conflicts that end in bad blood. Whether it's morally acceptable or not doesn't change the fact that it's going to happen. So what do you do? Do you castrate your drivers, keeping them from showing any emotion and making them so scared of disciplinary action they run single-file, afraid to take any risks, or do you let the drivers be themselves, understanding all 43 of them signed on the dotted line to be a part of a sport they love? I'd go with answer B, personally. And that's why I think we need to move on from this incident. No one would be talking about it to this degree if the cars didn't flip. Yes, Carl was 156 laps down. Yes, he could have done his payback more tactfully. But it's not like Brad is guiltless through the years, either. Note Montoya's public comments, and I know of several drivers who have stated off the record they feel the same way. I like Carl. I like Brad. They're both great people. Like a sad parent, I hate that they're fighting. But I also feel like you can't take the "race" out of the "racer." Suspending Carl would be equivalent to doing that for not just him but 42 other drivers who now have to wonder where to draw the line when competing against others on the race track. And isn't that mentality one we want to get rid of? So let's all say a prayer nothing bad happened, chalk this up as a racing deal and move on. And I just have a feeling these two will figure out their differences over the next couple of weeks. Because when you're two grown-ups, sometimes you don't need Big Brother to work everything out. By NASCAR's actions the beginning of the year, they seemed to indicate they understood that. Let's just hope they follow through.
Well, that's all for today. Until the next time, I remain, Your Nascar Momma Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, wine in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"
"Don't come here and grumble about going too fast. Get the hell out of the race car if you've got feathers on your legs or butt. Put a kerosene rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up there and eat that candy ass." -Dale Earnhardt - 1998 |
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