'HAVE AT IT, BOYS' PUT TO THE TEST

Posted 03/08/10 at 8:45 AM PST by Jay W. Pennell | Email This |

NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton may not have coined the saying "have at it, boys," but Sunday he was asked to explain the limitations of those words. Over 150 laps down and upset with Brad Keselowski, Carl Edwards spun the No. 12, who then lifted into the air, hitting the wall with the driver’s side window. The wreck was eerily similar to the wreck these two were involved in last April on the last lap at Talladega.

Keselowski climbed from the car and NASCAR ordered Edwards to park his car and meet in the NASCAR hauler. Fulfilling its request, Edwards turned and drove down pit road backwards to the garage.

“Brad knows the deal between him and I,” Edwards said. “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 okay 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.”

Lucky to walk away from the wreck, Keselowski said the ball is in NASCAR’s court.

"To come back and intentionally wreck someone, that's not cool," Keselowski said. "You could have killed someone in the grandstands. I know that it's a little ironic that it's me saying that, but at least I didn't do it intentionally (when it happened at Talladega.)

"It will be interesting to see how NASCAR reacts to it. They have the ball. If they're going to allow people to intentionally wreck each other at tracks this fast, we will hurt someone either in the cars or in the grandstands. It's not cool to wreck someone at 195 mph."

Neither NASCAR president Mike Helton nor Edwards would comment after their meeting in the truck, but Pemberton did his best to explain NASCAR’s initial position.

"It was the same two cars, we know that,” Pemberton said. “I would say there seems to be a history between those two drivers ... 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 (NASCAR Research & Development 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 about it some more."

Edwards posted his reactions on his Facebook page:

“Considering that Brad wrecks me with no regard for anyones safety or hard work, should I: A-Keep letting him wreck me? B-Confront him after the race? C-Wait til bristol and collect other cars? or D-Take care of it now? I want to be clear that I was surprised at his flight and very relieved when he walked away. Every person has to decide what code they want to live by and hopefully this explains mine.”

NASCAR will have to determine whether the severity of Keselowski’s wreck should be taken into consideration with their decision on the incident. Had this taken place at Bristol or Martinsville, Edwards would most like have been held a lap for aggressive driving. However, the high speeds in Atlanta – the highest at an unrestricted track – and perhaps the wing on the back caused the car to lift off the ground.

Had Keselowski not flipped, would the incident have gathered as much attention? During last year’s final weekend in Homestead, NASCAR sat Keselowski down to discuss his driving style and after numerous run-ins with Denny Hamlin. That weekend, Hamlin repaid Keselowski by spinning him and was penalized for a lap for aggressive driving.

In that case Hamlin was given a slap on the wrist and the situation worked itself out. In Edwards’ eyes Sunday’s incident was no different. NASCAR has talked all winter about letting the garage police itself and now it is forced to live up to its promises. As Keselowski said, the ball is now in NASCAR’s court.

Tags:
drivers
have at it boys
NASCAR
pemberton
self police

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Thumper (not verified)3 years ago

I really really like Nascar and I enjoy watching them bump each other for fun etc. but to take out aggression on the track as far as Im concerned is unexceptable. If one of the drivers has a problem with another driver then he should man or woman up and take it to the grass and not the pavement. Its a coward that takes a 3500 lb peice of equipmt and try to cause damage with it. Use your fists if you cant take the heat!

Anonymous (not verified)3 years ago

NASCAR is so gay.

Anonymous3 years ago

Edwards revealed his true colors with the stupid move mmmmmove evermove

Chris (not verified)3 years ago

At best, Carl's a punk. He robbed the entire 12 team of a well-earned top-10. At least when Denny spun Brad last year at Homestead he did it early in the race and did it in a way that allowed Brad to save his car without wrecking. Point made, both drivers moved on.

The truth is, if Logano wasn't there when Carl lost it, then he probably would have saved his car. It's a textbook 'one of them racin' deals.' It's not like Carl doesn't have a history of being an aggressive driver himself. Remember how he justified bumping Kyle at Bristol saying that he thought Kyle would have done the same thing? He only got away with it because no one likes Kyle.

But more than that, as someone else pointed out, Carl has a history of using his car as a weapon and being unreasonably upset when he feels he was done wrong. He obviously can't be trusted to keep the safety of his fellow drivers and the fans in mind. That's why he needs to be suspended.

Anonymous (not verified)3 years ago

Nobody would be talking about this if Brad's car stayed on the ground and just spun out. Carl was obviously being an A$$, but it certainly is not the first or the last time someone will wreck another driver.

ChefDodge (not verified)3 years ago

Bottom line - BOTTOM LINE - is NASCAR told them to take care of this kind of stuff on their own, this is what happened, and we have to live with it. Once the spoiler comes back, I think things like this will all work out alright. I hope that NASCAR doesn't jump to conclusions by either parking Edwards or rescinding their request for the drivers to sort things out themselves.

wndale213 years ago

Okay, so you guys are just now realizing Carl Edwards is a punkassbitch? I've been saying that for years... He's a big media kiss ass and an idiot. His teammates don't even like him... I may have gained respect for him for paying back K-ski though. He too is a punkassbitch. And NASCAR you better not park the 99 for a week.

RacingDmp3 years ago

I also lost alot of respect for Carl, he has a history of using a 3,200lb stock car to settle thing's, he nearly took Dale Jr's hand off at a Nationwide post race cool down lap. Glad he drives for an Insurance company, he may need them someday.

Anonymous (not verified)3 years ago

There is a difference between "payback" and what Carl did, especially since he had nothing to pay Brad back for. Carl was at fault early on in the race, and at Talladega.

What Edwards did was extremely dangerous, he knew EXACTLY what would happen to Keselowski if he turned him there. He's very lucky Brad was able to walk away. Nascar officials need to hand down a harsh punishment.

Runt82 (not verified)3 years ago

While I don't condone Carl's actions, his intentions were the same as Denny Hamlin's when he spun Keselowski at Homestead last fall. I don't fault what he did, but he chose the wrong time to do it. There is no excuse for a driver who is 150+ laps down to blatantly wreck a car going for a top-5 finish. If Edwards were still on the lead lap and they were racing for position, I think there would have been less of a backlash to the incident. But there's no excuse for a guy running that far back to take a top-running driver out of the race. Carl should have waited a few weeks to get his revenge, because there is no way anyone can get behind Carl for what he did yesterday. And this is coming from a long time Ford fan.

JoshuaBrown183 years ago

I was under the understanding that we were not going to collectively freak out if something bad happened as a result of the "have at it boys".
I have heard of people calling for Carl's head. Yeah cause Brad Kausealotofwreckski's completely innocent. Brad did the same thing earlier in the race to Carl. He just didn't flip.

The wing is at fault for the flip. I think we have all figured that out at this point. Its gone in a couple weeks.

Don't penalize either of them. Self-policing garage remember. Carl going the wrong way on pit road was uncool.

If someone would just punch Brad in the face he will calm down.

Anonymous3 years ago

Brad is a punk and is not making many friends in the garage area


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