In Sunday’s NASCAR Kobalt 500, Carl Edwards showed his severe lack of impatience of Brad Keselowski on 2 distinct occasions in NASCAR, both of which, to me were pretty blatant and not surprising. Will Carl Edwards get suspended by NASCAR? Many hope so.
What is surprising me is some of the the John Q. Public responses, saying this is NASCAR’s fault for their new policy of “have at it.” Are you kidding me? Do you really think that after all the public complaining you, John Q. Public, have done in the past about NASCAR interfering, that now you’re spearing NASCAR for trying to back off?
Blaming NASCAR for Carl’s lack of control is akin to blaming the government for the gun-related killings. It’s not the tool, it’s the mentality of various people that make the tool a dangerous.
Right now, Carl Edwards isn’t much different from the standard criminal because he took the intent of the “have at” oversight, and used it to an excessive extreme.
From the get-go on Sunday in the NASCAR race, I could see that Carl had issues. In the first altercation where Carl came down on Brad Keselowski and got himself spun-out and ended up taking out another car, his immediate radio chatter was that Brad took him out.
Then when he was shown the replay, he stuttered when he saw that he came down on Brad causing the incident, but instead of saying oops, my bad, you could see him muster up a different angle, and then rail about how Brad never gives him any racing room. LOL.
Hey Carl, just as one example, maybe we should ask Greg Biffle how he likes being in front of you at Talladega? You took out a lot of cars there with that bone-head move some time back. But was it Greg not giving you any racing room?
But now, here comes Carl, 156 laps down, back on the track. And by looking at the replays, Carl obviously (to me) tried to smack Brad the lap before but missed and almost hit the wall. The next lap was when he was inside him and turned right on the left-turning dog-leg front stretch to wreck Brad.
Carl’s comment later was [paraphrased] “I didn’t think Brad’s car would flip.” I would like to cut that off with “I didn’t think…”
Wrecking a car in front of the grandstands, putting fans and other drivers at risk at 160+ mph, definitely qualifies for “didn’t think.”
Ya know, when NASCAR said have at it, I am fully of the belief that they meant fender rubbing and maybe even a little shouting here and there. They did not mean for any driver to make a 156 lap, pre-meditated spat of anger, and take it out on another car like it’s a video game.
Carl has lost any respect I might have had for him and if he’s parked for a race, I would not be adverse to that. Except, if I were NASCAR, I would reserve the parking / suspension until the Richmond race. Yea… I’m that evil. Yea, Carl was that stupid.
Will Carl Edwards get suspended? This was pre-meditated and stupid enough to warrant it.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey Bruce! I agree 100% with everything you said here. It’s like you read my mind. I’ve always struggled with whether or not I like Carl Edwards, but I think he lost my vote on Sunday. He comes across as a genuinely good guy in interviews, but clearly he has anger issues. He says he doesn’t want to hurt anyone, to which I say… REALLY? Sure looked like he wanted to punch Matt Kenseth at Martinsville in 2007. Or how about when he choked Kevin Harvick in 2008 in Charlotte? Or the time he rammed Earnhardt Jr. in the driver’s side door while under caution and Dale had his arm out the window? The only thing that will force Edwards to take a long look at himself is if NASCAR parks him for a race, and I think that is what needs to happen. Will it? I seriously doubt it. With all the money involved with the sponsors and all I just don’t think they will do it, and that’s a shame. You can’t put a dollar amount on the safety of the drivers and fans. The 12 car suffered serious damage to the driver compartment. If that had happened just a few years ago I don’t think Brad would have walked away. Thankfully NASCAR has come a long way with safety devices and that crash only resulted in the loss of a car.
I love your site by the way. I added it to my favorites a while back when it was just “NASCAR Bits & Pieces” but haven’t checked it out in a while. I like how you’ve branched it out. Looks like we have a lot of the same interests. I’ll be checking in often.
I’m actually starting my own blog and would appreciate any input you may have. http://www.alias_007.blogspot.com – It’s just something I’m doing for fun. I’ve never considered myself a writer or journalist or anything like that. I’m just interested in learning how to develop the site and it will be a good way for me to voice my opinions (not that I expect anyone to care to read them LOL). I was going to keep it to just TV/MOVIES but after seeing your site I’m thinking about branching out and just posting about anything I’m interested in (including NASCAR). Anyway, I’d be open to any advice you might have. Keep up the good work!
I can’t believe all Carl got was probation! Actually I can believe it, I just don’t want to believe it. I thought they would at least slap him with a big dock in points. I guess they just sent a message… NASCAR wants more drama, more driver personality. Its all about TV ratings and money I guess. Till someone gets killed anyway.
Just realized I got my own blog address wrong in the previous post, LOL… it’s http://www.alias-007.blogspot.com. And I apologize if its considered rude for me to link to my blog on your site. I’m just a newby who admires your work and would appreciate any advice. Just looking to have fun and learn with my blog… not trying to take anyones traffic.
Hey Alias, It’s not problem. Some do consider links being left in comments as spammy, but we’re all big happy family… more or less. And thanks for the update. I am very surprised at that indeed.
I have to wonder how SCOTTS feels about having their company branded across the vigilante’s hood?