2010 NASCAR running thread

Edwards all but admitted it, or maybe he even did so to speak, when he got out of the car. Now, he has posted on Facebook that it was intentional.

 

That leads me to beleive NASCAR ain't taking a real hard stance on the issue.
Otherwise, I would think Carl might be more contrite.

BTW: Did you see his interview with DW before the race? Talked about how he and Kenseth were friends and how well he gets along with his crew chief.

 

Then I missed your point. My bad.

If not for that crash, Irvan was on his way to a Winston Cup Championship or two.

 

Edwards on Facebook:

"My options: 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."

 

In other news, with 16 laps to get the last two in, NASCAR is giving the end of its races the excitement matched only by Rick Pitino calling 27 timeouts in the last 30 seconds.

 

Re Carl Edwards: Is NASCAR, with him, in the same tricky position as the NHL when it comes to suspending someone for a fight? Heck, NASCAR rewrote rules that guaranteed there would be more bumping, with the realization that fans like to see some paint rubbing. But are the Carl Edwards-Todd Bertuzzi parallels accurate? Also, how do sponsors play into this? Even if NASCAR wants to sit Edwards out for a while, do his sponsors step in and say, no way?

As for 12's problems, how incumbent is it upon NASCAR to black-flag him when he's pulling shit on the track? Would this help prevent drivers taking situations into their own hands?

 

The 12 has sponsors too. And Edwards kept those sponsors from a Top 5 finish.

 

The whole thing with this particular incident is that they weren't racing for position and had "just one of them racin' deals." Edwards was 150+ laps down and intentionally wrecked a top 10 car, nearly sending it into the stands.

I don't have a problem with rubbing a little to get someone loose to pass them for position, but to saw the wheel hard to the right like Edwards did and all but for the grace of God create the worst tragedy in NASCAR history ... those are completely different situations.

I'm all for "rubbin is racin" but any "fan" who wants to see someone ride around for the express purpose of crashing someone needs to stay at the house.

I did not see the DW interview.

 

"Change my tires."

 

I know fans in the fifth row at AMS who saw a car flying right in front of them feel SOOOOO much better with that explanation.

 

IMO, NASCAR has to penalize Edwards, especially in light of his Facebook posting where he admitted one option was to chat with Brad after the race. Wrecks have always been a part of racing, but usually the intentional stuff happens under caution, after the race is over or at the next short track race. If a guy turns right at about 195 mph and purposely spins out the same guy who wrecked him earlier that race and thus caused him to be 156 laps down, there has to be a penalty. That's regardless of what happens in light of that intentional spin, because a hit at that speed and that force is likely to be big and not just a harmless spin to the infield.
This gives NASCAR officials the chance to clarify what "let 'em at it" really entails, i.e. you can rub fenders all you want, but if we determine you intentionally spun someone and created what would clearly be a dangerous situation, bend over and wait for the paddle.
Based on his history, is anyone surprised someone took out Brad like that? Question now is whether he backs off and tries to mend fences, or if this enrages him all the more. I would bet NASCAR is secretly hoping for the latter, especially since the Earnhardt Jr.-Kyle Busch feud never really went anywhere.

 

And those sponsors got and will get a lot more press and exposure from Kause-em-all-ski going airborne than winning the race would've gotten him. Doesn't make it right, but still...