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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Edwards - I Will Not Be Walked On
NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series driver Carl Edwards is not backing down...
Mike Hembree  |  Posted July 23, 2010   Indianapolis, IN
Carl Edwards is currently in 10th place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Carl Edwards apologized Friday to the drivers and teams caught up in the last-lap wreck he caused last week at Gateway International Raceway but was adamant that he will continue to respond aggressively when he determines that he’s been wronged on the track.

“I will not be walked on. I won’t be stepped on,” Edwards said with emphasis in a Friday afternoon session with news media representatives at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Edward was fined $25,000 and docked 60 Nationwide Series points for aggressive driving near the end of last week’s race at Gateway. He punted Keselowski into the outside wall and out of the lead and went on to win the race. Numerous cars were drawn into the frontstretch crash as Keselowski bounced across the speedway.

Both Edwards and Keselowski, who had bumped Edwards out of first place in the first turn on the last lap, were placed on probation by NASCAR.

Keselowski said Friday morning at the track that his bump of Edwards on the last lap was not intentional, but Edwards said later it clearly was.

“That was an intentional, I mean, he moved me out of the way to gain an advantage, and it almost worked,” Edwards said. “He almost won the race, so that’s what he did. It doesn’t really matter what my opinion is. NASCAR knows what happened, and he knows what happened, and that’s why they penalized him.

“It’s reasonable that he’s not lying, but I believe he’s not being completely honest that that was a mistake. He’s too good of a race car driver, and I know that.”

While somewhat conciliatory in his meeting with the media, Edwards made it clear that he will continue to defend what he considers his territory.

“I don’t think there’s one championship-level driver … that can go along in their career and let someone forcefully take wins away from them,” he said. “I don’t think that’s built into any of us. We’ll see what the future holds. I race hard, and I’m not going to let somebody take advantage of me, that’s for sure.
VIDEO: Last Lap Gateway Nationwide - Edwards Wins Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski tangle. (Image: SPEED)

“The people who know me and the people who take time to look at the entire picture understand that it is very possible to be kind, but not be weak,” he said in response to a question about the possibility that fans are looking at him differently because of recent incidents. “There’s a big difference, and I feel as a person it’s my job to be kind to people, treat everyone the way I’d like to be treated, but I will not be walked on. I won’t be stepped on.”

Edwards said his car could have slipped out of control after the contact from Keselowski in turn one.

“It could just as easily have been my car that was turned around sideways and me getting hit in the door in turn one,” he said. “It just comes down to am I willing to accept somebody putting me at risk like that over and over. I’m not the one initiating these instances. I just did a better job of keeping my car under control.”

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.

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