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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: The Day After, The Storm Lingers
The preseason 'have at it boys' edict might have gone a bit too far...
Mike Hembree  |  Posted March 08, 2010   Hampton, GA
Brad Keselowski took a wild ride at Atlanta Motor Speedway during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Kobalt Tools 500 Sunday. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
When NASCAR announced in the preseason that it was opening the door wide so that its drivers could compete more aggressively and, in theory, reinvigorate the racing, it chose not to draw a line in the sand to identify actions that might be considered too combative.

Now it might have to draw a line in the air.

The concept that drivers can police themselves took a hard hit – and so did Brad Keselowski – in the closing laps of the Kobalt Tools 500 Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The setup for NASCAR’s latest run of controversy goes back to last spring, when Keselowski wrecked Edwards, sending Edwards’ car within a few steel strands of flying into the grandstand, to win at Talladega.

Last month at Daytona, in the first Nationwide Series race of the season, Edwards hit Keselowski and pushed him into Dale Earnhardt Jr. Junior’s car flipped.

Flash forward to Sunday. In the early laps of the first race of the season on the superfast Atlanta track, Keselowski touched the rear of Edwards’ car, sending him up the track and into Joey Logano and the wall.

Edwards’ car was damaged so heavily that he spent more than a hundred laps in the garage for repairs. Meanwhile, Keselowski, whose Dodge showed barely a blemish from the bumpup with Edwards, raced himself into position to finish in the top five.

That mission ended with two laps left in regulation, and it ended because Edwards also was on a mission. Edwards appeared to turn right to hit Keselowski’s left bumper, contact that sent Keselowski sliding and ultimately into the air. His car landed hard on its roof, flipped over and hit the wall.

Edwards drove on but was quickly black-flagged by NASCAR.

The mayhem upset the landscape of the finish and ultimately sent the race into 24 miles of overtime.

After the race, Keselowski said Edwards came down the track into his path to create the race’s first incident.

Edwards essentially admitted hitting Keselowski in the second incident but said he didn’t envision the violent result.

NASCAR officials talked to Edwards after the race but wouldn’t comment later on possible penalties. That decision is expected to be made early this week and probably will be announced Tuesday.

Edwards used a novel approach to explain himself Sunday night. On his Facebook page, he listed what he called his options: “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.”

Any penalties issued as a result of Sunday’s incidents aren’t likely to be as important as how NASCAR chooses to recast the concept of allowing drivers to battle with more leeway on track, if indeed it does make a public modification.

Tight, aggressive racing, wrecking and conflict sell tickets and create buzz, but it’s clear that incidents like the second Keselowski-Edwards crash Sunday can’t be condoned.

Sunday’s race also made crystal clear the problems that can be created by NASCAR’s move to practically guarantee a green-flag finish by extending possible green-white-checkered restarts from one to three.

Two were needed Sunday after a huge – and dangerous – wreck on the first restart.

“What do you think is going to happen?” asked second-place Matt Kenseth to no one in particular. “Everybody is going to just go crazy and try to get their spot, so you could kind of see it coming.”

NASCAR also is burdened with a continuing problem that pops moments of fear – on the track and in the adjacent grandstands – into the game. As Keselowski’s Dodge proved again Sunday, Sprint Cup cars occasionally think they can fly.

Perhaps it’s a good thing that none of NASCAR’s three major series will be racing this weekend. Some downtime is welcome.

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.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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