It looks like NASCAR may have figured out where the proverbial “line” is with a little help from Carl Edwards after Saturday night’s Nationwide Series race at Gateway International Raceway.
Following the incident between Edwards and Brad Keselowski in the Sprint Cup event at Atlanta Motor Speedway back in March, NASCAR placed Edwards on probation for three races, with no fine and no suspension—seemingly to the dismay of some of his fellow competitors. The move, or lack thereof, prompted Kevin Harvick to tweet that he maybe should ask NASCAR for refunds for some of his fines from over the years.
According to NASCAR President Mike Helton, the issue in the Atlanta incident was the fact that Keselowski’s car got airborne, something that Edwards didn’t intend to happen. Helton also said in a statement following the Atlanta incident that NASCAR hadn’t yet determined where the line actually was that drivers would have to cross before NASCAR stepped in to help settle matters between drivers despite NASCAR “new” policy allowing drivers to police themselves.
According to Helton, he couldn’t say at that time exactly where the line was but that NASCAR would know when it was crossed. Apparently, NASCAR figured out where that line was and decided that it was crossed in last weekend’s Nationwide race.
Maybe the fact that the two drivers involved had a history played into NASCAR’s decision. After all, once again, the incident in question involved none other than Edwards and Keselowski.
This time around, Keselowski’s car didn’t fly through the air, but like in Atlanta, Edwards admitted to a retaliatory move against Keselowski for previous contact he felt was uncalled for. While Keselowski remained grounded this time, the spin following contact from Edwards resulted in a multi-car accident.
Saturday night’s actions produced results that didn’t look nearly as horrific as the incident in Atlanta, probably because of the slower speeds and the fact that no cars left the ground, so what prompted NASCAR’s call to action this time around? Was it because of the history between these two drivers? Did NASCAR see Edwards as a repeat offender? Did NASCAR decide it had finally had enough because it seems as if the culture of NASCAR racing has gotten more aggressive overall this season?
Whatever the reason, Keselowski was placed on probation for the remainder of the year, as was Edwards. In addition, Edwards was docked 60 driver points (the number of points NASCAR estimated that he gained from the incident) and was fined $25,000.
It looks like NASCAR decided that it had found that line that drivers must cross before the sanctioning body steps in. Even so, it still looks a little blurry.
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