When we first met Brad Keselowski, he was a nerdy brace-faced kid loaded with determination. That he was signed on to drive Dale Earnhardt Jr’s primary Nationwide Series entry extended him some goodwill from his fans. The results, an up and coming boy wonder among other boy wonders like Joey Logano. Nevertheless, he was voted the Nationwide Series most popular driver twice.
Brad Keselowski racing part time in the Sprint Cup series split between two teams in 2009 pulled off a historic feat at Talladega’s April 26th spring race. Racing for the underfunded James Finch operation with some Hendricks horsepower, he found himself toward the front of lead lap as the race neared its conclusion. Getting out in front of one of the Talladega freight trains, soon, one thing led to another and as the checker flag waved, Keselowski crossed the start/finish line the winner while Carl Edwards’s car who had been the leader went flying into the safety fence along the front straightaway sending debris flying through the fence causing some spectator injuries.
The freakish finish which was generally seen as just hard racing at the time helped reinforce a growing reputation that drivers didn’t want to get too close to the brash youngster on the track. Something about proximately to the Keselowski ride had a funny way of causing metal to get all crunched up. In Nationwide competition, the Sprint Cup guys going for their Saturday money would often appear before the microphones long before the race was over, their car a smoking, steaming pile of wreckage, their anger clearly directed at the careless and reckless driving by the #88 driver. Conflicts with Denny Hamlin became a tit-for-tat struggle on the racetrack pushing the NASCAR officials’ patience darn close to the limits.
There is nothing new about young brash drivers creating huge piles of wreckage early in their careers. It’s nothing Kyle Busch or Brad Kesolowski first discovered. The protests and anger shown by Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards, and others sounds somewhat reminiscent of Jaws himself, Darrell Waltrip calling out a young brash ambitious driver who among other things made a total wreck of DW’s car at the old half mile at Richmond. For that matter, Darrell Waltrip himself was the subject of much anger from more seasoned drivers as he rose to the top in the early 70’s.
Some go on to be stars others become footnotes or the answer to weird trivia questions like Bobby Hillin Jr.
Things got bloody nasty today in Atlanta. Lap 40, Brad Keselowski once again found Carl Edwards knocked into the #99 car propelling it into Joey Logano’s car taking Logano out of the race and putting Edwards back in the garage for some long repairs. Edwards would get his car fixed up well enough to run up to speed and work to improve his points earnings but soon he’d be close to his nemesis and though many laps down to Keselowski sought to create a little action. On lap 323, Edwards caught Keselowski in 5th place at the time from behind bumping the #12 car sending it airborne. For what appeared to be rather soft contact the results were absolutely horrifying as the car went sailing into the air before landing on its roof and then finally landing right side up. Though somewhat delirious right after the crash, the safety equipment did its work. Keselowski sustained no major injuries. Meanwhile within two laps NASCAR officials ordered Edwards to park his car and summoned him to appear before the judge.
There can be no question that Brad Keselowski is one aggravating little prick. Not only is his style of racing reckless on the race track but his comments to the media show an immature brashness that is bound to further fuel drivers’ anger at the young upstart. The young Michigan drier has much to prove before he will be accepted in the big fraternity of drivers.
Unfortunately, Carl Edwards’ irritability brought on by the young punk’s antics took these race track mini-dramas into another much more serious realm. While Edwards may have been understandably angry, purposefully wrecking a driver on one of the circuit’s highest speed tracks in absolutely unacceptable, period. His actions, while far from as costly as they could have been, will surely create a situation that will hang over the Roush/Fenway operation all year. Without question, Edwards will be on probation for the entire season. Within the next couple days, NASCAR will issue its sanctions. Almost certainly Edwards’ ability to compete for the championship was dealt a lethal suicidal blow in Atlanta. One has to wonder how this could jeopardize sponsor relationships and other concerns.
This is most unfortunate because Carl Edwards is a popular driver who generally represents the sport well. Many successful drivers have made very stupid mistakes before, regrouped, and moved on to continue their great careers. Surely, there will be much to be said in the “lessons learned” department, but some Sunday afternoon in the future two hostile drivers will use 850 plus horsepower machines instead of their fists to solve grievances. While some aspects of the sport are self-policing and what’s acceptable at Bristol or Martinsville is far different than Atlanta or Charlotte, NASCAR must keep a tight lid on any situations where drivers purposely create dangerous situations. Additionally, while tempers can understandably get hot, NASCAR must never been seen as condoning fights to the extent the sport could make a mockery of itself the way the National Hockey League does.
Brad Keselowski racing part time in the Sprint Cup series split between two teams in 2009 pulled off a historic feat at Talladega’s April 26th spring race. Racing for the underfunded James Finch operation with some Hendricks horsepower, he found himself toward the front of lead lap as the race neared its conclusion. Getting out in front of one of the Talladega freight trains, soon, one thing led to another and as the checker flag waved, Keselowski crossed the start/finish line the winner while Carl Edwards’s car who had been the leader went flying into the safety fence along the front straightaway sending debris flying through the fence causing some spectator injuries.
The freakish finish which was generally seen as just hard racing at the time helped reinforce a growing reputation that drivers didn’t want to get too close to the brash youngster on the track. Something about proximately to the Keselowski ride had a funny way of causing metal to get all crunched up. In Nationwide competition, the Sprint Cup guys going for their Saturday money would often appear before the microphones long before the race was over, their car a smoking, steaming pile of wreckage, their anger clearly directed at the careless and reckless driving by the #88 driver. Conflicts with Denny Hamlin became a tit-for-tat struggle on the racetrack pushing the NASCAR officials’ patience darn close to the limits.
There is nothing new about young brash drivers creating huge piles of wreckage early in their careers. It’s nothing Kyle Busch or Brad Kesolowski first discovered. The protests and anger shown by Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards, and others sounds somewhat reminiscent of Jaws himself, Darrell Waltrip calling out a young brash ambitious driver who among other things made a total wreck of DW’s car at the old half mile at Richmond. For that matter, Darrell Waltrip himself was the subject of much anger from more seasoned drivers as he rose to the top in the early 70’s.
Some go on to be stars others become footnotes or the answer to weird trivia questions like Bobby Hillin Jr.
Things got bloody nasty today in Atlanta. Lap 40, Brad Keselowski once again found Carl Edwards knocked into the #99 car propelling it into Joey Logano’s car taking Logano out of the race and putting Edwards back in the garage for some long repairs. Edwards would get his car fixed up well enough to run up to speed and work to improve his points earnings but soon he’d be close to his nemesis and though many laps down to Keselowski sought to create a little action. On lap 323, Edwards caught Keselowski in 5th place at the time from behind bumping the #12 car sending it airborne. For what appeared to be rather soft contact the results were absolutely horrifying as the car went sailing into the air before landing on its roof and then finally landing right side up. Though somewhat delirious right after the crash, the safety equipment did its work. Keselowski sustained no major injuries. Meanwhile within two laps NASCAR officials ordered Edwards to park his car and summoned him to appear before the judge.
There can be no question that Brad Keselowski is one aggravating little prick. Not only is his style of racing reckless on the race track but his comments to the media show an immature brashness that is bound to further fuel drivers’ anger at the young upstart. The young Michigan drier has much to prove before he will be accepted in the big fraternity of drivers.
Unfortunately, Carl Edwards’ irritability brought on by the young punk’s antics took these race track mini-dramas into another much more serious realm. While Edwards may have been understandably angry, purposefully wrecking a driver on one of the circuit’s highest speed tracks in absolutely unacceptable, period. His actions, while far from as costly as they could have been, will surely create a situation that will hang over the Roush/Fenway operation all year. Without question, Edwards will be on probation for the entire season. Within the next couple days, NASCAR will issue its sanctions. Almost certainly Edwards’ ability to compete for the championship was dealt a lethal suicidal blow in Atlanta. One has to wonder how this could jeopardize sponsor relationships and other concerns.
This is most unfortunate because Carl Edwards is a popular driver who generally represents the sport well. Many successful drivers have made very stupid mistakes before, regrouped, and moved on to continue their great careers. Surely, there will be much to be said in the “lessons learned” department, but some Sunday afternoon in the future two hostile drivers will use 850 plus horsepower machines instead of their fists to solve grievances. While some aspects of the sport are self-policing and what’s acceptable at Bristol or Martinsville is far different than Atlanta or Charlotte, NASCAR must keep a tight lid on any situations where drivers purposely create dangerous situations. Additionally, while tempers can understandably get hot, NASCAR must never been seen as condoning fights to the extent the sport could make a mockery of itself the way the National Hockey League does.
No comments:
Post a Comment