If Edwards didn’t do it, someone else would have

I have seen drivers take one another out of races many times in the years that I have watched racing.  There have been guys come out of the last lap and nail the other just as Carl Edwards did last week in Atlanta.  In the moment it happened a lot of people expected a heavy fine, points penalty, and even heavier a suspension, even fellow diehard blogger Gabbycat did.  But here is where I think a lot of people that were against Carl Edwards’ action this past weekend didn’t think, Brad Keselowski had been asking for this, since he first got that ride with Jr Motorsports back in 2007 when his truck team dropped him; he has been wrecking drivers right and left

I know of several instances since last September that he has taken out veteran drivers and it has formed into two major rivalries on the track with Carl and Denny Hamlin.  He took out Hamlin at Dover, then at Phoenix, and Hamlin repaid him in the season finale NASCAR Nationwide Series event at Homestead Miami Speedway.  The facts are there, this guy has been asking for it.  Had Edwards not done it, how much longer would it have been had someone else paid their dues?  I think had the 12 not went into the air like it did, Edwards’ actions would be considered a great move and he would be considered a hero, but since it did go airborne people are considering it a harsh crime and felt that Carl should have gotten suspended.

When a driver like Keselowski in the field, it can be a worry.  A lot of fans feel he has overstayed his welcome and needed to be put in his place.  In the past, Carl Edwards has shown he’d stand toe to toe with anyone in the field.  He had a rivalry with Stewart back in 06′, he and his own teammate Matt Kenseth had an incident back in 2007 at Martinsville where it appeared Carl was about to swing on Matt, and in 2008; he clashed with Kevin Harvick.  He has had the nice guy look, but down deep he isn’t afraid to stand up to anyone. 

NASCAR had to see that Keselowski was getting out of hand and they had to know that someone was going to take it upon themself with him.  I simply think that there are some drivers that can only take so much and Edwards is one of them.  I have heard Keselowski say that races people how he races them.  Well I hate to break it to him, Carl did that Sunday.  Keselowski has raced just about everyone with a reckless rant that many drivers are sick and tired of.  The fact that the young driver has taken out several drivers numerous times and never taken the heat for it shows he has been asking for this for some time now. 

Here I looked back at some incidents where Keselowski has taken out Edwards, and several other drivers in the last year. 

• At Charlotte in 2008, Keselowski’s feud with Hamlin began under caution when Hamlin made contact with the young driver in the Nationwide Series.  A fight happened on pit road after the race finished off between the drivers and their teams.
• The Talladega Aaron’s 499 – He made contact with Carl Edwards and sent him into the fence, while it was a racing incident, chances are it could have been avoided.  Fans were injured in the incident and surprisingly; Carl Edwards walked away ok.
• Dover last September in the Nationwide Series event Keselowski took out Denny Hamlin for the first of a few incidents between the two drivers.   It happened with ten laps left in the race and it parked the 20 car of Hamlin. 
• Two weeks later at Fontana, he took out Hamlin and Greg Biffle and it really had Hamlin fiery red.
• In Memphis, Keselowski got into the back of Edwards’ No. 60 Save a Lot Ford and sent him spinning down the backstretch at the short track.  Edwards was not happy as he went from having a chance to win, to finishing 6th after falling back through the field with 20 remaining.
• In Phoenix last fall, Keselowski took out Hamlin once again and Hamlin vowed vengeance when he told the world that he would take care of the problem himself in Hometead. Kyle Busch’s crew chief Jason Ratcliff, who said, “Somebody’s going to get angry and [retaliate] at a higher-speed racetrack.” 
• Hamlin did that by spinning Keselowski out in the Nationwide Series event at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
• In Daytona this year, Keselowski and Edwards made contact and it sent Earnhardt Jr., on his roof.

It has all been building on Keselowski to have someone get him back and Carl Edwards finally did last week.  Had that car not flipped and went airborne, chances are a lot more people would have been praising Edwards for what he did, instead of hating on him.