Street Justice: Edwards' Style (merged)

[HughGJohnson]

Carl Edwards wrecked the 12 and completely changed the complection of the race, because Brad Keselowski 'doesn't give him room'. Obviously NASCAR is going to step in, but I'm wondering if they're going to end their new street justice policy. I'm curious what people think about the crash and more importantly about the fallout.

[Matt]

Minimum 10 race suspension for Carl, imo.

[fieldodreams79]

a car 120 laps to the rear should NEVER mix it up with a top 10 car no matter the circumstance and intentionally wrecking someone is something that i have never really liked either...wrecking just about half of the drivers in all the top 3 series over the past couple of years is excusable as well.

however, as i stated in the race thread, this is seemingly what nascar wanted...it will make every headline throughout the USA and the racing world, so nascar may just give him a slap on the wrist, and ride the publicity wave all the way to Bristol.

Randy Lajoie on the PRN post race show (as well as his fellow hostess) feel that Carl should not be given a penalty what so ever, and that things are "even" between Carl and Brad...not sure i agree with that but they BOTH stated the Brad has made a name for himself as a dirty, reckless driver and i feel that he has played with fire long enough without getting burned. Brad got burnt bad today.

in short: wrong, place wrong time, and very unCarl like...very scary wreck that could've been disastrous. luckily, no one was hurt, and they move on to Bristol, where we'll see all kinds of bumping and banging and retaliation.

[FBJim]

It's not official, but I think it's safe to say that one of the unwritten rules of "street justice" is to do it at an appropriate time and place. Like, not the tri-oval at Atlanta

[HughGJohnson]

I'm shocked anyone would think Carl shouldn't be penalised. Keselowski won't think they're even. I think NASCAR has to do something, because the 12 car almost ended up in the stands. Could you imagine if something had happened to a spectator because a driver half of a race behind the leader intentionally wrecked someone after NASCAR encouraged the drivers to police themselves? NASCAR needs to be proactive here in some way. If the want to leave it up to the drivers, tell them to duke it out after the race.

[JagtechOhio]

I'm not much of a Nascar fan, but I'm really glad to stop in here and read that you guys saw that deal about the same way I did.

That was a good race, ruined by the kind of garbage Nascar has encouraged before the season started, and magnifying a flaw with the car that Newman has been harping on for a year before he grabbed any air time himself.

No way those cars should have been left unchanged since Talledega last year. No way that pig should fly. Nascar is completely responsible for that accident, and lucky they are not the ones paying for it.

Carl gets two weeks and probation for the rest of the year, Nascar pulls the wings off tomorrow, and the fans should continue wising up and realize they are getting cheated out of good racing by the people pushing them "show bizz". So far, it's only theft and abetting criminal mischief.

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by HughGJohnson

NASCAR needs to be proactive here in some way.

not disagreeing with you by any means, but nascar proactive? never heard of such!

[JagtechOhio]

No, proactive is running wind tunnel tests on your car, backwards, to figure out lift characteristics. Pemberton is a liar if he says they had a handle on this problem.

Or doing it at somepoint during the year that Ryan Newman (an engineer and pilot) spends warning you about the potential for disaster...until it nearly knocks his head in, too.

And still running the same package on a speedway through yesterday...especially after giving the drivers a green flag to mix it up before the season started.

Two weeks for Edwards, who ruined a good race with a ****** move that the sanctioning body tacitly approved. Rip the wings off and understand the aerodynamics of the car before you race it again above 150 MPH.

And tell these guys that intentionally spinning another car gets you suspended, and costs you the price of a new chassis for the guy you wrecked. That was thankfully no more than a bad joke today, and it's nearly all on Nascar. One of these times they will lose, bigtime.

Fans and insurance companies should start watching their investments tomorrow.

[Neil22]

I second Matt's proposal, 10 race suspension for Carl, but the team can continue with a different driver. It's not the teams fault that Carl hasn't figured it out yet.

[Neil22]

NASCAR better do something and anything under a ten race suspension is nothing. Carl, figure it out before you kill someone.

[MJ_N_09]

Face it, some of these drivers are lowlives.

[MJ_N_09]

I doubt that Carl gets suspended.

[rustyfan]

Ah well, at least Carl Edwards has come clean and admitted it was on purpose unlike a lot of other drivers who have done the exact same thing but explained it with "aww geeze govenah', I didn't mean to get into him" or "I just meant to rattle his cage".

[Silk Cut Jaguar]

I don't think coming clean after the event really changes anything. Anything less than a race suspension (for however long) is a bit of a whitewash by NASCAR in my opinion. They're never going to elimate 'payback' because for better or worse it's an inherent part of stockcar racing but if one of the smarter drivers like Edwards can't keep it in check and at least do it safely then someone at Daytona needs to seriously rethink the philosophy of letting the drivers sort it out amongst themselves.

[rustyfan]

My prediction is that Carl Edwards will be fined some $$$, some points and put on probation until the end of the season. If NASCAR suspends him they are a bunch of hypocrites.

[rustyfan]

Originally Posted by Silk Cut Jaguar

and at least do it safely

The thing is, the drivers can't know that in advance.

Go back three months, for example, to when Juan Pablo Montoya - who just like Carl Edwards was several laps down - spun out Tony Stewart on purpose coming off turn four at Homestead. Sure, the effects were nowhere near as spectacular or damaging, but again, how could Montoya know that before putting the bumper to the #14 and spinning it out? Just because he did it coming off turn four at a slower track doesn't mean it was guaranteed to be "safe" (I've seen enough freaky incidents over the years to know that nothing is ever completely "safe" or "certain" when racecars are involved). I suppose it could be considered an "calculated guess", but the #14 could just as easily have ended up getting T-boned by an oncoming car doing 150-160 mph (which is a great deal more dangerous than flipping, even if you flip into a wall) had that particular retaliation unfolded a bit differently.

Either it's "now that was a bull**** move, suspend him!" or "now that was a bull**** move, but hey, it's NASCAR" - you (and to make it clear, this is not aimed at you personally Silk Cut ) can't have both and pick the one that you prefer after you see what the outcome is.

[Silk Cut Jaguar]

I totally agree Rustyfan, 'doing it safely' with hindsight is the easiest thing in the world but weighing it all up at 190mph in the space of a few seconds probably not so much.

Still, there are ways to at least try and minimise the danger and like someone else pointed out, punting someone in the tri-oval at Atlanta is probably the worst place to wreck another driver.

I think I'm coming down on the side of the fence that so long as it doesn't look like a bull**** move, it's not so bad... Which is possibly why myself and so many others are annoyed with Edwards, because it was such a blatent move at the fastest point of the track which didn't leave any scope for minimising the effect.

[Minicross424]

Carl should be banned, no question.
The way that hit the outer wall he could of been killed and then what?

[Dead-Eye]

Well...I wouldn't say they aren't, but I still can't see them suspending him.

[AndyS]

Watched on TV in the Uk, surely they've got to come down hard on him particularly as he's admitted doing it. I'm all for letting drivers race and a bit of contact, F1 has gone the other way with the FIA and co stepping in every five minutes and being too over the top. As a result some drivers get upset if someone even overtakes them (no names mantioned) but that was a scary crash and you can't have drivers deliberatley putting others in the wall even if some feel he deserved it.

[venturi]

I just saw this on the news here in Aus and could not believe that Nascar could possibly let this kind of stuff go on in any race, any deliberate contact causing a crash should be a season or lifetime ban, do they really condone this kind of stuff in Nascar, i am shocked.

His excuse -

Carl Edwards My options: Considering that Brad wrecks me with no regard for anyones safety or hard work, should I: 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 aw...ay. Every person has to decide what code they want to live by and hopefully this explains mine.

Courtesy of his own facebook page-

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Carl-E...5220166?ref=mf

Disgusting behaviour from both Nascar and Carl Edwards, street justice, what a joke.

BTW - At the moment 3153 people like this latest facebook entry of his and a overwhelming majority of 2775 comment's are right behind him on this, is there something wrong Nascar fans or is it just Carl Edwards fans that can't see he almost killed another racer and spectator's on a Nascar endorsed revenge mission.

[broadrun96]

After watching Edwards' decide that he should determine the outcome of a race event because of a perceived slight, what would other race series make of such a wreck?

ALMS--Move like that cost Enge his ride with P/WL. Personally thought Enge's bouncing and banging wasn't too much worse than most banging.

F1--Can't remember any big spins but contact in open-wheelers has to be a little more gentle or cost you the race too.

Interested to know if any series has clearly written rules or a history of enforcement regarding intentional on-track revenge.

Also, NASCAR needs to think about their sponsors. While the core NASCAR fan may think the wrecks and revenge are good for the story but money talks more than asses in seats. If a sponsor thinks a non-fan thinks what they saw on the news or online is too far, there's a chance they may feel it reflects on the company poorly as well.

[F.O.F.]

This was the first race that I've been able to watch here in a long time and... Whoa! I know it's a feud that's been bubbling away for a while for these two, but Carl more than anyone should know what can happen if you turn someone around at that kind of speed. NASCAR need to put in the big boot if they don't want to see a body count at one of their races this year.

[broadrun96]

Having caught the replay on Yahoo, I couldn't believe I saw Edwards' hands move the wheel uptrack and had to replay it in full screen and wearing white driving gloves was REALLY helpful to verify what I saw. If he just wanted revenge, wait until they are running together at a place like Bristol, Matrinsville, not 100 plus laps down at probably the third faster track they run on. How they can not sit him for at least a couple races is beyond me, but I'm probation will be coming, can't mess with the show.

[Cynic]

His excuse -

Carl Edwards My options: Considering that Brad wrecks me with no regard for anyones safety or hard work, should I: 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 aw...ay. Every person has to decide what code they want to live by and hopefully this explains mine.

I'm afraid I only got as far as the first option before laughing. I'm sure his redneck fans do like his thinking, but hopefully most people can see this as the thoughts of someone who clearly needs to go back to racing school. The initial caution here, and the big one last year (Homestead?) were caused because Carl moved down the track into a car that was already there. And his excuse back then was essentially that Brad refused to move out of his way (that is why it's racing. If you want peeple making way because you're a 'name', go into F1). What an arrrogant t****r.

Just for the record, I accept that there will always be a certain amount of bumping and banging in stock cars,and if I ever get fed up of it I'll vote with my TV remote, but if Nascar decide that a driver 150 laps down can legitimately wreck a top ten runner over an incident that was his own fault, then they are setting a dangerous precedent.