Track Smack

NASCAR Justice: The Edwards Penalty

Lee — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:19:40 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

The incident between Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski has been a major focus of fans and national media attention for the past two days. With much anticipation, everyone was waiting to see what the reaction would be from NASCAR. In today’s press conference, Mike Helton announced that Carl Edwards would be placed on probation for the next three races…period!

A large segment of the NASCAR community was expecting a fine of at least $25,000 and a lost of driver and owner points. That didn’t happen, and rightfully so. Similar incidents in the past were dealt with in similar fashion with drivers being black flagged for a lap, and on a couple of occasions drivers have been parked. The only example I can think of where drivers have been fined and docked points for retaliation incidents is when those incidents took place on pit road, placing crew members and officials at risk. I can’t think of a single case where someone was fined for intentionally bumping or spinning someone on the track under green flag conditions, like the incident on Sunday.

The only reason the Edwards/Keselowski incident has generated any interest at all is because Keselowski’s car went airborne. Helton did go on to say that NASCAR takes the incident seriously because the car went airborne and would be evaluating the conditions and taking steps to make sure that it never happens again.

There are precedents for the action NASCAR took with Edwards. In 1992, Dale Earnhardt, Sr., intentionally spun Rusty Wallace at Talladega and the result was Wallace tumbling end over end down the track. NASCAR took absolutely no action against Earnhardt after that incident. He was not parked, fined, placed on probation, or anything else.

The one thing that fans have been screaming for from NASCAR is a consistent application of the rules. In this case, I think they got it right. Unless the response for intentionally spinning another competitor is going to always be a fine and loss of points, or even a lengthy probation we can’t expect them to do so with Edwards. A suspension, based on previous history, is absolutely out of the question.

There are those that will say that this was a special case because of the speeds at Atlanta and the fact that Edwards was over 100 laps down from Keselowski at the time of the incident. It is absolutely impossible to know with any certainty what is going to happen when cars get together at any track, so there really is nothing special about Atlanta. Last year at Darlington, Joey Logano got upside down and rolled several times. New Hampshire does not have near the speed of Atlanta, but two of NASCAR’s brightest stars at the time lost their lives there. Edwards had no intention to put Keselowski on his roof, and to penalize anyone in Motorsports because of what might have happened makes no sense.

Report says NASCAR will not suspend Carl Edwards (sports.espn.go.com)
Carl Edwards NOT Suspended For Keselowski Crash: AP (huffingtonpost.com)
AP source: Edwards won’t be suspended (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
Carl Vs. Brad. Incident Strikingly Similar; Where Was the Uproar Then?? (bleacherreport.com)
NASCAR Crash: Bad Blood at 190 MPH (abcnews.go.com)

Payback at Atlanta Motor Speedway: “Have at it boys,” Gone Wrong

Angie — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 04:22:37 +0000

Image by Bristol Motor Speedway & Dragway via Flickr

At the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Media Tour earlier this year, Vice President of Competition, Robin Pemberton indicated they would give drivers more leeway on the racetrack.

“We will say boys, have at it and have a good time.”

The incident on Sunday between Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski was probably not what he had in mind.

It began on lap 40 when Edwards was tapped by Keselowski on the restart sending Edwards up the track, into Joey Logano and into the wall.

Late in the race on lap 323, Carl Edwards, who was over 100 laps down, hit Keselowski sending him into the wall. Keselowski bounced off the wall, went airborne and onto his roof. This dramatically ended Brad’s day and his shot at a sixth place finish.

The shaken Keselowski was helped from his car and eventually cleared by the infield care center.

At first, Carl didn’t come right out and admit that the hit was intentional but he later made the following statement on his Facebook Fan Page.
“My options: Considering that Brad wrecks me with no regard for anyone’s 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 away. Every person has to decide what code they want to live by and hopefully this explains mine.”

Not surprisingly, Keselowski has a different point of view.

“To come back and intentionally wreck someone, that’s not cool,” he said. “You could have killed someone in the grandstands. I know that it’s a little ironic that it’s me saying that, but at least I didn’t do it intentionally when it happened.

At worse, Edwards probably only meant to cause Keselowski to spin out. He obviously didn’t anticipate that he would send him flying through the air. But does this relieve him of responsibility for his actions?

NASCAR now finds itself in a difficult position. Where do they draw the line between aggressive driving and blatant retaliation? Do they let this continue until someone gets hurt or worse?

After the accident, Edwards was immediately black-flagged by NASCAR and called into the hauler. Robin Pemberton, Vice President of Competition, said there would be no announcement of any possible penalties until Monday or Tuesday.

NASCAR is right to take some time to consider their options carefully. This decision may very well set the tone for the remainder of this racing season.

Finding The Groove – Ryan Newman Interview

Lee — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:06:33 +0000

Image by Bristol Motor Speedway & Dragway via Flickr

This weekend, at Atlanta, Ryan Newman is reasonably sure of achieving one milestone in his career, and maybe two. On Sunday, Newman will start his 300th NASCAR Sprint Cup Race. And he’s doing so where he has started on the pole more than any other driver in the history of NASCAR, with the exception of Buddy Baker. Of 15 starts at Atlanta, The Rocket, has captured the pole 7 times, and is hoping to be fast enough Friday evening to get his 8th pole at the track.

Newman has faced some pretty rough times over the course of the first three races this season, and is currently 32nd in the Sprint Cup standings, one spot better than he was at this time last year. Ryan was featured in this week’s NASCAR teleconference where he talked about the milestones ahead of him at Atlanta and his struggles so far this season.

Q. Atlanta, this weekend you’re going to possibly set a pole record with the Buddy Baker situation and tiebreak that. Where does that fit in your career? How much do you actually place emphasis on your career on poles or is this something you naturally do well?

RYAN NEWMAN: I think Buddy Baker is one of the 50 greatest NASCAR drivers in the history of our sport. If there was ever a record I could beat him or tie him in, that would be a big reward mentally for me. You know, having the opportunity this week with a car that we ran in California actually, which I feel is a very good car, to go there and have the opportunity to break that record, or to stand alone in that record is pretty cool. If I live out the rest of my career tied with Buddy Baker, I’m still fine with that. But obviously I’d like to beat it, too.

Newman’s success at qualifying has been a major part of his story since the beginning of his career. Hence, the “Rocket Man” nickname that he’s carried since 2002. While he has enjoyed some success as far as wins and making the Chase for the Sprint Cup, consistency has been elusive for Newman. He is confident that his team at Stewart Haas Racing is improving, and hopes to get things back on track this weekend.

HERB BRANHAM: Off to a little bit of a slow start in terms of the points. You’re coming in 32nd in the standings. Last year at this time you were 33rd. As people well remember, you went on to make the Chase and have a great season. Do you feel pretty confident about a similar sort of comeback this season?

RYAN NEWMAN: I’d like to think so. I mean, I think it’s real early to be talking about a comeback. Based on the numbers I guess you could call it that.

Honestly, I think you’re right, we’ve got ourselves in a hole. I wouldn’t call it a comeback, but we’ve got some work to do to get ourselves in position. We’ve got a long time before that issue becomes pressing.

So I feel confident that we’ve made some big gains with our racecars this year. Vegas, we actually were off a little bit. But California we had a really fast racecar and lost an engine. Daytona we were working our way up through the pack and got crashed. I feel like we’ve been more competitive in general. In saying that, we’ve still got more work to do. We’re not sitting here having won two of the last three races like Jimmie Johnson has.

Newman also talked about how he thinks the bringing back the spoiler to the cars is going to affect the racing.

Q. I think fans’ expectations of the spoiler coming are pretty darn high. Do you think it’s actually going to change the racing all that much?

RYAN NEWMAN: I believe it will. I think the biggest thing that we’re going to see with this spoiler, this is speculation from my standpoint, is the way the spoiler is designed, there’s going to be a lot more surface area of that spoiler on the quarter panels. I think the side drafting on the straightaway is going to be even bigger than it was with the old style car. I don’t think we have but 50% of that side drafting down the straightaway on the current car with the wing on it.

I think the fans will see more racing, even on the straightaways, if that makes sense. You’ll see more side-by-side, back and forth, nose-to-head, with the competitor down the straightaways, which I think will make places like Michigan and California, some of the tracks that are bigger, notorious for being a little boring through the middle of the race more exciting throughout the entire race.

Kobalt Tools 500 Weekend Pit Notes (claireblang.wordpress.com)
Dusting off the Next Race: Kobalt Tools 500 in Atlanta, Georgia (bleacherreport.com)
Many Big Name Drivers Need To Step It Up Heading into and Out of Atlanta (bleacherreport.com)

Wendell Scott to be honored by NASCAR at Atlanta Motor Speedway

Angie — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 02:59:04 +0000

Wendell Oliver Scott, born in 1921 in Danville, Virginia, was an American stock car driver and a pioneer of NASCAR. On March 4, 1961 in Spartanburg SC, he broke down racial barriers to make his first start in the NASCAR Grand National (now Sprint Cup) division. Scott went on to become the first and to date, the only, African-American to win a NASCAR Sprint Cup event.

In recognition of his contributions, NASCAR will pay tribute to Scott this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway. All of the competing vehicles will have a commemorative decal bearing his image.

Daughter of the late Scott, Sybil Scott, will attend the race as well as Drive for Diversity competitor, Jason Romero. Romero was the 2009 recipient of the Wendell Scott Trailblazer Award. This award is given annually to a minority or female driver who displays excellence on and off the track in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series.

A look into his life gives us insight into a tumultuous part of NASCAR and American history.

Scott didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life but was sure of one thing. Whatever it was, he would be his own boss.

As a youngster he loved going fast, racing his bicycles against other kids and speeding around town on roller skates. Scott also grew up learning about cars at his father’s side. His Dad worked as a driver and mechanic for two wealthy white families and was well known for his prowess behind the wheel.

Eventually Scott quit high school, became a taxi driver and later served in the segregated Army in Europe during World War II. After the war, he ran an auto-repair shop and ran moonshine on the side.

Like others before him, he used the moonshine business to hone his driving skills and learn how to build fast race cars. Scott was only caught once and was sentenced to three years probation but continued to make whiskey runs.

On May 23, 1952, a set of unusual circumstances gave Scott his first racing start.

At that time the races in Danville were run by the Dixie Circuit, a competing organization to NASCAR. In order to bring in more money, they decided that they needed a gimmick. Their idea was to bring in a black driver who was fast enough to compete with the usual white drivers. They chose Wendell Scott.

That first race wasn’t a success. His car broke down and many spectators booed him. But at that moment, Scott realized this was what he wanted to do with the rest of his life.

The next day brought Scott back down to earth. He repaired his car and decided to tow it to a NASCAR-sanctioned race in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The NASCAR officials refused to let him compete telling him that black drivers weren’t allowed.

He left the race with tears in his eyes but he didn’t quit.

A few days later he went to another NASCAR event in High Point, North Carolina but was once again told he couldn’t race. They suggested he get a white boy to drive his car.

“I told ‘em weren’t no damn white boy going to drive my car,” Scott said.

Instead, he left the track and decided to avoid NASCAR races for the time being.

He raced with the Dixie Circuit and at other non-NASCAR speedways and won his first race at Lynchburg, Virginia, only twelve days into his racing career.

As time passed, he still got boos but more and more fans began rooting for him. Although some of the drivers were prejudiced and would wreck him deliberately, many drivers came to respect Scott. They saw him as a driver no different from themselves, just another hard-working guy who loved racing.

Soon, some of the newspapers began writing positive stories about Scott and his popularity increased.

Scott understood, though, that in order to really succeed in the sport, he had to gain admission to NASCAR. He didn’t know NASCAR founder and president, Bill France, so Scott found a less direct way to get into NASCAR.

He towed his racecar to a local NASCAR event at Richmond Speedway and asked the steward, Mike Poston, to grant him a NASCAR license. Poston was only a part-timer in NASCAR but he did have the authority to issue licenses.

Poston told him, “We’ve never had any black drivers, and you’re going to be knocked around.”

“I can take it,” Scott told him.

Poston approved Scott’s license but his decision wasn’t popular.

Scott finally met Bill France for the first time in April of 1954. The night before they met, the promoter at a NASCAR event in Raleigh, North Carolina, had given gas money to all of the white drivers who came to the track but had refused to pay Scott. Scott approached France at the Lynchburg speedway and told him what had happened.

France immediately reached into his pocket, gave Scott thirty dollars and assured him that NASCAR would never treat him with prejudice.

“You’re a NASCAR member, and as of now you will always be treated as a NASCAR member.”

In 1961, Scott moved up to the NASCAR Grand National division.

On December 1, 1963, driving a Chevrolet Bel Air purchased from Ned Jarrett, he won his first race at Speedway Park in Jacksonville, Florida — the first and only top level NASCAR event won by an African-American.

Ironically, Scott almost didn’t make the race.

Scott didn’t have enough cash in his pocket to make the long trip. So he asked Jarrett if he could borrow $500.00

“He was a race-car driver, and I was a race-car driver,” Jarrett said Friday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“But he was having a tough time because of his race at that particular period. He wasn’t going to get a lot of help. I thought he was a good race-car driver and he could be good for the sport.”

Wendell had won the race, by two laps over Buck Baker, but it wasn’t without controversy. NASCAR waved the checkered flag over Baker and awarded him the trophy.

Hours later, NASCAR officials admitted that Scott had won the race. They gave him a trophy about a month later in Savannah, but it wasn’t the real thing.

Buck got the real trophy.

He continued to race competitively through the rest of the 1960s but was forced to retire due to injuries from a racing accident at Talladega, Alabama in 1973.

Scott achieved one win and 147 top ten finishes in 495 career Grand National starts.

He died Dec. 22, 1990, after a long battle with spinal cancer. In 1999, Scott was inducted into the International Motor Sports Hall of Fame.

I’m so glad we never gave up,” said Scott’s Widow Mary.

“When Ned Jarrett and all of those old drivers came to Scott’s funeral, they told us he had the respect of all the drivers. I’d say all of those older guys learned to like him and respect him. They knew he was a genuine person and he stood for what he believed. He didn’t give up.”

Quotes courtesy of” Hard Driving: The American Odyssey of NASCAR’s First Black Driver,” by Brian Donovan (Steerforth Press)

For NASCAR Fans, Patience is a Virtue

Angie — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 12:23:14 +0000

: Image by Getty Images via Daylife

The 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup season is just beginning but has already been filled with its share of ups and downs.

The Daytona 500 began with a bang as Mark Martin won the pole and Dale Earnhardt Jr. secured the second starting position. Junior Nation was anticipating a comeback and excitement was in the air.

However, no one anticipated the pothole appearing between turns one and two on the racetrack. With two stoppages for repairs and the over two hours in delays, the race was in jeopardy of becoming a complete debacle.

But, the patience of NASCAR fans was rewarded with a finish that couldn’t have been scripted better by a Hollywood screenwriter.

There were two green-white-checker attempts to finish the race. Earnhardt started the first in the 22nd position and was up to tenth place for the start of the second one.

Everyone was on their feet as he began making his way through the field. He was up to second place before time ran out and Jamie McMurray captured the win.

McMurray’s emotional response in Victory Lane was a touching reminder of the significance of NASCAR’s premier race.

For the fans who stuck it out until the end, it was a finish they won’t soon forget.

The follow-up race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana failed to deliver the same level of excitement but in the end provided another exciting finish.

Jimmie Johnson led a total of 101 laps but had some competition from Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton who were fast all day.

The last 20 laps provided a dramatic finish as 2^nd place driver Kevin Harvick began closing the gap on Johnson. A brush with the wall slowed Harvick’s progress and Jimmie Johnson scored the victory.

At Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, we again had a dominant driver. Jeff Gordon led 218 laps and was close to victory when a pit road decision to take two tires instead of four probably cost him the race.

With 16 laps to go, Johnson was able to make the pass for the lead and he never looked back.

Gordon then battled side by side with Kevin Harvick who passed him for 2^nd place while the No. 48 car once again took the checkered flag.

At first glance, it looks as though Jimmie Johnson is on his way to a repeat of 2009. But if you look closer, the picture becomes less clear.

Johnson may have won two races but he’s not alone at the front of the pack.

Kevin Harvick and the entire Richard Childress Racing team have been impressive this season. Jeff Gordon was only two tires away from a win and even Dale Earnhardt Jr. is looking much better than he did at the same time last year.

There’s a lot of racing still to come so just remember that patience is a virtue.

Hold on to that thought as we continue through the season. You just might be rewarded when your driver pulls into Victory Lane.