Lee
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. Continue reading →
Lee
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? Continue reading →
Angie
After a win at Atlanta a few weeks ago, Kasey Kahne came into the Chase looking to build on that momentum. His hopes for a “hot streak” were quickly dashed after a blown engine resulted in a 38th-place finish.
This disastrous finish left him 161 points behind points leader Mark Martin. To date, the largest deficit any Chase Champion has overcome after the first race is 139 points. That champion was Jimmie Johnson who came back after a 39th-place finish to win his first championship in 2006. Continue reading →
