NASCAR officials reacted to the last lap wreck at Gateway International Raceway, last Saturday night, by penalizing Carl Edwards 60 driver’s points and placing him on probation, in all series until December 31rst.
Jack Roush, owner of Carl Edwards Nationwide series car was also penalized 60 driver points. Brad Keselowski, whose car was turned by Edwards, precipitated a multi-car accident, was also put on probation until the end of this year. After a late race restart Keselowski moved Edwards’s car out of the way in turn one. Racing to the checkered flag Edwards admitted, in Victory Lane, that he took out his rival intentionally. This was the third incident of this type between Edwards and Keselowski. Last year Edwards was flipped by Keselowski who went on to win the spring race at Talladega. It was deemed a racing accident and no penalties were issued. This spring, at Atlanta, Carl Edwards, then about 150 laps down, turned hard into Brad Keselowski sending his car flying. He was given a three-race probation. In a rare development NASCAR public relations tweeted the rationale for this instance, “Since putting the driving back into the hands of the drivers we’ve seen very exciting, side by side racing..However, we also said that there is a line that a driver can cross and when that happens, we will step in and maintain law and order. Following Atlanta, we met with Brad and Carl to make it clear that racing hard doesn't mean ruining other competitors' days... In our review of this most recent incident, Carl and Brad crossed that line. It is important to remember that this isn't the first time these two have gotten into one another on the track – there is a history here.” Robin Pemberton, NASCAR’s VP of Competition told reporters the 60-point penalty put Edwards and Keselowski back in the same position, points-wise, as they were before the race. Keselowski said, on satellite radio, he won’t change his driving style. "I am going to drive my car 100 percent and race just as hard. Nothing is going to change," he said. "I don't think (the feud) is healthy, not just for my team or Carl's team but the other teams involved." Roush Fenway officials said that they were reviewing the facts and before making any decision regarding an appeal.
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