Poll Position: Shouldn't Edwards' actions call for more than probation?
CBSSports.com editor Brian De Los Santos, writer Pete Pistone and a chosen member of the community (for a pure fan perspective) share their thoughts on this week's poll question.
NASCAR has placed Carl Edwards on probation for three races after intentionally wrecking Brad Keselowski at Atlanta. Should Edwards have received a suspension for his actions?
PETE PISTONE: WOW! still in shock. ...
Really, a three-race probation? That's the best NASCAR could come up with after one of the dirtiest moves in the sport's history that thankfully didn't result in a tragedy?
NASCAR really blew it on this one and if a suspension was deemed too severe, Edwards at the very least should have been penalized points and fined. But to respond by essentially doing nothing, the sanctioning body has now basically said anything goes to its drivers and teams. Watch the aggression level get ramped up even more in the coming weeks, especially the next two races at the short tracks of Bristol and Martinsville where the "Rubbin' is Racin'" mentality actually has merit. But I shudder to think what happens when we go to the high-speed place in Texas or, even worse, lightning-fast Talladega the week after. Hopefully, track operators will reinforce the fences.
I love the "Boys Have at It" policy and backing off from over-governing the races was the right idea when NASCAR rolled it out at the start of the year. But there still has to be limits, there still needs to be guidelines, there still needs to be a line that if crossed goes too far. If a driver who is 156 laps down comes back on the track for the sole purpose of wrecking someone whom he felt was owed a payback isn't way over that line, I'm afraid to find out just when the limits will be reached.
BRIAN DE LOS SANTOS: I think a one-race suspension was called for in this instance. It was too blatant and much too dangerous at a track like Atlanta, one of the fastest on the circuit.
I really want to support NASCAR's policy in allowing leeway for drivers to mete out old-school street justice, but I can't. Not if anything goes, as its rather lenient punishment of Edwards would indicate.
It rings of complete anarchy and flies in the face of safety. No matter how sturdy these cars may be, they're not indestructible and drivers aren't immune to injury.
Plain and simple, it's stupid. Isn't racing dangerous enough without drivers intentionally wrecking each other at almost 200 mph?
In his announcement of Edwards' penalty, NASCAR president Mike Helton said, "The clear message, I think, we sent in January was that we were willing to put more responsibility in the hands of the driver. But there is a line you can cross and we'll step in to maintain law and order when we think that line's crossed."
Ask what that line was, Helton responded, "I think we see it when we see it."
Well, if that wasn't "it", then short of running a driver over and driving back and forth over him, it appears anything is fair game.
mikeyfan1599: In my opinion, if Keselowski had not gone airborne, people would have been cheering Edwards for putting Keselowski in his place and teaching him a lesson, instead of calling for Edwards' head. The fan and media reaction is the typical overreaction we see every time something happens that becomes extremely dangerous in a sporting event. We as fans have seen cars spin, get spun on 1.5-mile tracks all the time, usually it results in more than one car involved but the car doesn't go airborne. If this had happened in a pack and did not involve Edwards, but the car still went airborne, everyone would have called it a tragedy and blamed it on the wing.
I'm sure the last thing Edwards wanted to see was the undercarriage of Keselowski's car. Edwards knows what that is like and he also knows the danger to the fans an airborne car can cause. If I'm not mistaken that was the one thing that really frightened Edwards last year at Talladega, the fact the car almost went into the stands and parts broke off and injured people.
NASCAR parked Edwards for the remainder of the race and in my opinion that should have been it. No probation, no suspensions, nothing else. NASCAR said they were allowing the drivers to take the gloves off, therefore, it is up to the drivers to take care of Edwards, Keselowski or anyone else who the drivers feel crossed the line. In the past, the drivers took care of incidents like this among themselves, either on the track or behind the garage.
Let the drivers police themselves, I'm sure they will let Edwards and Keselowski know what is out of line.
