NASCAR sends wrong message with flimsy Edwards discipline

The gloves fit, but NASCAR did acquit.

Carl Edwards' white driving gloves clearly indicated he turned right into Brad Keselowski in the closing laps of Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500, an obvious payback for earlier incidents between the two drivers, both at Atlanta as well as elsewhere.

Despite being 156 laps off the pace and clearly on the track for one reason and one reason only, Edwards' reckless and dangerous reaction was met with nothing more than a delicate wrist slap from NASCAR.

One that didn't even leave a mark.

A three-race probation was the penalty deemed appropriate by the sanctioning body as the "Have at it Boys" policy was stretched to gigantic rubber-band proportions.

If what Edwards did to Keselowski isn't over the line, I am afraid to see what actually will cause NASCAR officials to stand up and take notice.

Vigilante justice is now the accepted form of behavior in what contends to be the top form of auto racing in this country.

In the past, such behavior was not tolerated. In fact, as recently as 2007, NASCAR sat down Robby Gordon for a race at Pocono because of the way he acted the day before in a Nationwide Series race in Montreal.

Truck Series driver Ted Musgrave was parked after what was perceived to be an overly aggressive act against Kelly Bires. Kevin Harvick was on the sideline for a Martinsville Cup race when his truck race shenanigans the day before went too far. And Jimmy Spencer was forced to watch a Bristol race from the grandstands in response to his payback punch to Kurt Busch.

But forget all that. This is a new NASCAR and the old rules no longer apply.

If NASCAR policies applied to other sports, things would be much different. In Major League Baseball, a fastball to the head in response to a player who homered in his last at-bat wouldn't just be accepted, but encouraged. Crack-back blocks would be legal in the NFL because, come on, rubbin' is football, right? And if an NBA player committed a flagrant foul and then threw the ball at a referee's head for good measure -- which is basically what Edwards did when he went down pit road the wrong way after he was ordered off the track -- hey, why not?

There is a big difference between letting drivers decide things among themselves on the race track and allowing the kind of blatant disregard for the rules or safety that Edwards demonstrated on Sunday.

NASCAR is a physical sport to a point, and the decision to take a more hands-off policy and allow for tighter racing between drivers was the absolute right call to start the year. If there is incidental contact when two drivers are battling for position, that's part of the game, and what the sport was built on.

However, contrary to some people's belief, NASCAR has not been a 60-year-plus success because drivers have full rein to run into each other whenever they like. These are races, not demolition derbies at the local county fair.

The incidents of Sunday completely overshadowed what NASCAR should be selling -- tight competition, side-by-side racing and compelling action -- to fans both old and new. Up until the Edwards-Keselowski tangle, Atlanta was another in a series of good races that have highlighted the opening of the season. But few will remember that or probably who even won the race (Kurt Busch, for those of you late to the party).

Instead, the sport has been thrust back to the very stereotype NASCAR has fought for years to overcome -- a high-speed crash festival with drivers using their cars as weapons to cause mayhem and potential injury.

If there is anything good to come out of this mess, it is that NASCAR again reiterated its commitment to finding out why cars keep becoming airborne. Once Keselowski's car slid backward, it was picked up and tossed around like a piece of paper and, by the grace of God, didn't sail above the catch fence and into the grandstands.

Some point to the rear wing as the culprit for the recent rash of flying stock cars, and with the spoiler coming soon as a replacement, perhaps we'll see less of that phenomenon.

But all of that commitment-to-safety talk gets harder to swallow when, in the same breath, NASCAR allows its drivers to simply ram into one another at nearly 200 mph.

The opportunity to send a message that such behavior will not be tolerated in any way, shape or form came and went this week with the non-response to the Edwards act.

The garage area now knows anything goes, and NASCAR hasn't just loosened its grip, it has let go completely.

Reinforce the fence-track operators and hang on, fans. It's going to be wild ride from here on out.